Ensemble Tropes-Part 2

Just because a story has multiple characters doesn't mean that an Ensemble Trope is automatically invoked. Ensembles are neither omnipresent nor ubiquitous, so they don't show up in every story or even most of them. Granted, certain Ensembles seem to be quite common, such as the various "buddy" duos or Power Trios, but for every Batman and Robin, Phileas Fogg and Passepartout, or Frodo and Samwise and Gollum, there's also a John McClane, Superman, or James Bond. If Ensembles seem to be everywhere, it's probably because movies and television tend toward this, to satisfy the needs or desires of certain demographics, to give as many members of the audience as possible a character they can identify with, and to provide plenty of opportunities for conflict. Literature and video games tend to use solo hero protagonists more often, but you will find many even in television or cinema, and if not the presence of a large cast is not necessarily meant to invoke any kind of Ensemble. The point is, Ensembles do not just "happen"; they must be invoked by the creator.

Having said that, Ensembles can creep into a story unexpectedly; that is, the creator still invokes them, but he or she may do so subconsciously. For example, they can grow out of a developing story or series of stories without the creator even being aware of it. My original intention for Sir Differel Van Helsing was that she would be an occasional guest star in a Team Girl story, to give them a Sir Integra Helsing clone to play with, but I liked the dynamic of their interaction, so I devised more stories featuring the three of them. Once I made Differel a Dreamer and began featuring her in her own stories, she became more of an ad hoc third member of Team Girl, and that's when I realized that I had turned the Adventure/Action Duo of Eile and Sunny into a Team Girl/Differel Power Trio. The same thing happened with Lady Margaret Chesham. I originally planned to feature her in a single story, then I developed a few more, then I found the dynamic of their relationship sufficiently intriguing that I decided to explore it in more detail. By the time I had made them frenemies, they had become firmly established as an alternative Adventure/Action Duo to Team Girl, and they eventually evolved into True Companions and a Battle Couple when I decided that Differel would train Margaret in hand-to-hand combat, and that they would be on-again, off-again lovers.

Then there's the fact that I wasn't even aware that most of these tropes existed. Medb was supposed to be a loner who took an occasional partner, like Conan; Team Girl a Batman/Robin duo (but without the costumes and neat gadgets); and Differel the head of a monster-hunting organization with Dracula for a slave. Though I eventually discovered that they invoked a fair number of Ensemble tropes, most were serendipitous; I did not consciously use them as I developed my characters and stories. They just seemed to gel as emergent properties that happened on their own. Actually, I can see now that I did invoke them as part of my semi-conscious inspiration; I just couldn't put a name to them at the time. That's part of what my study of tropes has so fascinated me about: the realization that I have used so many storytelling conventions without realizing it.

Four Girl Ensemble -- a four person team consisting of the mannish one, the sexy pretty one, the sweet naive ditz, and the wild card, which can be the team mom, the smart gal, or the big cool sis

***** So far, there is only one grouping that can support this trope:

Differel -- mannish
Margaret -- sexy and pretty
Sunny -- naive ditz
Eile -- wild card

There is, however, some overlap, in that Eile and Differel can trade places, Sunny is also sexy and pretty, and Margaret can act as a wild card.

Four Philosophy Ensemble -- a four person team consisting of the cynic (practical), the optimist (loyal), the realist (objective), and the apathetic (ambivalent)

***** Again, there is only one grouping that can support this trope:

Eile -- Cynic (takes a pragmatic approach to life and problems)
Sunny -- Optimist (loyal to everyone she loves)
Differel -- Realist (must deal with the world as it is)
Margaret -- Apathetic (laid-back, flexible, adaptive, can take or leave any situation)

Freudian Trio -- a three person team that consists of the id (the child; impulsiveness and emotion), the ego (the adult; discipline and balance), and the superego (the parent; authority and intellect)

***** The three primary groupings are:

Sunny | Sunny | Vlad -- Id
Eile | Eile | Margaret -- Ego
Medb | Differel | Differel -- Superego

Girl Posse -- the entourage that forms the clique around the Alpha Bitch

***** Before Margaret became Differel's Best Frenemy Forever, she played the Alpha Bitch at Gresham's School. She acquired four "friends" who formed her clique, and while she retained them even after she and Differel became close, she saw less of them as they all grew older, and she realized she had nothing in common with them anymore.

Hair Contrast Duo -- the fair-haired "good" partner and the dark-haired "bad" partner

***** Sunny and Eile; Dribble & Maggot.

The Hecate Sisters -- the maiden (adventurer), the matron (protector), and the crone (mentor)

***** Arguably, Differel has been all three. Before she turned 21, while still a virgin, she went monster hunting with Vlad (the Maiden). After she took over the Caerleon Order, got married, and had a son, she concentrated on protecting the UK and preserving the Order for when Henry took over (the Matron). After Henry took over, she semi-retired to advised him and set strategic policy for dealing with paranormal threats (the Crone).

Otherwise:

Sunny | Margaret -- Maiden
Eile | Differel -- Matron
Differel | Vlad -- Crone

Huge Guy, Tiny Girl

***** Vlad and Differel, when she was a child.

Knight, Knave and Squire -- the idealistic fighter, the pragmatic fighter, and the naive fighter

***** In the Dreamlands:

Eile | Sunny | Differel | Differel -- Knight
Medb | Eile | Eile | Team Girl -- Knave
Sunny | Bettie | Sunny | Victor -- Squire

In the Waking World:

Differel -- Knight
Vlad -- Knave
Margaret -- Squire

Lady and Knight

***** This mostly applies in the Dreamlands, though only Differel is close to being a true chivalric character. The other two are good fighters in their own right and can be rather earthy in their behavior.

