Line #105 Main/TagalongChronicler


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3	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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6	->'''Creator/GeoffreyChaucer:''' I'm going to have to write some of this story down.\
7	'''Wat:''' The part about the prince and the knights?\
8	'''Chaucer:''' No, all of it. All human activity lies within the artist's scope.
9	-->-- ''Film/AKnightsTale''
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11	A character who accompanies the other characters with the stated purpose to document, chronicle, compose songs about, or otherwise immortalize the adventures that they have.
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13	Their motivation for this may vary from trying to make a name as a [[TheStoryteller famous storyteller]], through insatiable curiosity, to coercion by other characters. It may also simply be their job. In HeroicFantasy, the chronicler is often a [[TheBard Bard]], a WanderingMinstrel, a scholar, etc. Professional journalists fall under the TagalongReporter subtrope.
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15	The chronicler's relationship with other characters can also vary: they might be TheLoad, a NonActionGuy, or of limited use as TheSocialExpert. But they can also be or develop into a full-fledged adventurer and peer to the other characters. The key part is what motivates them to [[JumpedAtTheCall go on the adventure]] in the first place--namely, the desire to tell others about it later on.
16
17	Sometimes overlaps with NarratorAllAlong and InDefenceOfStoryTelling. Out of universe, it can be a manifestation of MostWritersAreWriters and WriteWhatYouKnow.
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19	Supertrope to TagalongReporter. Compare IShouldWriteABookAboutThis, TheStoryteller, and FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator. If this character is a FourthWallObserver, then he's an AllKnowingSingingNarrator.
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21	Very much TruthInTelevision. Virtually every major expedition since the invention of writing had to have someone keeping track of events, so it was this whenever the leader himself wasn't the one taking notes. Very often, a priest/missionary took the role thanks to being the only literate fellow around -- which cemented the image of a chronicler as a non-combat type.
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23	----
24	!!Examples:
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26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* While he is in more of an administrative position, the (ex-)journalist Diethard Reid from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' is essentially this. He didn't need to join the Black Knights, as he was already in a high ranking media position, but upon seeing Zero for the first time, he was immediately enthralled and impressed and wanted to see how far Zero would go in his plans and did everything to make them reality. [[spoiler: Upon the betrayal of the Black Knights, Diethard switched sides to work with Schneizel to see how far he'd go and was killed by a Geassed Schneizel.]]
30	* In the anime adaptation of ''VisualNovel/TearsToTiara'', Taliesin joins [[TheHero Arthur]] and Co. after they prove themselves to him, and then serves as a rather competent SpoonyBard, whose skills with the sword match Arthur and whose discovery and usage of [[spoiler:Song Of Creation]] is pivotal in proceeding to the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon for the finale.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* ''ComicBook/GIJoeIDW'': Hashtag was a blogger and social media guru studying journalism at Fordhaam University through ROTC. General Colton assigned her to be embedded with the Joes for PR purposes once they went public.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Fan Works]]
38	* Sun from ''FanFic/KyoshiRising'' is a WanderingMinstrel whose life long dream is to write the Avatar's biography. He's the first member of Kyoshi's group, meeting her six days into her journey to master the Elements, and grows to being something of a Confidant and morality chain in case Kyoshi gets too stressed or slips into being a KnightTemplar.
39	* Father Constantin becomes this in ''FanFic/PaganVengeance'', a Christian priest kept by Juvage after he witnessed Constantin trying to save civilians from slaughter, and eventually [[spoiler:entrusted with safeguarding Juvage's daughter after his suicide]].
40	* Hurdy in ''FanFic/TheTaintedGrimoire'' joined Clan Gully so he can base his next masterpiece on them.
41	* The narrator in ''Fanfic/TheBlackCompanyInMiddleEarth'' is the Annalist, whose job it is to record the history of the Black Company.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
45	* Gilbert of Glockenspur carries quills and parchments galore like a Medieval serial Tweeter in ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'' as he chronicles the heroics of KnightErrant Sir Bowen and his EnemyMine dragon, Draco.
46	* In ''Film/AKnightsTale'', William Thatcher and his sidekick, Roland, come across the naked and penniless Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer accompanies them to their next joust, and delivers a lengthy (if fictional) reading of Thatcher's pedigree to allow him to enter the competition.
