45 Master Characters (38 page)

By not wanting the hero to change and outgrow her.

By being jealous of the hero's accomplishments and wishing she had the resources to be so heroic.

By steering the hero away from her goal and the right decision in order to keep her safe.

By causing problems with and being jealous of the hero's relationships with other characters.

Think about how they met and how long they know each other. The Best Friend can be an unlikely match for the hero but there's usually some common ground between them. In
There's Something About Mary
, any character who had a mentally challenged sibling would be a friend of Mary's since Mary is so attached to her brother, who is mentally challenged.

How the hero and Best Friend came to know each other:

The Best Friend can be in the same line of work or share the same interests as the hero.

They may have met in grade school and have been friends since.

They may have lived near each other and became good friends by geography alone, having no common interests.

They may have met in work or college.

They have only just recently met, and the hero doesn't know that much about her at all, adding mystery to their relationship.

The Best Friend in action:

The Tin Woodman (Jack Haley) in
The Wizard of Oz
is the Best Friend to Dorothy; he doesn't provide much comic relief like the Scarecrow does, and he doesn't shadow her need for courage like the Lion does.

The Droids in
Star Wars
are Luke Skywalker's best friends.

The Lover is the love interest of the story. Even though some characters run from love out of fear, everyone ultimately wants to be loved and to fit in somewhere.

The Lover is home base and security. He's often the one the hero goes to to vent her feelings, especially her doubts and fears. The Lover is the silver lining among the clouds and may be the only character who believes in the hero at all. The Lover can come in the form of a pet, as in Toto from
The Wizard of Oz
, or the Lover can come in the form of a child for a parent.

The Lover can create conflict for the hero:

By presenting the character with an ultimatum.

By misunderstanding something and causing more trouble.