A few lines, just to show how people were amazed at what George McFly did.
A character who walks into a scene, says a few lines at most, and
departs. Essentially, an extra with a line. But hey, it's a part. You have to start somewhere, and they wouldn't give away a part this small unless
it served some purpose in the story, however small.
Plus it's usually enough to get you a card in one of the actors guilds.
Bit Character is the next step up.
Compare with the
Almost Dead Guy, who walks into a scene, delivers a message, and dies horribly.
The word may come from Greek tragedy; when a play dealt with members of the nobility, their military entourage would usually serve as messengers — often
with bad news. It is also the standard term for an operatic supernumerary, one of several silent extras of either sex who may carry anything from a flagon to a kidnap victim. (See
here
.)
A
Herald is usually more dramatic and foreshadows
The Call.
Compare
The Cameo and
Pursued Protagonist. Not to be confused with the native assistant of the
Great White Hunter, or with literal wielders of
spears. Can sometimes result in a
One-Scene Wonder.
The term can also refer to a man who is good-looking, but in a rather bland and conventional way; this usage is derived from this statue
[1]◊ which is or was considered the canon for male beauty in the West.
Examples
Film
- In the picture, the couple at the dance at the end of Back to the Future, who are amazed that George McFly stood up to the school bully.
- There's also Red the Bum, who calls Marty a "crazy, drunk driver" towards the end of Part I, and a "crazy, drunk pedestrian" in the alternate 1985 in Part II.
- The extra who wasn't supposed to speak in Star Trek IV, but her answer to the "Nuclear Wessels" question was so perfect, it was a Throw It In.
- She wasn't even an extra to begin with: she was just some random inhabitant of San Fransisco who gave Chekov such a straightforward answer because she wasn't aware that it was for a film. The crew, after quickly deciding to Throw It In, actually had to chase her down in order to give her pay as an extra (so the union wouldn't complain).
- In Citizen Toxie: Toxic Avenger IV, an actress playing a nurse agreed to be nude on screen in exchange for a line.
- From Ghost Busters: the carriage driver in Central Park who remarks: "What an asshole," after Rick Moranis has a conversation with the horse.
- In Bruce Almighty: Bruce asks a young boy if he knows how to work a video camera. He replies, "Duh." They even make special mention of him fitting this trope (not in those words) during the DVD commentary.
- Jamie in Mystery Team is essentially this; she does very little to add to the plot, and is good for a few laughs.
- In The Naked Gun, the man at the baseball game who yells out "It's Enrico Pulotzo!!!" is credited as such during the closing credits, not even having a name.
Literature
- In a commentary to the Dragonriders of Pern, author Anne McCaffrey described Masterharper Robinton and Mastersmith Fandarel as spear carriers in the first book, who later evolved into major characters.
LiveActionTV
Music
- Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida has a messenger who is possibly the smallest credited role. He has like three lines.
Theater
- In Macbeth, Seyton only shows up to tell the king his wife is dead (and to hint where she's gone).
- Bundles, from Annie.
- Depression-era American playwright and former actor Clifford Odetts was so frustrated by constantly being cast as Spear Carriers that when he started writing plays, he deliberately wrote many of his minor characters to be One Scene Wonders. The union members in Paradise Lost in particular stand out.
- Hopkins in The Crucible
Video Games
- Baldur's Gate: Hold there, traveler, Elminster just wants some attention.
- Half-Life. Barney the guard pops up to deliver a message or herald Gordon a few times. Sometimes you can recruit him to do something, and once he manages to become the Almost Dead Guy just before Gordon is ambushed too.
- Then there's Blue Shift...
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind: the prisoner Jiub only managed to deliver ten short lines of dialog before you were separated from him.
- However, fans became so fond of Jiub that mods eventually allowed you to free him, as well. There's also one mod that makes Jiub the prophesied hero, and the PC just a random adventurer.
- Even Bethesda got into the act. In Oblivion we learn that "Saint Jiub" drove the Cliff Racers from Morrowind.
- Gothic: his name is Mud and he wants to talk to you. Sadly, he has nothing useful to say. No, Mud, go away.
- Curiously, once the Old Camp turns hostile to you after the mine collapse the locals will attack and murder him. Apparently they didn't like him either.
- In The Curse of Monkey Island, Guybrush wants to be in a theater production but is told he "doesn't have the hands of a spear carrier."
◊ which is or was considered the canon for male beauty in the West.
