favourite minor characters in media?

[dehro]

what it says in the title..
some of mine are:
Hama, doorwarden of Theoden..as per the books, I didn't like how they ended him in the movies
Frank Buffay Jr, in Friends... because I like Giovanni Ribisi as an actor and the character was over the top dumb
there are more..
Napoleon the bloodhound, in the Aristocats.

[Eldan]

Not really all that minor, given that he has a few issues devoted to him, but Hob Gadling, the immortal medieval mercenary from Sandman is one of my favourite characters ever. Finally a human made immortal who is not constantly angsting about it and trying to die.

[Axolotl]

Not really all that minor, given that he has a few issues devoted to him, but Hob Gadling, the immortal medieval mercenary from Sandman is one of my favourite characters ever. Finally a human made immortal who is not constantly angsting about it and trying to die.Hob was great, I also loved Destruction, if only he were in more issues.

I'd also say Dolorous Edd from A Song of Ice and Fire, he's not important to the plot but he has the best lines of anyone in the series.

[Dienekes]

Not really all that minor, given that he has a few issues devoted to him, but Hob Gadling, the immortal medieval mercenary from Sandman is one of my favourite characters ever. Finally a human made immortal who is not constantly angsting about it and trying to die.

Hob was awesome. Though Sandman is filled with awesome minor characters.


Hob was great, I also loved Destruction, if only he were in more issues.

I'd also say Dolorous Edd from A Song of Ice and Fire, he's not important to the plot but he has the best lines of anyone in the series.

And along the same vein: Greatjon Umber, Hot Pie, Bronn, Syrio Forel, Podrick Payne, the old lady peasant who yelled "Brotherf***er!" repeatedly, Septon Merribald, and the Elder Brother.

As for characters not in ASOIAF
Sherlock Holmes in League of Extraordinary Gentleman, a one-scene wonder that stuck with me. Though I'm not sure if he counts as minor since he has his whole other series.
Doc Cottle from Battlestar Galactica (remake)
Posca from Rome, though you could argue how minor he was
The newspaper salesman from Watchmen

[Mauve Shirt]

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. :smallbiggrin:

The Dresden Files is just full of wonderful minor characters. It's tough to name them all, and then some of them become main characters in other books.

[Dumbledore lives]

From Harry Potter there is both Stan Shunpike and Aberforth, both mentioned repeatedly in earlier books despite having little to no significance, they simply add to the world, though I guess Aberforth does a bit more in book 7.

[Terraoblivion]

Lennon glasses girl from Mouretsu Space Pirates. There is just something strangely enthralling about trying to figure out what a high school girl looking like her is like and what her story is. Even more so when you've learned that all the members of her club have their "circumstances".

She's furthest to the right here (http://media.deremoe.com/deremoeWP/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Commie-Mouretsu-Pirates-01-D051076F_Jan-9-2012-11.49.15-AM.png).

[dehro]

also, the guardian of the wall in Stardust, and captain shakespeare

[Eldan]

As I just started playing Morrowind again: the wizard who falls from the sky to his death, with three scrolls of his awesome new flight spell in his pocket. :smalltongue:

[IrnBruAddict]

Rachel in Baccano, she at least deserved her name in the intro.

Lily White in Touhou, she is insanely happy and can only express this through shooting at you.

Sorel in For the Emperor, dude was as cool as Caiphus Cain.

Ancient Spider Witch in Dark Souls, her story is so sad.

C.M.O.T Dibbler in Discworld, because pies!

The big axe dude in Tales of Vesperia: First Strike, too cool for a name.

[Feytalist]

Frank Buffay Jr, in Friends... because I like Giovanni Ribisi as an actor and the character was over the top dumb

Similar to that: Hank Azaria's character (Dave? David? something) in Friends. He constantly stole whatever scene he was in, and exhibited some of the greatest examples of comedic timing I've seen, in any media ever.


Not really a minor character in the broadest sense, but Beckett in the Old World of Darkness setting Vampire: The Masquerade. Especially as he appeared in the game Bloodlines. There's something extremely cool about a mysterious guy in a longcoat and shades, dropping in and giving you cryptic advice before disappearing again.

