45 Master Characters (40 page)

Darlene Conner (Sara Gilbert) in
Roseanne
uses nasty insulting jokes to get through her problems.

Chandler in
Friends
uses jokes to avoid feeling his emotions and to stop others from being too serious when they want to discuss their problems.

The Jester is similar to the Joker except she truly means well most of the time. She messes up the hero's plans with her physical mistakes. She's a supporting character who shares similarities with Lucy from
I Love Lucy
or Larry and Curly from the
Three Stooges.
She's a very uncoordinated risk taker. She has no problem with the idea of jumping out of an airplane, but as soon as she attempts it a physical catastrophe occurs.

The Jester tries to help the hero but winds up ruining everything. The hero feels obligated to let her help because she's so sincere and innocent. The hero can't tell her to go away because she feels bad for the Jester, who is often less fortunate. At some point the sparks will fly between them, especially when the hero is under a lot of stress and pressure.

The Jester can cause conflict for the hero:

By following the hero around and physically wreaking havoc everywhere.

By getting herself in trouble so the hero has to stop everything to help her.

By ignoring the hero when she finally does tell her to stay out of her way. She secretly causes trouble and may be angry with the hero for excluding her.

The Jester in action:

Joxer (Ted Raimi) in
Xena
never does anything right but manages to help distract the bad guys with his antics.

Cosmo Kramer in
Seinfeld
.

Leo Ketz (Joe Pesci) in
Lethal Weapon
.

Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) in
The Wizard of Oz
gets set on fire several times, falls apart literally and has trouble walking.

The Nemesis isn't a villain but a “friendly” troublemaker, similar to Carla on
Cheers
and Newman on
Seinfeld
. He doesn't care much about the hero's goals; he's just waiting around for a chance to consciously mess things up for the hero. He has a civilized relationship with the hero for the sake of mutual friends or work or whatever it is that keeps them together, but things turn ugly as soon as they're alone together. The nemesis may be a little jealous of the hero. He wants to see the hero walk in his shoes for a change. He feels his life is so hard and trying that the “perfect” hero wouldn't last a day in his shoes.

The Nemesis passionately hates the hero, yet he can't seem to live without having the hero there to hate. Newman's life would be boring without having Jerry to hate, and Carla would have no one to battle with if Diane wasn't around. The Nemesis's identity is wrapped up in hating the hero. Very often this love/hate relationship has been going on for years and neither character can remember how it began. They just know they're supposed to hate each other, so they do. Sometimes they'll work together for a common goal, but as soon as the goal is achieved they part ways again. Mimi Bobek (Kathy Kinney) and Drew Carey in the
Drew Carey Show
often pair up to play a joke on someone else, like their mutual boss. Jerry teams up with Newman in an effort to help Newman get a job out of state and therefore out of Jerry's life.

The Nemesis can create conflict for the hero:

By constantly being in the shadows waiting for the hero to slip up, which makes the hero feel more pressure.

By stepping into the scene and creating a new obstacle every time the hero is close to his goal. If the hero is waiting for a phone call from the killer, the Nemesis will be there to answer the phone and aggravate the killer.