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Titans: Establishing Character
Nov. 22nd, 2018 10:25 amHello, it's me here with a blog post on one of my favorite TV shows currently, DC Comics' Titans and some of my thoughts on how to establish character.
I was actually prompted to think about this given my recent disappointment with a book I had been anticipating because I felt like it didn't do a good job of establishing the main character(s) at the outset. I'm a reader who really needs to feel connected to the main character(s) before I feel compelled to read a book, and that sense of connection comes from either sympathy or fascination, which in turn comes from immediately knowing something about the character's personality and/or drive.
I'm not saying I need to fully understand a character before I'll follow their story, but I do need a "hook" to get me invested in their journey.
As it turns out, Titans is excellent at establishing character. Even though it's a TV show, I think there are plenty of things that can be applied to books as well.
Raven: establishing character through reaction
Raven/Rachel Roth is Titans' first character to appear, and she's immediately set up to be sympathetic through her dream of the Flying Graysons' deaths and her terrified reaction to it, even though she's unrelated to them. Her grieving reaction demonstrates that she's a deeply empathetic character who cares about people she's never met.
Kory: establishing character through challenge
Kory's character arc is interesting since she's introduced with amnesia. Although oftentimes amnesia can feel like it's being used cheaply, I think it makes sense in the context of this show because Kory (Koriand'r) is such a powerful character that Titans wanted to begin with some limits to her powers and knowledge.
In any case, Kory is introduced with amnesia and soon realizing that she's being hunted. Even though she has amnesia, she's shown to be incredibly resourceful and able to at least figure out what her goal had been before she received amnesia. Kory's resilience and resourcefulness immediately make her a likable character in addition to the mystery of who she is and why she's pursuing Rachel.
Dick: establishing character through hint
I saved Dick Grayson for last, well, because I have a tremendous soft spot for the members of the Batfamily, but also because Dick's characterization is the most subtle in Titans Episode 1 and therefore the most interesting. Putting aside the flashback to his parents' death, Dick is introduced without any dialogue at all. In his first scene, he's flipping through a folder with a picture of a bruised child, watching the man we infer to be the child's father, and casting looks at a suitcase in the back of his car. Through visuals alone, we're immediately told several things about Dick:
(1) He cares about children injured through abuse.
(2) We're not sure what the suitcase is for or what's in it, but Dick's glances at it demonstrate that he views it as something ominous.
This, on its own, is a pretty interesting "hook" for Dick, but Dick's character is also slowly unveiled over the course of the episode. When he shows up to Detroit PD, we see that he's cold and standoffish with his new partner, but as revealed through the other characters' dialogue, it's because something went wrong with his last partner (and we learn exactly what happened toward the end of the episode). When Dick finally acts on the child abuser, we see not only that Dick is Robin (and the suitcase contains his Robin suit), but also that Dick is clearly struggling with violent urges while feeling regret afterward.
Dick is, in some ways, the main character of Titans, but in some ways, he's also the most mysterious. Even though, unlike Rachel and Kory, he understands himself and where he came from, he's the most complex character in the sense that he is clearly carrying his past as baggage (in some ways literally symbolized by the Robin case he carries all over the country) and he is slowly trying to come to terms with his past and how to move on from it.
I was actually prompted to think about this given my recent disappointment with a book I had been anticipating because I felt like it didn't do a good job of establishing the main character(s) at the outset. I'm a reader who really needs to feel connected to the main character(s) before I feel compelled to read a book, and that sense of connection comes from either sympathy or fascination, which in turn comes from immediately knowing something about the character's personality and/or drive.
I'm not saying I need to fully understand a character before I'll follow their story, but I do need a "hook" to get me invested in their journey.
As it turns out, Titans is excellent at establishing character. Even though it's a TV show, I think there are plenty of things that can be applied to books as well.
Raven: establishing character through reaction
Raven/Rachel Roth is Titans' first character to appear, and she's immediately set up to be sympathetic through her dream of the Flying Graysons' deaths and her terrified reaction to it, even though she's unrelated to them. Her grieving reaction demonstrates that she's a deeply empathetic character who cares about people she's never met.
Kory: establishing character through challenge
Kory's character arc is interesting since she's introduced with amnesia. Although oftentimes amnesia can feel like it's being used cheaply, I think it makes sense in the context of this show because Kory (Koriand'r) is such a powerful character that Titans wanted to begin with some limits to her powers and knowledge.
In any case, Kory is introduced with amnesia and soon realizing that she's being hunted. Even though she has amnesia, she's shown to be incredibly resourceful and able to at least figure out what her goal had been before she received amnesia. Kory's resilience and resourcefulness immediately make her a likable character in addition to the mystery of who she is and why she's pursuing Rachel.
Dick: establishing character through hint
I saved Dick Grayson for last, well, because I have a tremendous soft spot for the members of the Batfamily, but also because Dick's characterization is the most subtle in Titans Episode 1 and therefore the most interesting. Putting aside the flashback to his parents' death, Dick is introduced without any dialogue at all. In his first scene, he's flipping through a folder with a picture of a bruised child, watching the man we infer to be the child's father, and casting looks at a suitcase in the back of his car. Through visuals alone, we're immediately told several things about Dick:
(1) He cares about children injured through abuse.
(2) We're not sure what the suitcase is for or what's in it, but Dick's glances at it demonstrate that he views it as something ominous.
This, on its own, is a pretty interesting "hook" for Dick, but Dick's character is also slowly unveiled over the course of the episode. When he shows up to Detroit PD, we see that he's cold and standoffish with his new partner, but as revealed through the other characters' dialogue, it's because something went wrong with his last partner (and we learn exactly what happened toward the end of the episode). When Dick finally acts on the child abuser, we see not only that Dick is Robin (and the suitcase contains his Robin suit), but also that Dick is clearly struggling with violent urges while feeling regret afterward.
Dick is, in some ways, the main character of Titans, but in some ways, he's also the most mysterious. Even though, unlike Rachel and Kory, he understands himself and where he came from, he's the most complex character in the sense that he is clearly carrying his past as baggage (in some ways literally symbolized by the Robin case he carries all over the country) and he is slowly trying to come to terms with his past and how to move on from it.
