Characters with quirks.

A

Aspiring Mogul

I've noticed on the TV series, "The X-Files", that one of the villains, known as "Cancer Man", is always smoking a cigarette, which is why he's known as "Cancer Man".

Is there any reason why the character is forever smoking? Perhaps it was just to give him something interesting to pique the reader?

For some reason, I'm also thinking of the scene in "The Counterfeit Traitor", where William Holden, the title character, first meets his boss, a British spy - the spy is having breakfast, even as he briefs Holden on being a counterfeit traitor. Is there any point or symbolism to having that character eating while he briefs the character? Quite honestly, it can be pretty rude to eat and talk business, especially if the other person hasn't been invited to dine with him.
 
If you knew the cancer man better, you'd know he picked up that habit when he join the group of government within governments to control the world where history would never know his real name. He is stressed with the world on his shoulders and he had to lie to his own people time and time again to keep a promise he made to his only real friend in the world, William Mulder. That promise was to make sure nothing ever happened to William's son, Fox. Many people in the cancer man's group wanted Fox Mulder dead. As long as he lived, the cancer man did keep Fox safe from his associates. All the lies and cover-ups had to lead to some vice. So, he took up smoking.

I think some heart problems would have been appropriate with the world of lies on his shoulders. He also had quite a history as an assassin too. He did feel bad for killing Martin Luther King. He admired him. So, taking up compulsive habits are appropriate for realism.
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
Quite honestly, it can be pretty rude to eat and talk business, especially if the other person hasn't been invited to dine with him.
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It's a signal of personal power - your needs are unimportant to me. Perversely, it's also be a signal of importance - it was important enough that I spoke to you during breakfast (my personal time). Combine the two it becomes - the situation is important, you are not, but could become so if you get the job done right; then, perhaps, you'll eat breakfast with me next time. It can also mean - I know everything about you; I know that you've already had your breakfast.
 
Thanks, both of you. I'm drafting out a series bible, and I'm wondering if I should give a certain character a quirk, like him eating every time he sees one of the main characters.

I understand a character is really a robot, to fulfill a certain function in the story. So, for example, Cancer Man was a sympathetic villain, who had to do things to protect the greater good, and his lines and actions are written with that in mind. I am therefore wondering how his smoking would add to the story-telling - is it just a quirk to make him interesting, or is there another reason for the robot to smoke?
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
I understand a character is really a robot, to fulfill a certain function in the story. So,... I am therefore wondering how his smoking would add to the story-telling - is it just a quirk to make him interesting, or is there another reason for the robot to smoke?
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Smoking or other action JUST to make it "more interesting" is lame.

Make it purposeful.

What's the time setting?
Near or distant future?
Is the robot's A.I. problematic?
Was it designed to become progressively more independent with age & experience?
Is it adaptive A.I. or did the original programmer have a quirky sense of humor?
Is the A.I. programming genuinely faulty or the unit damaged?
If damaged, what's the back story on that?
Is the robot an android? They aren't the same.
Is it rebelling or shunting its "designed humanity?"
Does the robot feel cursed by its desire to smoke or does it do it just to provoke and irritate both humans and other robots?
What happens when the robot is denied its cigarettes?

What are some alternate affectations you've considered?

Do other robots have the same or similar condition(s)?
 
I wasn't talking about robots per se; what I meant was that a character is made to order for a specific purpose, just as a toaster is made to order.
 
Same principles as I applied to the smoking robot.

Why this or that?
Nature or nurture?
Natural or affected?
Conscious or subconscious?
Purpose to character? Parental or mentor training? Childhood experience?
When did it begin?
Does the character embrace it, indifferent to it, or is ashamed of it?
Etc.
 
rayw said:
Same principles as I applied to the smoking robot.
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Oh, OK.

Why this or that?
Nature or nurture?
Natural or affected?
Conscious or subconscious?
Purpose to character? Parental or mentor training? Childhood experience?
When did it begin?
Does the character embrace it, indifferent to it, or is ashamed of it?
Etc.
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I don't know. That's why I'm trying to learn, as in, how does Cancer Man's cigarette help the story?

My character, for some reason I can't fathom, is always eating when he meets the main characters. I don't want to clutter up my story with useless bits, but, then again, I could be missing something - perhaps the eating part could just be something to make him more interesting.
 
