Single Trait Characters: When They're Useful and How To Use Them

Whether you recognize the term or not, we all know the trope of the single-trait character. These guys show up at least once in every book, movie, and TV show, and they're useful because they fill up space and they're easily identified.

A single-trait character is someone who appears in a story and is recognized/identified by (you guessed it) a single, solitary trait. The tall one. The loud one. The one who loves soccer. Characters such as these are useful as background characters, and they're easy to tell apart because they each only have one characteristic to be remembered by.

Aside from Jamie, none of the kids in Rise of the Guardians strictly have 

any deep characteristics, but since we were already dealing with such a large cast of 

characters, none of the kids strictly *needed* a complex personality.

Now, before we go into how to use a single-trait character, let's first talk about how not to use a single-trait character. As always, this isn't necessarily written in stone, and nothing about it is a must-do or a must-not-do. But to my mind, the general don'ts of a single-trait character is this: don't make a character single-trait if they're important to the main character, and don't make them single-trait if their narrative is important at any point.

If a character is important or close to the main character, we're likely to see quite a bit of them throughout the story. And if all we see of said character throughout the story is a single trait repeated over and over(she's the dancer one, the dancer one, the dancer one), it's going to look like lazy storytelling very quickly. It's the same if a character's narrative or opinion will be important in the story. If the character is too simple, they'll come off as flat and vague, and you won't have the rich, deep feeling that your story needs.

In fact, if you need a character to be simpler, but without making her a one-trait character, I'd recommend using three traits: 1 trait for their demeanor, 1 trait for an interest, 1 trait for something that matters to them. The third detail is where the magic happens. It might be a difficult relationship with a parent, a cause that they deeply care about, or a relationship with another character. The third detail is up to you, you'll know what will add depth to the character.

In Camp Rock, Peggy isn't strictly the most well rounded character, but she works, 

and she portrays the three traits we discussed: something she likes(to sing), 

a specific demeanor(doormat/pushover), and something she cares about(getting to be heard)

So now that we've gone over who should not be a single-trait character, only one question remains: who is okay to write as a single-trait character? Simple answer. So long as they're not important to the main character or important to the narrative of the story, anyone you like. NPCs. A random bartender that shows up for two scenes. People your characters go to school with. Anyone who needs a touch of personality, but not a lot.

So now that we've gone over that— Go forth! Write your characters, single-trait or otherwise! Create incredible stories! Fight! Win! And call me when you get back, darling, you know how I love our little chats. And I'll see you in the next blog post. Byeeeeeeeeee