Five Underused Characters For Your YA Novel

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More for the Underused series! I'm really loving this series, because I love reading posts of this kind, and writing them is even better!!!! So today we're doing YA characters, because we all know there's only about ten of them, and they're all a little bland. Let's add some flavor to these books by making more of these guys:


The teenage grandma.
She drop pearls of wisdom. She knit. She bake cookies. She take you in when you overcoming breakup. She fabulessssss. But no lie, you gotta love the old-soul girls who are basically your old grandma, but in a teenage girl's body. Bonus points if you can find a way to make a teenage grandpa character.

The blonde murder child.
I will forever adore the blonde murder child. She or he(but I like it best when it's a she) is smol and cute and they seem like the most innocent pure thing at first glance. BUT NO. This character is a force of nature. She(we're going with she for now) has a deep-set, overwhelming urge to blow things up, set buildings ablaze, and break glass bottles to make weapons. The close friends of this character are slightly terrified of her, but they do love her, but she is a good thing to set loose upon one's enemies.

The "adventure!" character.
Everything is an adventure for this kid. Whether it's the type where they call even simple things like going to the store an adventure(which I find precious) or they just make everything they do, um, exciting, the adventure character is never dull to be around. Just keep them away from matches, I would think.

The unpaid sheriff.
"They went where???" You know this guy. He finds out that his friends, his distant acquaintances, some idiots off the street, are off to do something so stupid they're going to find themselves in jail, grounded for the rest of their lives, actually dead, you get the picture. So off he goes, muttering under his breath, telling himself he really wouldn't mind if they really did get in trouble just this once, but he really can't keep himself from going. It's a compulsion at this point. He can't stop himself.

The goth kid who turns out to be the nicest person you've ever met.
This character is the exact opposite of the blonde murder child. This black-swathed, face-pierced, shadow-lurking character seems like a creature of darkness from afar, but those who bother getting to know him/her will discover that this character is the sweetest thing. They have a fluffy cat at home, they can make the best ice cream sundaes, they know the deep secrets of the universe. They're just perfect, but hidden behind the guise of a metalhead. You gotta love this character. Or rather, you can try.

Thus ends the list for today. I might make a part 2, or better yet, one for a lot of other genres! Stay tuned!

Now speak: Which of these was your favorite? What's your favorite underused character type? Let me know in the comments!