47	* Parodied in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' with Sir Robin's minstrels, who follow him around and make up impromptu songs about him. However, since he's a chronic coward, their task often proves quite difficult.
48	--> Brave Sir Robin ran away.\
49	Bravely ran away, away!\
50	When danger reared its ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled!\
51	Yes Brave Sir Robin turned about, and gallantly he chickened out!\
52	Bravely taking to his feet, he beat a very brave retreat,\
53	Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin!
54	* In ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'', English Bob has a dime novelist following him around chronicling his exploits for the folks back east. When Bob is thrown out of town by sheriff Little Bill, the novelist chooses to stay in order to write about him instead.
55	* ''Film/YoungGunsII''. Pat Garrett recruits a chronicler for his pursuit of Billy the Kid, despite the man admitting he's unsuitable due to his poor physical condition. He does come in useful however during a sticky situation due his ability to speak the native languages. In a BrickJoke, it's mentioned at the end that the book he wrote was a dismal failure.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Literature]]
59	* Inverted in ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': While Cain has official memoirs, the novels are presented as Cain's reminiscing during his retirement, and they're actually put together (with chpaters from additional sources to provide more context) by his lover and employer Inquisitor Vail, who interjects with footnotes either to clarify a point of detail, to claim that Cain's interpretation of her actions was incorrect, or make catty comments when he goes into too much detail regarding his female conquests.
60	* Lampshaded and PlayedForLaughs in ''[[Literature/JoesWorld Forward the Mage]]''. The book is ostensibly put together by the Alfredae, chronicling lice who live in the hair of the protagonist Shelyid. They are frequently disdainful of everyone else and extremely snobbish, die quite frequently causing shifts in how they narrate, and complement their own narrative with other sources (which they often think are untrustworthy and biased). They are very much an UnreliableNarrator, but so is everyone else.
61	* PlayedWith in the ''Literature/GotrekAndFelix'' novels. Both are adventurers WalkingTheEarth, and both keep getting drawn into events which has the fight for their lives. The entire journey is nominally about Gotrek, a dwarven [[RedemptionEqualsDeath Slayer]] looking for something to kill him to atone for past sins, while Felix is an amateur playwright chronicling their adventures in song to keep a record of the Gotrek's end of life. In the later part of the series after a TimeSkip they get in a lot of trouble because Felix's brother missed the point of the notes he'd been storing for him and had them published as fiction.
62	** Several other rememberers are met along the course of the series. One of them had finally had enough of his Slayer failing to die (which, as per their contract, would get the rememberer a large sum of money) and tried to arrange for his death.
63	* The ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels mention that the Legiones Astartes were accompanied by remembrancers, scribes whose duty was to write down the battle reports chronicle the legions' conquests. Some of the books feature them quite prominently.
64	* In ''Literature/TheLastHero'', the Silver Horde abducts a minstrel to follow them as they assault the Gods, so he can create a saga about their glorious deaths. He is unnamed through the entire tale, and ends calling himself "The Singer".
65	* Matthew in ''Literature/TheLastTemptationOfChrist''. Subverted in that [[spoiler:most of what Matthew writes down was dictated to him by an angel]].
66	* In ''Literature/MountainsBeyondMountains'', the author, Tracy Kidder, met Paul Farmer early in the novel and wrote about things that happened during his time with Farmer.
67	* In the novel ''Literature/PrinceOmbra'' by Roderick [=MacLeish=], the forces of Good fight the forces of Evil every generation or so, and every EternalHero has a "Rememberer", whose job it is to tell the story afterward.
68	* ''Literature/RedCountry'' has the infamous mercenary Cosca encountered by a dime novelist, in a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' (the novel is a [[SpaceWestern Fantasy Western]]). As in the film, the novelist gets caught up in his subject's nasty behavior [[spoiler: although unlike the film, the novelist here eventually has enough and kills Cosca, and at the end of the book, is about to start chronicling a famous Mountain Man who has been [[FakeUltimateHero built up as a larger-than-life hero]] throughout the book]].
69	* Dr. Watson chronicles the cases of ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' in-universe, even though he is not a professional writer from the start.
70	* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Vows and Honor]]'' series, Tarma and Kethry have a bard called Leslac following them around, who keeps, ahem, "embellishing" the details of their adventures, much to their irritation.
