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according to plan! The scene is tense. Everyone is on edge. The endless action and near brush with death
has left us at the edge of our seat. If this keeps up the entire story will flounder. Quick. I need something to lighten the tone. Um. A laugh track? Nope. That didn't work. We need the big guns. We need a comic relief character! Comic relief is when a story uses comedy in
order to relieve built up tension and to shift the story’s tone. Use of comedic elements can be a good way
to stop a story from getting too brooding or otherwise taking itself way too seriously. And what better way to break the tension then
by having a character dedicated to comic relief. We need a character with a core driving motive,
traits, and a character arc that will allow them to grow and change and…*starts cracking
up* Ha ha ha! I’m just joking to relief the tension of
the intro. Nope. We are going treat our character just like
an inanimate tool that we can stuff back into the toolbox once we are done. All of our characters should be treated purely
like shallow archetypes and comic relief characters are no exception. Prepare the laugh tracks and ready the zingers. Because I just love comic relief characters
so much. It’s not like this character type can has
a history of going horribly horribly wrong! Now what is the first thing a writer should
do with designing a comic relief character? Create a character with traits that will contrast
with the protagonist in order to act as a foil to one another? Give them a set of unique skills essential
to aid the heroes of the story at a critical juncture as well as justify their inclusion
in the protagonist’s team? Design their personality so that they can
balance out and resolve conflict between their fellow heroes through a combination of charisma
and high spirits? Nope. Those are all waste of time. Why spend precious effort making a character
that fits within the story as well as within the social structure of the protagonist’s
team when what they really need is a catch phrase! Making a catch phrase is as easy as the love
triangle! Wait. Let me try that again. Making a catch phrase is as easy as just mashing
a few words together. Zappow! A ringaling! Wow-we! For the cheap price of one crime against the
English language any writer can cobble together a string of letters that vaguely resemble
a word and bazinga, you’ve gotta a catch phrase! For best results, repeat this catchphrase
consonantly. For extra effect, give them a funny and not
at all annoying voice to go along with the catchphrase. I’m sure that will never get old. How can a writer know if this catch phrase
is any good? Well if by the end of the story the audience
wants to brutally murder anyone who utters something slightly close to the comic relief’s
catchphrase then the writer should rest easy that they did a good job! So we have our catchphrase. What next? How can a writer describe their comic relief
character? Our comic relief character can best be described
as wacky, zany, and other words that make me want to claw out my own eyes… I mean that invoke fun and frivolity. Best to have the other characters consonantly
tell the audience that our comic relief character is goofy and silly because, you know, they
might miss it even those these elements are on full blast 24/7. There is no relief from comic relief. What else does our comic relief character
need? A love triangle! Nah. I’m just joking again. The comic relief character is too unattractive
to be any real threat to the protagonist’s romantic intentions. Like for real unattractive not Hollywood unattractive. Sorry, comic relief. You don’t get a love interest. Now that we have our comic relief character
designed, how should a writer introduce them? Easy. By having them kick-start the plot by putting
the entire universe in danger through their bumbling antics. That’s right. Every awful thing that happens in the story
is literally the comic relief character’s fault. In fact, almost every bad thing that happens
in the plot is usually a result of the comic relief’s clowning around. Do any of the other characters bring this
up? Of course not. Has our comic relief character ever contributed
anything positive to the protagonist’s team ever? No, but his catchphrase should be enough distract
anyone who raises such irrelevant questions. “Why is this character here?” should always
be answered with “because the writer says so.” I can’t get rid of the comic relief character
because I don’t know how to fix the tone any other way than by torpedoing it completely
with a well placed lame joke. I mean I could use the comic relief's early
mistakes to fuel his ongoing character development and use it as a source of conflict as he attempts
to persuade the other characters to let him fix his earlier mistakes. But I’m not going to mess up by actually
letting my characters develop over the course of the plot. The comic relief character’s only purpose
is to fix the tone and nothing else. He will fix the tone by acting foolish at
every opportunity. All somber moments should be interrupted by