[Velaryon]

Minai Ruo from Corpse Princess was the first to come to mind since I watched that not long ago. I found her far more interesting than any of the major cast, and I was very happy that the DVD included an episode focusing on her despite her minimal importance to the overall story. I suppose it also helps that she was voiced by my favorite anime voice actress.

Nigel West Dickens from Red Dead Redemption is another one. The missions you do with him were sometimes frustrating but usually fun, and as a character he was hilarious. Most of all, there's nothing better than posse-ing up with a few friends in multiplayer and all of you choosing West Dickens as your character models. It's fun to hear the reactions of other players when they get taken out by a gang of fat old men in top hats. :smallsmile:

[dehro]

Similar to that: Hank Azaria's character (Dave? David? something) in Friends. He constantly stole whatever scene he was in, and exhibited some of the greatest examples of comedic timing I've seen, in any media ever.


oh, yes! "please, clean my beakers"..lol

[pita]

Steve the Pirate. Portrayed by one of the actors with the best comedic timing out there, as a man with an insane pirate fixation... it's awesome. The agonized "Yar" at the end is one of the greatest moments of comedy filmmaking. If you don't know what movie I'm talking about, you don't deserve to see it.
Additionally, Brint, Meekus, and the third guy from Zoolander all deserve major kudos. Meekus especially, since Alexander Skarsgard's roles since have all been serious, and he's played mostly intelligent characters, so it's extra bizarre to see him light himself on fire due to stupidity. But Zoolander is great like that with all of its characters, both major and minor (Mugatu's assistant is another great example of a minor character who leaves a giant impression).

[Dienekes]

Good lord, I forgot Lord Flashheart. How could I ever forget Lord Flashheart. I feel ashamed.

[Alabenson]

No-Bark Noonan from Fallout New Vegas has to be one of my favorite videogame NPCs of all time. He's just so wonderfully, insightfully, hillariously insane.

"I don't trust a man that doesn't have something strange going on about him, cause that means he's hiding it from you. If a man's wearing his pants on his head or says his words backwards from time to time, you know it's all laid out there for you. But if he's friendly to strangers and keeps his home spick-and-span, more often than not it means he's done something even his own ma couldn't forgive."


And, of course, there's always Derpy Hooves.

[Omergideon]

Beregrond from tLoTR is possibly mjy favourite character in the whole book. A normal guy who never changes the world, but does his part. A wonderful character.

Elsewhere, hmmm, I often think that the best characters in any medium are relatively minor ones. Like Wedge in the Star Wars FILMS, or Barclay in TNG. Never a major presence or taking over the plot. Relatively little screen time. But still fun and enjoyable to watch.

[IrnBruAddict]

Beregrond from tLoTR is possibly mjy favourite character in the whole book. A normal guy who never changes the world, but does his part. A wonderful character.

Totally forgot about him. The whole 'calm before the strom' scenes between him, his son and Pippin were probably my favourite in the whole trilogy for some reason.

[Maxios]

I liked Irish in Red Dead Redemption. He only appears a few times, but I thought when he did appear, he was hilarious. Especially his line about how whiskey was invented to stop the Irish from ruling the world :tongue:.

[Fiery Diamond]

More sidelined-by-all-the-other-characters than actually minor, but Cosmo from Singing in the Rain. Awesome dude.

[NikitaDarkstar]

Zach Allan from Babylon 5. Well I suppose he's technically not that minor since he does have credits in the intro and he's in just about every other episode. But he's never really plot-important and never really in on the really big things in the show. But he's likable, and just an "average guy" who just happens to work in security at a space station caught up in possibly the biggest war in the galaxy.

It's been a long time since I read the books, but in Transformation, Revelation and Restoration by Carol Berg there's one minor character, a demon of sorts, Vyx, who's well, pretty different from the others of his kind, mainly just doing what he's doing out of curiosity and amusement, but no real ill-will behind it. He ends up giving his life later in the series, but I really did enjoy him, far more than the main character actually. (And now I want to re-read them, havn't read them in about 10 years.)

