One of the first choices any writer has to make is how many protagonists will lead the narrative. Believe it or not, that number
matters. Too many, and you can barely get attached to anyone, just one and
you'll never believe the author would kill them off.
So, which is the lucky number for
Ensembles?
Let's start at
one and work our way up. Lone protagonists are not some embryonic proto-cast that contains the traits of all Ensembles past and present, but rather has complete freedom to be whoever is needed for the story. Let's repeat that:
lone. While a one man hero doesn't have to be an
antisocial loner, they are very independent no matter
what kind of character they are. Even the wimpy
Action Survivor is at least able to survive. Interestingly, the best lone heroes make up for a lack of permanent cast with a varied supporting (though temporary) cast and (hopefully) some internal struggles to add
depth. The Man vs. Man type of dramatic struggle is common for the lone hero. Needless to say they are
also invariably
The Hero (well, let's say
protagonist to hedge our bets). Though it's kind of a "Duh" statement, read on.
- Common genres or stories: These protagonist can be in any story and are unweighed by a large cast, and so they can be Walking the Earth as The Drifter. Even if sedentary, they'll likely play the lone Action Hero against overwhelming opposition. What you won't see is either the typical drama with lots of long term character interaction, or a "stable" environment, these heroes will live and work in flux.
From there the
duos are
an even split between two traits: Body and mind, and temperament. One will be brawn to the other's brains. And then you have
one emotional character versus a colder one. The duo implies a certain level of equality; it's entirely possible for both to "share the billing" and be equal heroes. They'll likely be
Heterosexual Life Partners, but if they happen to be different genders, it's practically a law there'll eventually be
Unresolved Sexual Tension (unless, of course, if they are a
Brother-Sister Team). If this sexual tension
is resolved, then you have a
Battle Couple (cue the shipping). Or for the more traditional dynamic, you have
The Hero and their
Side Kick or
Love Interest. These duos are different in that the hero often serves as a
mentor to the sidekick and protector to the
Love Interest, though it's unlikely for the sidekick to graduate the role.
- Common genres or stories: Again, any; however, duos gain a certain level of stability as compared to lone heroes. The character interaction between them will often become deep and nuanced to a degree not often seen with other ensemble numbers. Duos are likely to be in Action Adventure shows, possibly playing Detective or fighting crime.
When you get to
Power Trios the different splits get more interesting. The personalities divide into three, not so much dividing the
Red and Blue oni as creating a "balance" personality wholecloth. Note that any of them can be the lead hero.
The Lancer will depend on who's the leading hero. In the division between physical and mental, it doesn't get degraded, but augmented with a
balanced character, a character to mediate the previous pair. If combat is involved, you get the
Mighty Glacier,
Jack Of All Stats, and a
Fragile Speedster or
Glass Cannon. Interestingly, from Trio on down you start seeing above archetypes merge into things like
Genius Bruiser. It's worth noting that from here on out a girl being in the group
gets logistically easier and
much more common.
- Common genres or stories: A trio is downright homey, and not in the sedentary sense. Three is the number where a family of friends can be born; characters can become True Companions. Even if they don't see each other as a family, the dynamics between them will give viewers a sort of "safety net". Past this size, even when the group's adventures lead to them traveling the world (or galaxy), they will tend to work out of a base (or Cool Ship) which often becomes something of a character in its own right. Trios work best in genres where there's room to interact both between each other and the environment, from here on down an ensemble can hypothetically devote an entire episode or chapter just to the cast interacting. These guys are likely to be in an Action Adventure or Drama. Or both!
The
quartet is a challenge: just enough people for things to get convoluted, but not enough to lose track of anyone. The
Four Temperament Ensemble divides the
Red and Blue Oni in half again: the Red Oni splits into sanguine and choleric, and the Blue Oni into phlegmatic and melancholic. Or, viewed another way, the Kirk is choleric, and the detached nature of the Spock and the raw emotion of the McCoy split and combine into an introspective (phlegmatic), and emotional (sanguine) temperament. Alternatively, the characters can be split into a
Four Philosophy Ensemble in which the characters have different viewpoints and philosophies, rather than personalities, which interact as they face problems and have to reconcile their differences to come to agreement.
- Common genres or stories: Drama is the order of the day for the quartet, though not always among itself. A quartet is likely to 'split up' in a given episode, giving each a chance to play off not just each other but dealing with the various aspects of the plot and the week's guest characters.
The
Five-Man Band and
The Magnificent Seven Samurai all vary some in their makeup, with each being "upgradeable" with
Sixth Ranger. However; they all have the base
Five-Man Band structure with one or more additions from the "auxiliary" list, like
Plucky Comic Relief or
Tagalong Kid, much like a core
Three Plus Two cast of characters results in a
Five-Man Band. Another one is that
The Hero stops being a label and becomes a physically distinct character type that leads the ensemble's members. The personality and physical traits by this point can be pretty much mix and matched without worrying about maintaining a "
balance" in the cast. However, it's quite common for the latter two to consist of two trios (and an optional extra), often based on gender - these may or may not conform to the
Three Faces Of Adam and the
Three Faces Of Eve. Five is also the most notable of all of them for three reasons - one, it's one of the
Tropes Of Legend, and two, it's the biggest ensemble you can have without things getting convoluted - in all types of ensemble, combat, role and temperament, and three, it fills out all the roles of the famous
Four Temperament Ensemble, making it a complete ensemble even more than the previous reason does. In combat, it will probably be two
GlassCannons, a balanced character, a "light" character (
Fragile Speedster) and a "heavy" character (
Mighty Glacier).
- Common genres or stories: Though roving bands of extended casts are not unheard of, they will take home with them, be it a space ship, a Mystery Machine, or merely the clothes on their back. These enormous ensembles practically write a Drama themselves, never mind having Hilarity Ensue due to outside events.
Beyond seven, there are no hard and fast rules for the cast as a whole. However, even with
Loads and Loads of Characters, the cast members can be broken down into a
Geodesic Cast or a set of
Cast Herds, each iteration of which usually follows one of the archetypes listed above. Individual characters may belong to a single group only, or they may belong to several, with their role sometimes changing depending on which group they're interacting with.
See also
How to Gather Characters.
This list primarily applies to gaming and action/adventure tales:
| Cast Members | Role | Emotional-Temperamental | Combat | Weapons |
| One | The Hero | The Drifter, Knight Errant | One-Man Army | Any weapon available |
| Two | Brains and Brawn | Red Oni, Blue Oni | Bash Brothers | Sword and Sorcerer |
| Three | Freudian Trio | Kirk, Spock, and McCoy | Mighty Glacier (The Big Guy), Jack Of All Stats (The Hero), and Glass Cannon or Fragile Speedster (The Smart Guy) | Heroes Prefer Swords (The Hero), Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me (The Big Guy), and Magic Wand (The Smart Guy) |
| Four | Add "Leadership" | Four Temperament Ensemble | Jack Of All Stats (The Hero) | Heroes Prefer Swords (The Hero) |
| Five | Add "Spirit" | Five-Man Band | Glass Cannon (The Chick) | Simple Staff (The Chick) |
| Six | Add either The Cutie, Nerd/Geek, or Cloud Cuckoo Lander or Sixth Ranger | Add Token Evil Teammate | What varies from there and beyond are the types of weapons and magic/skills, since every number past five will invariably get convoluted | The rules for Combat apply, probably with 10+ weapon types and no/loose rules for specific usage |
| Seven | | Plucky Comic Relief, Kid Hero, or The Stoic | | |
| Lots | | | The Squad | |
See also:
There's also a set of the above for all girl casts:
And we
also have an evil version of some of the above:
