A lot of people who write like to incorporate the whole "teamwork" shenanigans into the story. You know the drill. A group of characters whose internal and external strengths and weaknesses cover for each other, and who have all sorts of interesting character arcs that they help each other overcome.
What's that dynamic like in your story? I'm curious!
I'll copy and paste something in a sec.
Also today I just got this thought of the characters of the Distincts as a group and it was great. The vengeance-bent leader, the deputy who won't take crap from anyone, the newbie who is full of difficult power, the best friend who is the sassy support, the joker who is the morale of the group, the sociopath, and the cute, quiet, closed off one who is an unstoppable badass.
Excellent combination of characters!
laughs from the corner I got a team of nine- which yeah, is a bit overboard but I'll make it work. Hopefully. I got Jenestder who's the leader and strategist, Jake who's a complete sadist with a tendency for blood lust, Casimir who's the one with great techniques when fighting, Aaron (yep that's our character finger guns) who basically the most ruthless and cold out of all of them when it comes to carrying out a certain task, Andre who's in charge of making connections for the team's benefit, and lastly Rae who is a ball of sunshine and keeps everyone in line when they get a little too much for Jenestder. I still haven't figured out the other two characters but they'll be coming soon :>
I have a 20+ group in my story (i know, wtf is wrong with me) but they all mean so much. At first, the group is filled with survivors of horrible experiments which have left them scarred and with incredible (but dangerous) abilities. They live in a place called Abditory which is a realm hidden to the rest of the world as they recover or hide. Eventually, over time you see how their friendships bond them to become a family and this family quickly grows as they find more people like them (refugees, outcasts, lost souls, you name it.)
Since they have all experienced pain, loss, judgment, and regret; they are able to help heal each other, they're there when each other fall. They forge trust and loyalty out of hopelessness and fear. The purpose of the group is not only to add something to the story (abusive relationship, self-confidence, divorced parents) which gives light to real-world problems in a land of outlandish characters but their personalities, even though similar, somehow vary hugely. I've got the responsible, deputy leader type, I have the musical, optimist one, another is a sarcastic, independent tech geek and a serious, quiet and rather shy character. The list goes on and it fascinating to see how these people interact with each other and the outside world. If you're struggling to find a purpose for a character, add that to the story. Make the character aware that they don't have a purpose within this group, how are they going to react? Are they going to joke about it? Will it turn them bitter?
Just let your imagination run free.
laughs from the corner I got a team of nine- which yeah, is a bit overboard but I'll make it work. Hopefully. I got Jenestder who's the leader and strategist, Jake who's a complete sadist with a tendency for blood lust, Casimir who's the one with great techniques when fighting, Aaron (yep that's our character finger guns) who basically the most ruthless and cold out of all of them when it comes to carrying out a certain task, Andre who's in charge of making connections for the team's benefit, and lastly Rae who is a ball of sunshine and keeps everyone in line when they get a little too much for Jenestder. I still haven't figured out the other two characters but they'll be coming soon :>
That's solid af Tam! You got that shit on lock!
Come to think of it, I only have one group of characters that are a team. All my others are (usually) traumatized solo badarse females. Anyways, so I have Moon, Spirit and Glimmer. Glimmer always takes charge and gets the trio into trouble, but she’s working on it. Spirit is very timid and helps stop stubborn Moon and Glimmer from getting into arguments, and is the overall voice of reason. Moon is the connection between Glimmer and Spirit, a match for Glimmer’s fiery personality but also has a soft side that lets her connect with Spirit.
How very unorthodox!
Most of my characters make up this kind of pack with no real "leader" they decide on a leader based on who takes charge, and who's best for the role in set situation. (btw that's like… uhm… almost, if not more than, 20 characters…)
I have a bunch of small abnormal children who were forced to fight each other to the death in arena matches. The guy you'd think would be leader is actually quite too impulsive as a child and too into fighting once he's given a tiny flicker of hope. Then you've got this little girl, who's actually quite intelligent and listens to everyone. She doesn't have a very loud or demanding voice, unlike her previously mentioned companion, so he's the one that speaks for her and makes everyone listen. He's protective over the group, but he's quite pessimistic and overall has a habit of crushing most hope. The little girl is an optimistic one, though she's pessimistic towards herself specifically.
There's a trio within the group as well, who all do what they can. The short raccoonish one, he's pessimistic and scared. The tall optimist tries to make things better, he lights up a room pretty well. Then you've got the ice block. He just stands there and expresses emotions through actions such as standing protectively in front of someone, or setting his hand on their shoulder and making a strange, mildly reassuring noise.
Then you've got the tall blonde girl who just tries to fight well. She didn't do much, but she was given a leader and now believes she has a purpose. She's not good with friends or anything, to say the least, but she means well?
They get out eventually, but once they're adults they all die gruesome deaths.
I've spared no one.
laughs from the corner I got a team of nine- which yeah, is a bit overboard but I'll make it work. Hopefully. I got Jenestder who's the leader and strategist, Jake who's a complete sadist with a tendency for blood lust, Casimir who's the one with great techniques when fighting, Aaron (yep that's our character finger guns) who basically the most ruthless and cold out of all of them when it comes to carrying out a certain task, Andre who's in charge of making connections for the team's benefit, and lastly Rae who is a ball of sunshine and keeps everyone in line when they get a little too much for Jenestder. I still haven't figured out the other two characters but they'll be coming soon :>
That's solid af Tam! You got that shit on lock!
Lmaoo thanks my dude~
"making a strange, mildly reassuring noises." I resonate with this.