Barnabus and Matthew from Sandman. Maybe I'm just fond of talking animals, but I did like both of them quite a bit. And while she's not that minor, I always liked Delirium, and felt kind of sorry for her.

[darthbobcat]

Since I've been on a nostalgia anime binge lately, my answers is Tien from Dragon Ball Z. Even though he'd been reduced to little more than a footnote in the power scale, he managed, whenever he showed up, to be really useful. I wish we'd gotten to see more of him. Also Lunch, but that's because she was amusingly insane.

[Dr.Epic]

Greed from the first FMA anime.

[Blue Paladin]

Wedge Antilles in the Star Wars movies. Later known as the general who was so good he couldn't fail when he tried to.
Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: the Next Generation. Who was so awesome he got a whole new series to star in (arguably the best of series, although I have a major soft spot for TNG).
Glorfindel in the Lord of the Rings. Who was so badass he took out a Balrog single-handed, died in the act, then decided "Y'know, I don't think I'm done yet" and came back from the dead so he could keep fighting the good fight, scared the Witch-King away by looking at him, and was just generally the best elf ever.
Gil-Galad Ereinion in the Lord of the Rings. Who is kinda cool (just not at the Glorfindel level), and I loved the way his 1.2 seconds of movie screentime made me geek out over Aiglos (the Spear).

[Oindoth]

He has his own ongoing, and he's had his time in the spotlight, but compared to the rest of the DCU's major heroes, Booster Gold is pretty minor. And goddamn it, I love him.

[Hawriel]

Boba Fett

Wedge Antillies




Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. :smallbiggrin:
.

Years ago a friend played a dead paladin named Rosencrantz. Not a death night just a dead paladin. He was cursed so his soul stayed in his corpse when he was killed.

[Anderlith]

Xander from Buffy
& Barristan Selmy from SOI&F

[Reverent-One]

Greed from the first FMA anime.

This. So much this. Theory of Avarice is one of my favorite episodes from either series.



Wedge Antilles in the Star Wars movies. Later known as the general who was so good he couldn't fail when he tried to.
Miles O'Brien in Star Trek: the Next Generation. Who was so awesome he got a whole new series to star in (arguably the best of series, although I have a major soft spot for TNG).
Glorfindel in the Lord of the Rings. Who was so badass he took out a Balrog single-handed, died in the act, then decided "Y'know, I don't think I'm done yet" and came back from the dead so he could keep fighting the good fight, scared the Witch-King away by looking at him, and was just generally the best elf ever.
Gil-Galad Ereinion in the Lord of the Rings. Who is kinda cool (just not at the Glorfindel level), and I loved the way his 1.2 seconds of movie screentime made me geek out over Aiglos (the Spear).


Also this.

[Starscream]

I liked Hob as well.

My favorite under appreciated DC character of all time however must be Ambush Bug. I always found his stuff absolutely hilarious. Years before Deadpool was noticing his Little Yellow Boxes, AB was engaging in humor so meta that it literally broke the universe and caused him to be exiled from continuity.

He's totally unappreciated, though, both in-universe and out. Usually when he gets a mention it's so another hero can basically say "OH GOD NOT HIM", causing all the readers who are unaware of his existence to scratch their heads. About once a decade Keith Giffen dusts him off and writes a miniseries about him, but that's all we ever get.

Also DC: The Creeper. He's far less obscure that AB (he made a memorable appearance in the New Batman Adventures, and that episode was supposedly the inspiration for Freakazoid), but still doesn't show up nearly often enough for my tastes.

In a similar vein, I want Marvel to give the Awesome Slapstick his own series.

This is why I could never make comic books for a living.

"Hey, Starscream, got any ideas for a series?"
"Yes, Dan Didio and/or Joe Quesada, I want to write about Ambush Bug/Creeper/Slapstick!"
"You're fired!"

[Brother Oni]

My favorite under appreciated DC character of all time however must be Ambush Bug. I always found his stuff absolutely hilarious. Years before Deadpool was noticing his Little Yellow Boxes, AB was engaging in humor so meta that it literally broke the universe and caused him to be exiled from continuity.