71	* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', after running into Rand and the others, Loial continues to follow them around at least in part so he can gather material for the book he plans to write about the time of the Dragon Reborn. Of course, given the many main characters and [[FourLinesAllWaiting diverging plotlines]] he quickly loses track of key groups and has a lot of catching up to do whenever they meet.
72	* Dandelion the Bard is Geralt's best friend and more or less personal chronicler in ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' novel series.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
76	* ''Series/GenerationKill'': Evan Wright is a reporter from Rolling Stone Magazine who embedded with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Both the book and the TV miniseries are based on his experiences during the invasion.
77	* Father Blaise in ''{{Series/Kaamelott}}'' is Kaamelott's priest, archivist and scribe, so it's his job to write down the epic quests of the Knights of the Round Table. Quite a few episodes show just how hard that job is when the knights keep remembering stuff just after he wrote down something else, weren't aware the stories had to be true, or most commonly, are an exercice in failure from beginning to end.
78	* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' is a SettingUpdate of ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'', and John Watson still chronicles Sherlock's cases but now does so through his blog.
79	* Jaskier the bard is this for Geralt in ''Series/TheWitcher2019'', just like he is in the books and the video games (in which he's called Dandelion).
80	* Gabrielle from ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' starts off as this, she goes on to become Xena's almost equal throughout the series.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
84	* This is usually the role of the bard class in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' {{player part\|y}}ies.
85	* Members of the Great Society of the Trouping Jays in ''TabletopGame/{{Ehdrigohr}}'' are this, since their mission is to compose and perform songs that inspire others and they often join groups of warriors (e.g. the Crows) on their travels.
86	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'': Dwarf Slayers are dwarves for whom DeathEqualsRedemption for some sin they committed. However, to ensure their sin is ''actually'' cleared away once they're dead, they bring along someone to witness their death, known as a rememberer. And because dwarfs are very, very bad at the "mutual" part of MutualKill, they're often in it for the long haul (one rememberer even tried to set up an ambush for his charge as it was likely he'd die of old age before the dwarf would die of violence).
87	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', this was the purpose of Remembrancers during the Great Crusade.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Toys]]
91	* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
92	** This is played with in the earlier arcs with Takua, whose job literally is being the Chronicler. Although he plays a role as a major protagonist, this role is still somewhat relegated to side-character since he is a mere villager. The ''Mask of Light'' movie plays with this further when he and Jaller were called the heralds of the [[TheSixthRanger seventh Toa]], and the switching of responsibilities between who is the herald between the Chronicler and the Captain of the Guard. This ultimately comes to an end when [[spoiler:Takua puts on the Mask of Light and becomes the Seventh Toa.]] From this point on, he is no longer referred to as the Chronicler.
93	** Hahli took on this role briefly to accompany Takanuva. However, soon after she too became a Toa, and the Chronicler title was assigned to Kopeke. So far, he hasn't done any tagging-along.
94	* This was the function of the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' character Scoop. Originally a reporter, he joined the Joes to get access to stories as they were happening instead of just seeing after-action reports. His bio said that many of his teammates were rather annoyed by his presence but admitted he made a good field communications officer.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Video Games]]
98	* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/ADanceWithRogues'' with Pia, a bard who joins the Princess on her travels (particularly in part two) mainly to protect her--but her professional pride still shines through from time to time, such as when she suddenly starts composing a song after a BossBattle to immortalize their victories.
99	* Leliana in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is ultimately revealed to have been a bard before becoming a nun. Of course, in [[Franchise/DragonAge this setting]], bards are just as much assassins/burglars for hire as they are {{Wandering Minstrel}}s, so she is definitely not the GirlyGirl.
100	* Varric Tethras from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' is both TheSpymaster and TheStoryteller; he talks for a living as well as to entertain. In ''II'', he provides the FramingDevice, having turned the controversial events around Hawke into a world-famous tale.
101	* [[MeaningfulName Tag]] in the 1989 InteractiveFiction game ''VideoGame/{{Journey}}'' is nominally the merchant of the group, but acts more as a chronicler for the adventure. He survives every GameOver and records your HaveANiceDeath as his reminiscing, which also includes hints on how to win next time (framed as his thoughts in hindsight).
