Populating Fictional Worlds
/Non-player characters, or NPCs is a term originally deriving from tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. When conducting Dungeons & Dragons game sessions, each player except for the dungeon master makes choices for his or her created character, and these player-controlled characters are the primary personalities in an ever-unfolding saga, while the person designated dungeon master is the one making choices for all characters players might meet while conducting their adventures – an innkeeper, store clerk, friend or foe, even everyday citizens walking the streets in a populated city.
When creating worlds and inhabiting our worlds with secondary characters we are exemplifying the role of dungeon master. The choices we make when imagining the habits, styles, and personalities of our secondary characters define what type of world we are drawing our readers into. Just as in life, the environment of our created world shapes its denizens in unique ways, and these background characters are unique reflections of our created world.
Are We Living in a Simulation?
The Woman in the red dress (played by fiona johnson) in the matrix
We might use a scene from the movie The Matrix to exemplify how background characters set the tone for a story. In this classic scene from the original movie, Neo, the hero of the story, meets “The Woman in the Red Dress” (played by Fiona Johnson). Neo is walking in a simulated city setting with his mentor, Morpheus. The two characters are amongst many people in a crowded cityscape, and all the characters (except for the woman in red) are dressed in black. Morpheus is explaining to Neo that many people (the background characters) “…are not ready to be unplugged” and that these same people will fight to protect the system which they depend on.
“The Woman in the Red Dress” represents temptation and illusion, reminding movie-goers how systems of control use sensory appeal to divert attention from real threats. But the characters in the background, all dressed in black, set the tone and premise for The Matrix stories. The Matrix is a dystopian setting, where our team of heroes realize they’re living in completed simulated reality, and the only way of escaping into the real world is unplugging from the machines which trap them in the simulation. Inside this simulated world, agents can appear at any time by taking control of the background characters and turning them (from the inside out) into powerful villains who are incredibly fast and strong. These agents are the true enemies which the heroes of the story are eventually tasked with defeating. But the characters in the background, who mostly remain unnamed, lay the groundwork, creating an entry point for movie-goers into this strange new world.
a street level view of “the woman in the red dress” scene in the movie the matrix. moments before this shot, neo is distracted by “the woman in the red dress” and when he turns around, one of the background characters becomes an agent and is pointing a gun at neo.
Conclusion
Choosing appropriate secondary characters sets the tone for our created worlds, whether that is an innkeeper on the medieval streets of Forgotten Realms (one of the fictional settings created for Dungeons & Dragons games), or the denizens of a science fiction fantasy Hollywood film. These characters could fade into the background and remain nameless, but no matter what meaning our choices may convey to audiences, populating our worlds with characters will lay the groundwork for the kinds of worlds we wish to build.
Ryan is a writer who spends much of his free time reading; he especially enjoys philosophy and understanding the link between technology, mind, and culture. He teaches yoga and enjoys being physically active. Ryan has a degree in psychology and is working towards a diploma in professional writing. Ryan recently became a father for the first time.