I was wondering why Batmite was referring to Ambush Bug as obscure in the Brave and the Bold TV series. :smallbiggrin:


My favourite minor character is Balgus from The Vision of Escaflowne. Ostensibly 'just' a human, he attacks war mecha armed with nothing but a really big sword.

[Kato]

I'm not quite sure how a 'minor character' is defined... but for 'not totally main and focus of the story characters':


And along the same vein: Greatjon Umber, Hot Pie, Bronn, Syrio Forel, Podrick Payne, the old lady peasant who yelled "Brotherf***er!" repeatedly, Septon Merribald, and the Elder Brother.

I'd argue Bronn and Pod aren't that minor or under appreciated nor o I care enough for Hot Pie /guy was a joke) or the old Lady but for all it is worth I love Syrio.


Hm... I'd list Faramir and Hurin/Turin from the Tokienverse but they really are not that minor.


Anyway, the most prominent example I can think of is Kato(u) Yue who still is my name sake on the internet. I'd have argued he's not that minor but then again friends who read Angel Sanctuary keep asking me "Who?" when I talk about him and apparently forget how often he saves the main characters ass. Well, the author loves him well enough, i guess so I'm not sure if he's a minor character. (he does get pretty much his own chapter when he dies)

[Oindoth]

Ambush Bug.

Oh, god, Ambush Bug. You, sir, have made the list of people with excellent taste.

[Velaryon]

I'm not quite sure how a 'minor character' is defined... but for 'not totally main and focus of the story characters':


I'd argue Bronn and Pod aren't that minor or under appreciated nor o I care enough for Hot Pie /guy was a joke) or the old Lady but for all it is worth I love Syrio.


Hm... I'd list Faramir and Hurin/Turin from the Tokienverse but they really are not that minor.

I think "not part of the main cast," and "doesn't have a huge role as a supporting character" are good enough to make someone a minor character. They don't necessarily have to be minor enough that they barely have a speaking part if at all, or are obscure enough that only hardcore fans even remember their name (not saying your examples are, but it feels to me like that's the definition some people are working with).

To use a relatively well-known example, in my opinion someone like Barclay or O'Brien from Star Trek: TNG are definitely minor characters, despite having somewhat recurring roles and even a couple of episodes focused around them. Even a recurring villain like Lore might qualify.

[Starscream]

Oh, god, Ambush Bug. You, sir, have made the list of people with excellent taste.

I actually made myself an AB avatar a while back, but I decided I like my Kyon one better.
http://oi44.tinypic.com/accu8z.jpg

[Dr.Epic]

This. So much this. Theory of Avarice is one of my favorite episodes from either series.

But...but...
He died in that episode:smallfrown:

Nah, still a good episode. One of my other favorites is Soul of the Guardian.

Also, I like Chu from Yu Yu Hakusho. I love that guy!

[Jaros]

I've always liked Gaspode from Discworld. And on top of that, Big Fido, the fantastic minor villain in Men at Arms

[Dr.Epic]

Do the Mads from MST3k count? I love TV's Frank, Bobo, and Brain Guy.

[dehro]

Chunk from the Goonies..though I'm not sure he's "minor" as it was an ensemble cast

[The Durvin]

...Barclay in TNG. Never a major presence or taking over the plot. Relatively little screen time. But still fun and enjoyable to watch.

I love Barclay! I think--or hope, rather--that he was a parody of the Ensign Redshirt thing that Star Trek has going; he took the lead in a few episodes, like the time he started getting steadily smarter until he had to download his mind into the ship's computer, or the time he mutated into a giant spider. If I was a big enough nerd to write Star Trek fanfic, I would totally use him as my main character, trying to find a nice quiet job someplace, but always falling into craziness.

But if you want to get really obscure, I absolutely love Artur and Jeremias from Kafka's "The Castle". The uptight surveyor was inexplicably assigned these two idiots as servants, and they spend most of their time making fun of him, which is something Kafka's writing so often needed.

Does Swindle from "Transformers: Animated" count as minor? It was so nice to see a Transformer with a sense of humor.