Peas in a Pod

Happy Wednesday!

Midweek, I feel it appropriate to jump right into the good stuff...

The Minion

Okay, okay, so maybe the minion isn't really the antagonist of any story, but he's always with the antagonist, and there are many times when the protagonist thinks he's fighting the antagonist but he's really battling the minion in order to get to the antagonist. That's why I included this in antagonists week. I have my reasons. So, ha!


The thing is, minions aren't exactly the easiest characters in the world to write. They tend to come out a little silly, like those stupid yellow blobs that everyone seems to be fascinated with. I can't stand those minions. I freely admit it.


So, here's what I do to make a good minion.

1. Give him strengths

Really, you want to make him similar in strength to the antagonist, at least from afar. So it looks like the two have similar amounts of power, until your protagonist gets up close and personal and realizes he's in trouble.

I like to give my minions a little less backstory and a lot more screen time than my antagonist. Why? Because I like to have my protagonists go up against the minions before they really face the big baddy, the boss. So give them a lot of screen time with a lot of character features and really good dialogue that makes them seem like a really cool, if somewhat minor, villain.

2. Make him a friend

But not to your protagonist, of course. Have him be a catalyst for your backstory about the actual antagonist, have him be the counterpart the antagonist needs to get talking. Use him to move the story forward, by having him be part of the reason why the antagonist is fighting so hard. They're in a symbiotic relationship, these two, whether they realize it or not. Very similarly to the relationship between the hero and the sidekick, these two need to work together — but I usually like it when my minion is stronger than my sidekick, just so the hero has a little more to contend with.


But that's just what I do.

[love]

{Rani D.}