the comic relief’s zaniness. Oh no! The mentor just died! This is a solemn moment so let us all take
a moment of silence to fully appreciate the comic relief's slapstick routine. Speaking of comedy routine, what kind of humor
should our comic relief character employ, I mean other than slapstick? Word play and ironic juxtaposition? Too much setup is needed. Hyperbole, a science joke, and meta commentary
combined? That would the most horrible combination since
mixing matter and antimatter and I would never in a million years make such a joke on this
channel! One would think that considering the age of
the audience would be the wisest way to determine which style of humor to employ as well as
the level of sophistication of the jokes. Which is why I’m going to hedge my bets
by sticking to pop culture references and toilet humor. I’m sure those fart jokes will pull in that
precious 5 year old reading demographic. Now some might worry that the comic relief
character is becoming a nuisance. This is by design. Oh. You meant for the audience. This is also by design. Annoying people is funny especially when the
audience is the butt of the joke! I find it hilarious when I’m annoying other
people and I'm sure it’s as fun for the person on the receiving end! In fact, let’s increase the screen time
of our comic relief throughout the middle of the story since I am sure everyone will
just love this comic relief character as much as I do. This character is essential now. There is no way I would ever deny this amazing
character their screen-time and… oh it’s the third act. Well back into the toolbox you go comic relief. Got to have all of the dramatic characters
do their thing. Has the comic relief character actually been
funny? Did the audience manage to get invested in
the comic relief's character arc? Well this is perfect time to fix that mistake
by having them vanish from the story. Now the story can indulge in its serious tone
without limit and by indulge I mean wallow excessively in its dark tone. If you see any audience members flying past
then don’t worry. That’s just the mood whiplash launching
them out of the story. Now I just have to kill another important
character to show how dangerous the situation is. Too bad I already killed the mentor off after
he outlived his usefulness. Wait. I do have another character I have no further
use for. Oh no! The comic relief character died! How “tragic”. Surely the audience will mourn his loss? I’m sure those are not tears of utter joy. So sad. Oh. He’s back. I see the protagonist resurrected the comic
relief character with his end of story power upgrade. Thank goodness. And it couldn’t have happened to a better
character. The comic relief character deserves it for
throwing the entire universe out of balance and threatening all life in the galaxy thanks
to their bumbling. You know what, I’ll think I’ll even give
them a last minute love interest as a reward that they totally earned. Congratulations, here is a free supermodel. And here is a medal. It reads ‘most annoying character’. Oh. I’m sorry. I misread. It reads ‘a true hero’ because that is
what our comic relief is. I mean how could anyone find my comic relief
character annoying? Just because he has an irritating voice, reuses
the same lame gags over and over, wore out that catchphrase a long time ago, refers to
decades old unfunny jokes, and then has the gall to end on a self deprecating punchline! Wait a minute. CULT LEADER: Excuse me, Mr. Ghost, do you
have a moment to hear the good news about Cthulhu? CONSPIRATOR: For the last freaking time, I’m. Not. A. Ghost! Ugh. This is what I get for suppressing the invention
of holograms. CEO: Well, if it isn’t my favorite group
of has-beens, the ancient conspiracy. Shame I can’t turn fossils like you into
fuel. CONSPIRATOR: Don’t you sass me. You know why I’m here, thief! You Bilderberg Group snobs think you can just
walk all over us you bunch of Johnny-come-latelies. CEO: Aw. Now you hurt my feelings. I guess I’ll just have to comfort myself
by buying another pacific island unlike you guys who have to pawn off ancient relics just
to keep in the black. CONSPIRATOR: And I can’t stand that condescending
attitude of yours! Roll in here with a bunch of money and think
you can just buy the world! You don’t know anything about ruling from
the shadows! CEO: You’re just jealous I bought congress
before you. CONSPIRATOR: No. I’m here because I demand to know what you
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for it and everything. So where did you hide it? CEO: Hide it. No. I liquidated that one faster than you can
say “free renewable energy”. Pretty sure that one is lost forever. Especially since the hacker I hired to steal
it from you said that he most definitely did not copy it in order to advance his own agenda. *awkward pause* CONSPIRATOR: I’ve gotta go. CEO: Huh. On second thought. Maybe I should’ve tied up that loose end
faster. Just like Gran-pappy always said ‘double
check before you double cross’. Oh well. I got my PMC on speed dial. Better gather the troops. We'll head em off at the pass. CULT LEADER: Can we go too? CEO: Depends. How much money does this Cthulhu fella have?