102	* In the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series, [[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} Jiminy Cricket]] chronicles Sora's journeys across the series in Jiminy's Journal. In later games, he also provides hints as to where to go or what to do in the story. Since he's an actual cricket, he mostly hides in Sora's hoodie.
103	* In the first ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' expansion pack ''Shadows of Undrentide'', you can recruit a kobold bard named Deekin Scalesinger as a henchman. The second expansion ''Hordes of the Underdark'' reveals that Deekin wrote a book about your character's exploits in Undrentide, leading to both him and [[PlayerCharacter your character]] becoming minor celebrities in the realms.
104	* In ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'', Linzi the bard joins up with the Stolen Lands expedition because she wants to write a book about a hero's adventure. All the narrative aspects of the game are told from her POV.
105	** Nurah the bard follows in Linzi's footsteps in ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'', [[{{Expy}} being a cheerful halfing bard]] who joins you as a camp follower in act 2 to record the opening of the fifth crusade and the potential re-taking of Drezen. [[spoiler:''Unlike'' Linzi, [[ContrastingSequelMainCharacter Nurah is a spy for the demons]] and is responsible for two major obstacles on your way to Drezen -- and dozens of deaths amongst the crusaders -- until you find her out. It turns out Nurah used to be a slave and was brought to the Worldwound by a Cheliax noble to chronicle her master's deeds. Nurah sold him out to the demons and joined them as a spy to spite all the other 'civilized' crusaders willing to ignore the slavery and mistreatment of a sentient being all in the name of fighting demons. While a Knight Commander who follows the path of TheTrickster can [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere cause her to abandon the demons as well]] and become a WildCard, to everyone else she will end up either dead or unrepentantly fleeing to swear vengeance by the end of act 2.]]
106	* After the intro missions of ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa3'', you stumble upon a Minstrel in a bar, who recites a poem and proclaims that he feels that you inspire him to write a new one, joining your party.
107	* Perjour from ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' chronicled everything he saw, heard or thought in a book he was magically bound to before his death.
108	* Lantry the Sage in ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'' is TheQuisling to the VillainProtagonist Fatebinder. He happily jots down the player's atrocities ([[NobleDemon or avoidance thereof]]) in exchange only for the Fatebinder's protection, the opportunity to witness history, and being allowed to not actively participate in anything truly awful so he can carry on his order's claim to being a ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction.
109	* The bard Iolo [=FitzOwen=] was one of the mainstays of the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, although he could first be recruited into the Avatar's party in ''VideoGame/UltimaIV''. In the same game, however, the Avatar could be a bard himself (combining both roles), in which case Iolo never joined him.
110	* Dandelion reprises his role as Geralt's chronicler in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' video game trilogy. He's even responsible for writing all the various journal entries for quests, characters, and monsters, and provides narration in between chapters for the second game and story recaps in the third one.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Webcomics]]
114	* Jaine from ''Webcomic/MeatShield'' joined Dhur in order to chronicle his exploits, basically as a school project for the bardic conservatory she was attending. In a twist, she's easily the smartest character in the party, and quite useful in a fight as well.
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Web Original]]
118	* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone'': Before founding the [[ArtifactCollectionAgency Bureau of Balance]], Lucretia was the official chronicler of [[spoiler:the IPRE crew, though she became a fully-fledged member of the team after the destruction of their homeworld.]]
119	* ''Roleplay/FireEmblemOnForums'': Enchanters according to the class lore, who turn their experiences into songs and stories to tell later.
120	** ''Lost Lands'': Johan is a very violent and bloodthirsty version of this; he wants to follow the party around to watch them kill people so he can sing about it later, due to not being able to do it himself.
121	* This is Wren's job in ''WebVideo/JourneyQuest''. In a slight variation, she is tasked with following the questing party rather than actually joining it; indeed rule number one is observation only, and ''no interfering with the story''.
122	* ''Series/WarpZoneProject'' has ComicBooksAreReal as part of the setting, which makes authors fall into this trope. Despite them being an important part of the setting, only Death Toy's has been shown so far.
123	* In ''Blog/SERA00'', main character Evie starts off as this, tagging along to write about the A-ranks when she's a C-rank. Later, she is no longer a tagalong, though the "chronicler" part still applies.
124	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TagalongChronicler