In the world of literature and film, characters undeniably reign supreme. Let’s face it, there wouldn’t be “The Lord of the Rings” without Frodo Baggins, just as there wouldn’t be a Spiderman without… well a Spiderman.
Characters breathe life into a narrative, guiding the audience through a story to navigate the plot.
Among these characters, there exists a unique category known as “flat characters.” These are often used to contrast more rounded characters and push your protagonist forward. So, let’s delve into what flat characters are, explore their characteristics, and look at a few notable examples to see how they’re used in storytelling.
Defining a Flat Character
Flat characters, also sometimes referred to as two-dimensional characters, are those that lack the depth and complexity often associated with their counterparts, the well-rounded or dynamic characters. They are typically static throughout the story, showing minimal development or growth. Often they are stereotyped in some way and have their own flaws – but they usually never learn from them.
Characteristics of Flat Characters
Simplicity
Flat characters are straightforward and uncomplicated. Their personalities and motivations are usually one-dimensional. For example, a grumpy old man character who dislikes change and progress would be considered a flat character if that singular grumpy trait defines him throughout the story.
Predictability
These characters often behave in ways that are associated with their established traits, making their actions easy to anticipate. The audience can expect the grumpy old man to reject and criticise any new innovations presented to him.
Limited Development
Unlike well rounded characters who go through transformation and self-discovery, flat characters remain relatively unchanged from start to finish. Our grumpy old man will likely cling to his traditional ways, refusing to evolve or grow.
Symbolic Value
In many cases, flat characters symbolize specific qualities, concepts or stereotypes. For instance if you look at the common tropes found in high school cliques, jocks symbolize masculinity, the nerd embodies brains over brawn and the popular kids, style over substance.
Supporting Roles
Flat characters don’t usually play a central role in the narrative. More often, they support the progression of the round main characters’ story arcs and support their development. Consider the wise mentor whose sole purpose is to guide the hero along his journey with advice and wisdom.
Examples of Flat Characters
Now we know what flat characters are, let’s take a look at a few notable examples in the world of literature.
Dr. John Watson (Sherlock Holmes)
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, Dr. John Watson is often cited as a quintessential flat character.
As Holmes’ companion and the narrator of his adventures, Watson’s primary role is to highlight the genius detective’s intellectual prowess. To do this effectively he has to contrast this by being almost the polar opposite of Holmes.
Watson undergoes very minimal change throughout the stories and his overall purpose is to provide a grounded perspective to balance Holmes’ unconventional traits.
Star Wars’ Emperor Palpatine
In the Star Wars saga, Emperor Palpatine fulfills the role of the archetypal villain – power-hungry, ruthless and steeped in the dark side. From his early machinations as Senator Palpatine through his rise as Galactic Emperor, Palpatine’s evil motivations and methods remain consistent.
Beyond his desire to attain ultimate authority, Palpatine shows no backstory or redemptive qualities. He manipulates, corrupts and inflicts harm without remorse. In many ways, Palpatine represents the perils of unchecked ambition and tyranny. His irredeemable immorality contrasts with the journeys of dynamic characters like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
What Roles Do Flat Characters Play?
Flat characters serve several important functions in fiction despite their lack of complexity. Common roles flat characters fulfill include:
- Providing Context: Flat characters’ attitudes and actions create the world and society where round protagonists have their challenges. For instance, a flat character being racist shows the discrimination the round protagonist must confront.
- Embodying Commentary: Flat characters can represent ideas or beliefs the author wants to talk about. For instance, a character who’s not the hero might share political views the writer disagrees with.
- Foiling the Main Character: Flat characters often emphasize the protagonist’s attributes and growth by providing contrast through their own static nature. An uptight flat character might highlight the free-spirited protagonist’s carefree development.
- Serving as Plot Devices: The predictable nature of flat characters allows writers to utilize them to advance the plot. A flat villain, for example, can create conflict that spurs the round hero’s transformation. Their actions might threaten the hero or the hero’s goals, forcing the hero to respond and evolve as they work to overcome these challenges.
- Providing Comic Relief: One-trait flat characters have is instilling humour into the plot through their distinctive quirks. Whether it’s an eccentric sidekick or a blissfully unaware character, their amusing antics can effortlessly lighten the story’s mood. Characters such as Dobby the elf from Harry Potter or Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy, perfectly embody this role. While they may lack complexity, they endear themselves to fans by consistently delivering laughter and humour to the narrative.
Examples of Flat Character Functions
So now we’ve explored the role of flat characters. Let’s look at how they can function by looking at some specific examples.
In Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the character of Serena Joy represents the oppressive role of women in the dystopian society of Gilead. Her character serves as a commentary on the consequences of religious extremism and the subjugation of women’s rights.
Mary Shelley’s monster in Frankenstein serves as both an outcast foil to Dr. Frankenstein and a plot device prompting the doctor’s traumatic downfall. The monster’s rejection and violence catalyse Frankenstein’s inner turmoil.
So, while flat characters lack dimensionality compared to complex protagonists, their functions help propel the narrative and offer commentary vital to the story’s broader vision.
Flat Character vs. Round Character
Given their differences, it’s useful to contrast flat characters directly with round, or dynamic characters:
- Development: Whereas round characters undergo change and internal growth, flat characters remain largely unchanged.
