Tuesday, March 11, 2014

#DWJMarch: Favorite Supporting Character


We debated main characters the other day so now let's try and decide on Favorite Supporting Character(s). Post on your blog or any social media site. Use the hashtag #dwjmarch and/or come back and leave a link here (or comment here, of course).

First, we can count out just about anyone who is a parent, right? We'll save them for the villain prompt. ::wink:: But this is also tough because Diana's characters are almost all written as if they could be main characters. Most of them could have eventually had their own stories.

Calcifer (Howl's Moving Castle, Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways) has to get a nod. He's powerful and sometimes friendly and he's loyal when it matters.

Janet Chant (Charmed Life, The Pinhoe Egg) is a favorite -- she's everything her other-world counterpart, Gwendolen, should have been.

Then there are a couple of cats who at least deserve mentions -- Benvenuto (The Magicians of Caprona) and Throgmorten (The Lives of Christopher Chant).

Oh, Jason and Irene (The Pinhoe Egg)! I love them. They'll end up being an exception to the horrible parents rule once they start a family.

Who are your favorite supporting characters?

8 comments:

  1. I like Fiona from Fire and Hemlock. I don't know that she's my favorite of all favorite supporting characters, but I like her a lot. I like that she's unimpressed by Seb, and insightful about Nina, and a helpful and faithful friend to Polly.

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  2. I can't think of any particular side character that sticks out as a favorite, but I'm always amazed at how even the most passing characters feel fully-fleshed-- she does it in a sentence. She finds exactly the right details to make the people and settings jump from the page. For some reason I remember thinking that about the... babysitter? ...in Archer's Goon-- how instead of a blank or stereotyped College Babysitter Type, I could SEE her, I KNEW things about her that were never said on the page, through just the first few sentences about her.

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    1. Exactly. Like I was just reading Charmed Life again and there's that guy who always talks about stocks? He's mentioned in passing a couple of times but you also feel like you would recognize him anywhere afterwards.

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  3. Love Calcifer. Since I just read House of Many Ways, I'll put in a word for Peter, the hapless apprentice, who stands up to Charmain and keeps doing magic after every spectacular fail.

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    1. Definitely Peter. He's part of why I love that book so much!

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  4. Yes, yes to Calcifer!! Though I also have to lean towards Kathleen from Dogsbody or the boys from Tale of Time City (cannot remember their names off the top of my head).

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    1. Jonathan and Sam are good choices, especially when taken as a pair. Sam just by himself is a pain the butt. :)

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