In 1959, Carl Jung first popularized the idea of archetypes—”universal images that have existed since the remotest times.” He posited that every person is a blend of these 12 basic personalities. Ever since then, authors have been applying this idea to fictional characters, combining the different archetypes to come up with interesting new versions. The result is a sizable pool of character tropes that we see from one story to another.
Archetypes and tropes are popular storytelling elements because of their familiarity. Upon seeing them, readers know immediately who they’re dealing with and what role the nerd, dark lord, femme fatale, or monster hunter will play. As authors, we need to recognize the commonalities for each trope so we can write them in a recognizable way and create a rudimentary sketch for any character we want to create.
But when it comes to characters, no one wants just a sketch; we want a vibrant and striking cast full of color, depth, and contrast. Diving deeper into character creation is especially important when starting with tropes because the blessing of their familiarity is also a curse; without differentiation, the characters begin to look the same from story to story.
But no more. The Character Type and Trope Thesaurus allows you to outline the foundational elements of each trope while also exploring how to individualize them. In this way, you’ll be able to use historically tried-and-true character types to create a cast for your story that is anything but traditional.
DESCRIPTION: This character lives to make people laugh by telling jokes, playing pranks, and clowning around.
FICTIONAL EXAMPLES: The Weasley twins (the Harry Potter series), Merry and Pippin (The Lord of the Rings), Matilda (Matilda), Viola (Twelfth Night), Jim Halpert (The Office)
COMMON STRENGTHS: Adventurous, Bold, Charming, Confident, Creative, Easygoing, Extroverted, Flamboyant, Flirtatious, Friendly, Funny, Independent, Perceptive, Playful, Quirky, Spontaneous, Spunky, Uninhibited, Whimsical, Witty
COMMON WEAKNESSES: Childish, Cocky, Devious, Dishonest, Disloyal, Disrespectful, Flaky, Frivolous, Impulsive, Inattentive, Irresponsible, Mischievous, Rebellious, Reckless, Rowdy, Self-Destructive, Self-Indulgent, Selfish
ASSOCIATED ACTIONS, BEHAVIORS, AND TENDENCIES
Attending many social events and parties
Knowing a lot of people
Being a good host
Having a good sense of humor
Taking risks
Being resilient emotionally
Knowing how to read a room
Being unpredictable
Being insensitive to people’s feelings
Not always knowing when to stop
Making impulsive decisions
SITUATIONS THAT WILL CHALLENGE THEM
Being around people who don’t appreciate their sense of humor
Unintentionally insulting someone important (or someone they care about)
Their prank backfiring and causing serious damage or trouble for others
TWIST THIS TROPE WITH A CHARACTER WHO…
Is the protagonist rather than the sidekick
Also has a serious goal
Has an atypical trait: philosophical, responsible, sentimental, studious, morbid, etc.
CLICHÉS TO BE AWARE OF
The funster who has no depth and only exists as comic relief
A funster as a support character with no arc
Other Type and Trope Thesaurus entries can be found here.
Need More Descriptive Help?
While this thesaurus is still being developed, the rest of our descriptive collection (16 unique thesauri and growing) is accessible through the One Stop for Writers THESAURUS database.
If you like, swing by and check out the video walkthrough for this site, and then give our Free Trial a spin.
Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.
These thesauri are a wonderful help. Thanks for producing them.
So glad this helps! Tropes are terrific for starting with, as long as we ensure we adapt them and find ways to make then fresh and new. By going a bit deeper, we can always do that!