- Complexity: Round characters have nuanced motivations, backstories, and contradictions. Flat characters are simpler and embody a narrow set of traits.
- Purpose: The story centers on and evolves round characters; flat characters support that evolution.
- Predictability: The behaviors of flat characters are foreseeable based on their established attributes. Round characters make unexpected choices.
- Relation to Setting: Round characters respond and adapt to story settings. Flat characters oppose settings that differ from their worldviews.
The rule of thumb is, round characters drive the narrative and experience richness through change. It’s this change that creates a powerful character arc and gets the audience to invest in a story emotionally. In storytelling, a mix of round and flat characters is crucial because there’s limited time to delve deeply into every character’s development.
Are All Flat Characters the Same?
Flat characters share many core attributes, such as their simplicity and inability to change. But ultimately how you use a flat character depends on the story you are trying to tell.
If you have a character like Sherlock Holmes or 007 you need to polarize them with characters who can humanize them and provide contrast. By determining the arc of your protagonist you can start to populate their world with complimentary characters.
Below are a few places to start when it comes to devising the type of flat character you might come across or need to tell your story.
- Caricatures: Exaggerated personalities and traits that are taken to extremes. Damsels in distress, mad scientists and introverted writers might fit into this category.
- Stock Characters: The stereotypical figures we instantly recognize in a show set in a high school, the likes of jocks, nerds, villains. Familiarity elicits certain expectations from audiences which means you can either lean into these tropes or subvert them to surprise your audience.
- Foils: Their contrasting traits underscore the protagonist’s attributes. Watson to Holmes, Sancho Panza to Don Quixote. You can find out more about Foils here:
- Symbolic Characters: Representing abstract ideas, concepts or roles. The sinister king symbolizes oppression; the wise old man imparts knowledge.
So while flat characters are defined by their one-dimensionality, different nuanced categories allow writers to utilize them in distinct ways. The gruff coach fulfills a different role than the nagging mother, for instance. But all flat characters aid story and character development.
Significant Flat Characters in Literature
Beyond the examples already discussed, many impactful flat characters have left their mark across literary genres and historical eras:
- Ishmael in Moby Dick – As the story narrator, Ishmael offers context on whaling lore and life at sea. His narration underscores Ahab’s intensity while explaining the journey to the reader.
- Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby – Tom serves as a stark contrast, representing the ignorant and prejudiced attitudes associated with old money in America. His character embodies the forces that hinder Jay Gatsby’s aspirational pursuit of the American Dream.
- Crooks in Of Mice and Men – His poor treatment and experience of racism contextualizes the oppression and isolation of 1930s America – showing a stark reality that many experienced in this time.
So, while seemingly simple, these and other flat characters fulfill key purposes in driving the narrative forward, framing themes, and influencing round protagonists and antiheroes.
Flat Characters in Cinema
On screen, flat characters continue to make their mark in film, allowing directors and writers to push stories forward and create iconic characters who we know and love.
- Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Louise Fletcher chillingly depicts the cruel, oppressive nurse who antagonizes the patients. So iconic was this character it even warranted a spin of series called Ratchet which had a very popular first season on Netflix.
- Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid – The wise, mentor figure who trains Daniel and dispenses advice to help him overcome challenges. Mr. Miyagi has inspired a generation with his wax on wax off training techniques.
- Doc Brown in Back to the Future – Christopher Lloyd’s eccentric scientist invents the time machine that instigates McFly’s adventures. With a catchy catch phrase ‘Great Scott’ this role will forever be etched in film lovers minds when they think about the stereotypical ‘wacky scientist’.
Though less nuanced than film protagonists, flat characters like these enhance stories through their functions while often stealing audience’s attention with their quirks and magnetism.
Writing Effective Flat Characters
Flat characters, when skilfully crafted, can powerfully impact a narrative despite their one-dimensionality. If you’re looking for some quick fire tips on how to create your own flat characters here they are:
- Give them a specific role to fulfill – comic foil, loyal sidekick, contemptible villain, etc. Know their purpose.
- Make them instantly recognizable through descriptions and distinct dialogue. Spotlight their peculiarities.
- Show how they relate to the setting and context of the world they inhabit.
- Illustrate their direct, predictable influence on round protagonists and events.
- Avoid letting them upstage the complexity of central characters. Keep them in supporting roles.
- Reveal subtle nuances through their actions and relationships that align with their established personalities.
Don’t let them grow or change too much. Allow consistency in how they affect the plot and main characters.
Flat characters shouldn’t steal the show from round protagonists, but they can capture readers’ imaginations in memorable ways by staying true to their singular natures.
Conclusion
In the landscape of literature and in film, flat characters rightly deserve appreciation alongside their more complex character counterparts. Though seemingly simple, they fulfill important functions through their predictability – whether providing comedy, embodying themes, or enabling the hero’s journey.
From the exaggerated antics of comic flat characters to the symbolic significance of static archetypes, these figures contribute colour, contrast and meaning to fictional narratives. They reflect societal conditions, critique conventions, highlight complexity in protagonists and antagonists, and propel the overall plot progression.
So next time you encounter a flat character, don’t underestimate them. Observe how they reflect or oppose the central characters, or how they drive events through their relentless rigidity. Appreciate flat characters for the vital depth they provide through their ironically one-dimensional nature. They bring stories memorably to life.
