How to get the most out of your tertiary characters

Some of literature’s most beloved story worlds are populated with enough characters to fill Madison Square Garden. From Game of Thrones to Harry Potter, there’s no deficit of supporting cast members.

But if you’re not careful, a sprawling lineup can become unwieldy and confusing for the reader. We’ll take a closer look at these tertiary characters, and how to write ones that elevate — rather than overwhelm — your novel or short story.

What is a “tertiary character”?

The term “tertiary character” refers to a minor character in a story. They come after the primary character (or the protagonist) and the secondary characters (such as sidekicks, love interests, antagonists, and so forth).

Tertiary characters are people the main character might interact with two or three times over the course of a story. They don’t play a huge role in the plot, but they might set it in motion, or help or hinder the main characters along their journey.

Tips for making your tertiary characters memorable

Even though they don’t take centre stage, tertiary characters can still be one of the best parts of a reader’s experience (or a viewer’s, in a film or TV series). Here are some ideas for how to make your minor characters stand out.

Use the foiling technique

The foiling technique involves juxtaposing two story elements — often characters, but not always — in order to highlight their differences. For a tertiary character, this means using that character to create contrast in a scene.

For example, if your main character is dark and gloomy, you can juxtapose them against a minor character who’s bright and perky. Or, include a minor character who’s unconventional and offbeat to contrast a sterile, suffocating office setting.

Enhance theme

Tertiary characters can be a great way to emphasise a story’s core message, or theme. For example, your character might run into a vulnerable child to highlight the innocence they’re fighting for. Or, you could introduce minor characters who have already succumbed to the internal conflict your main character is fighting against.

This will make the reader invest more deeply in your protagonist’s journey.

Raise stakes for your main characters

Tertiary characters can also be useful in raising the intensity of the protagonist’s goal — in other words, the stakes.

You’ll see this done in comic books and action films a lot. The hero is fighting some baddie, when suddenly the villain puts a train car full of innocent people in danger. Now the stakes are higher than ever. But, you can raise the stakes in subtler or more emotional ways, too.

Broaden your story world

If you’re writing a novel in which worldbuilding plays a pivotal role — most notably fantasy, science fiction, and historical fiction — adding a few key tertiary characters can help make your story world feel more fleshed out and alive.

In speculative fiction, this could be other fantastical creatures or characters with contrasting belief systems which hint at a broader sociopolitical landscape. In historical fiction, this could be characters from other families, cultures, or economic classes that allow you as the author to work in more historical details than you could have through your main character alone.

But even if you’re writing literary fiction, you can expand your worldbuilding through other attitudes or cliques in a school, neighborhood, or workplace. Even if you can’t show every single perspective, having them present in the periphery of your story will really bring your setting to life.

Say what everybody’s thinking

Sometimes, your characters might miss something obvious because you need them to stumble obliviously into the plot. A tertiary character can make a good reader-insert to gently nudge the fourth wall and point out important details.

This could be something like challenging a convention of society, pointing out the glaring flaw in a plan, or refusing to go along with a group movement. Usually things don’t end too well for these characters (because if everyone listened to them, there would be no story).

Use foreshadowing

In the same way, a tertiary character can be a useful tool for showing the reader that something’s not quite right or that something bad is going to happen. This is sometimes called the “herald archetype”.

For instance, they might arrive in town with stories of something nefarious at their heels. Or, they could be the first victim to fall while the main characters are still naïvely going about their ordinary lives.

Provide some comic relief

Finally, tertiary characters are a great way to lighten up an otherwise dire section of a story. Whether that’s through humour or stubborn cheerfulness in the face of grief, these characters can make things feel a little more hopeful.

Remember: you can combine different elements from these ideas to create a tertiary character that really shines. They don’t have to stay on the page very long for the reader to remember them (just look at Barb from Stranger Things).

Do you have too many tertiary characters?

Sometimes, there’s a temptation to throw everybody into the literary pool and create a story that’s brimming with tertiary characters. But if you create a sprawling cast that isn’t earning its place there, the story can feel muddled and unfocused.

With each of your minor characters, ask yourself: what role does this character serve in this story? Use the above ideas for inspiration. If you’re not sure what one of the characters is doing there, or you find multiple characters filling the same tertiary role, you probably don’t need them there on the page. Try to slim down your starring players enough that every single one feels intentional.

But! You can always recycle the ones that don’t make the cut for future projects, like a sequel, spinoff, or special edition short story. Or, you can look at them as tools for you as the author to better understand the world you’re writing about. In art, nothing is ever truly wasted.