Margaret | Victor -- Lady
Differel | Differel -- Knight

Margaret and Victor are Differel's "Ladies" only because she has sworn to protect them from all danger and will rush to their rescue at a moment's notice. Differel even recites love poetry while she lounges in a bubble bath with one or the other.

Subverted with Eile and Sunny. Neither are truly a knight or a lady, and they tend to act towards each other like equal partners.

Loads and Loads of Characters -- a cast of characters so large they cannot all be featured in every story, so they tend to appear and disappear as the plot demands

***** The entire Medb/Team Girl/Differel universe.

Lovely Angels -- female buddy teams, with or without sexual subtext

***** Team Girl; Dribble & Maggot; Differel, Eile, and Sunny; Differel, Maggie, and Sharona.

Nuclear Family

***** Eile, Sunny, Connie, Liza, and Snowshoe Kitty form one; Differel, Victor, and Henry form another. There's also Sunny and her parents.

Odd Couple -- involving main characters

***** Team Girl; Differel and Vlad; Dribble & Maggot.

Odd Friendship -- between supporting characters

***** Vlad and Victor; Victor and Mr. Holt; Dr. Carmichael and Sharona.

The Omniscient Council of Vagueness -- an organization that seems to know everything that's going on and is working towards some kind of goal, but is vague about the details

***** Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council. Though Differel counts it and its Lord President as allies, she knows that it will keep secrets from her and manipulate her into doing its dirty work.

The Only One I Trust

***** Eile and Sunny to each other; Team Girl to Medb; Team Girl to Differel (and vice versa); Differel to Vlad; Dribble & Maggot to each other. (In fact, Differel and Team Girl trust lots of people, but these are the people they trust with their lives.)

The Order -- an organization dedicated to a cause with membership by invitation only

***** The Caerleon Order of the Companions of St. George; The Order of St. Antony Demons-Bane (the Antonians). Also, the Order of the Garter and the Order of the Dragon.

Paid Harem -- a character's personal professional escort(s)

***** Arguably, Dribble & Maggot are this to each other, as each often drags the other along to a social or political function to serve as companion, conversation piece, and eye candy (and later as bed warmer). At the risk of sounding squicky, this was the primary reason Maggot invited Dribble to accompany her on trips with her father when they were children.

Victor went through a period when the press referred to him as "Mr. Van Helsing", but he got through it with amused aplomb.

Differel once had an affair with Billy the Stableboy (he was over 18), during which she used him as an escort on occasion. Though he loved it at first, the allure and novelty quickly wore off.

Power Trio -- the generic three-member team

***** Medb, Eile, and Sunny; Eile, Sunny, and Kitty; Differel, Eile, and Sunny; Dribble, Maggot, and Vlad; Aelfraed, Mrs. Widget, and Mr. Holt.

Quirky Household -- a normal well-adjusted family of eccentric, even bizarre, characters

***** The Team Girl household counts as this, both before and after the birth of their daughters Connie & Liza. Differel's household can count as well.

Red Oni, Blue Oni -- a duo consisting of a wild, passionate, brawny fighter and a subtle, controlled, cultured intellectual

***** Eile and Sunny, though Eile can be controlled and Sunny often is wild and passionate. Also, Dribble and Maggot, though Maggot is the wild one and Dribble the cultured intellectual.

Redshirt Army -- an army that exists merely to be wiped out

***** Depending upon the needs of the plot, the Caerleon Order paramilitary troops can either be an Elite Army or this.

Sword and Sorcerer -- a warrior and a magic user working together

***** Eile and Sunny in the Dreamlands; duh. Medb is both in the same person.

They Fight Crime

***** Eile's a tomboy bare-knuckle bruiser with a temper, Sunny's a scatterbrained girly-girl with a black belt in Improv Fu, and Kitty's an arrogant but adorable bloodthirsty carnivore; together they fight crime!

Differel is a Vampire Hunter and Vlad Drakulya is the most powerful Vampire extant; together they fight crime!

Dribble is a sword-wielding swashbuckler and Maggot is a spoiled stuck-up daughter of the peerage; together they fight crime!

Tomboy and Girly Girl

***** Eile and Sunny; duh. Also, Dribble & Maggot. Maggie and Sharona can throw off this vibe at times.

Town Girls -- a trio consisting of an an out-of-town girl (butch), an uptown girl (femme), and a downtown girl (neither)

***** Differel as the out-of-towner (she's from Merry Old England), Sunny as the uptowner (she was raised in an affluent middle-class setting), and Eile as the downtowner (she was raised in a lower-class inner-city setting).

True Companions

***** Team Girl (with Kitty); Differel and Vlad; Dribble & Maggot; Differel and Victor; Maela and Oda (Sunny's parents).

Vitriolic Best Buds -- best friends who bicker like an old married couple

***** Eile and Sunny are so devoted to each other that it can get sickeningly sweet (if not downright pornographic), but there are times when they snark and snipe. Usually it's Eile who insults Sunny, who then laughs it off, but Sunny can give back as good as she gets, and when she's REALLY pissed she chases Eile around the house with a baseball bat.

Differel and Margaret can sound like enemies when they really go at one another; even their nicknames -- Dribble and Maggot -- suggests an antagonistic relationship. However, they trust each other enough to confide secrets they would never tell anyone else and to watch their respective back, and each will risk her life to save the other.

Next week I will discuss Food Tropes.