Fine. That's cool.

Just have a well thought out purpose and reason for the eating thing.

Is he hypoglycemic?
Is he hyperactive?
Is he especially obese, or just regular American obese? :lol:
Does he have people wait until he can get his food ready BEFORE speaking with them?


BTW, is this a spec screenplay or are you actually going to be shooting this yourself?
FWIW, actors delivering audible dialog with bits of food in their mouths is problematic and often just plain unsightly - unless the character is SUPPOSED to be disgusting, in which case GOPHERIT!
 
Character quirks could sometimes be the result of an actor wanting to get 'inside his characters head'. I once had an actor ask if his character could always have peanuts which he carries and nibbles on, because he felt it suited his character and it would help his performance. I didn't object, and it worked well. I think small touches like that can make characters interesting and add a little depth.
I'm trying to think of others. George Clooney and brushing his teeth in 'Intolerable Cruelty'? Seems to add more to the character than to the story, but that serves to make the story better.
 
rayw said:
Fine. That's cool.

Just have a well thought out purpose and reason for the eating thing.

Is he hypoglycemic?
Is he hyperactive?
Is he especially obese, or just regular American obese? :lol:
Does he have people wait until he can get his food ready BEFORE speaking with them?


BTW, is this a spec screenplay or are you actually going to be shooting this yourself?
FWIW, actors delivering audible dialog with bits of food in their mouths is problematic and often just plain unsightly - unless the character is SUPPOSED to be disgusting, in which case GOPHERIT!
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This is a spec script, Rayw, and the character is minor, a spy master who, by meeting the main characters, tells the viewers what the world is like.

And thanks, Doghouse Reilly, for your input. :)
 
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Aspiring Mogul said:
I've noticed on the TV series, "The X-Files", that one of the villains, known as "Cancer Man", is always smoking a cigarette, which is why he's known as "Cancer Man".

Is there any reason why the character is forever smoking? Perhaps it was just to give him something interesting to pique the reader?

For some reason, I'm also thinking of the scene in "The Counterfeit Traitor", where William Holden, the title character, first meets his boss, a British spy - the spy is having breakfast, even as he briefs Holden on being a counterfeit traitor. Is there any point or symbolism to having that character eating while he briefs the character? Quite honestly, it can be pretty rude to eat and talk business, especially if the other person hasn't been invited to dine with him.
Click to expand...

To me it speaks of aloofness, yet power. It's actually a theme that others have used numerous times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6TZz_niaF4

Here's one powerful and early example from "Paths of Glory".
 
I think television frequently has a resident quirky character, who the others frequently comment on, whether Norm on Cheers, or Abby the tech genius on NCIS, or Ed Norton on the Honeymooners, or Kramer on Seinfeld...

I had a character chew gum throughout the movie. It's eventually revealed that her fiancé had helped her to give up smoking, but now she's addicted to gum. Since the movie dealt with addiction, it fit.
 
Caidh Mor said:
To me it speaks of aloofness, yet power. It's actually a theme that others have used numerous times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6TZz_niaF4

Here's one powerful and early example from "Paths of Glory".
Click to expand...

Hmm, interesting.

A Soldier's Story also has a scene where the superior officer, a Caucasian was eating breakfast while speaking to the main character, an African-American (at time 29.59).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYL6W7ZUS_8


And there was a scene in Star Trek: The Next Generation, in an episode inspired by "The Manchurian Candidate", where the bad Klingon was eating dinner and gave Geordi La Forge instructions.

So the common theme among these scenes is that the superior can eat breakfast, while the subordinate takes instructions.

Thanks for the insight, Caidh Mor. :)

But is there a reason why Cancer Man would smoke a cigarette? What about a superior who, say, has a bottle in his hand as opposed to a cigarette? What would that denote?
 
I guess it depends on how long you want to linger on them with the food being brought to their mouth for each take. If it got to the point where the food was all eaten and you still needed takes of the actor chewing, perhaps the actor would just pretend they have food in their mouth.
 
OK. I have been thinking of having my actors pretending to be eating or, have them talk after the dinner is over. In no case, for me, would they actually be seen putting food in their mouths.
 
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