LISTEN on our player!
Or Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com.au/podcasts/24f85853-5d63-44ac-885f-da23db0a53ad/the-quackcast
Ensemble casts is the topic for today! But what do we mean by that? The way I'm defining it for THIS Quackcast is that you have a group of main characters where any of them can function in a chief protagonist role for part of the story, they're all on the same side and they can work together in smaller groups or in one big group. This is a common structure for modern sitcoms and a lot other things like The Avengers, Star Trek the Next Generation, or Lord of the Rings for example. They're not just a group, but a group made up of “main characters”.
One of the advantages of an ensemble cast as opposed to just a group or a one or two main characters is that they can share the load story-wise and make it much easier to develop new storylines and work your way out of holes and blocks. This is because they all have advanced character development and so create stories and pathways just in how they interact with each other, their differing world views and how they approach situations very differently. It's harder to develop multiple main characters but it's easier to maintain a story in the long run, especially if it's a long running story.
Banes and I have an ensemble cast in Bottomless Waitress consisting of the three waitresses, Polly, Jane, and Francis. There are other characters like Nicky the truck driver, Wilfred the scientist, or Craig the bus-boy but they're not as important or developed. Each of the three ladies can independently drive a storyline on their own, they can work in tandem confronting each other or together against other characters of situations, or all three can work as one. There are a lot of combinations and possibilities.
Do you have an ensemble cast? Do you like it when stories use one as opposed to more of a group with a leader or just one or two main characters?
This week Gunwallace gave us a theme inspired by Plague Rat - a very dark, heavy, and serious intro leads up and into a beat heavy, 80s inspired, cool dance number that just drags you along and up out of the doldrums of the post-apocalyptic disaster of a plague-ridden, sad world, into the coloured lights and cool vibes of the dance floor!
Topics and shownotes
Links
Featured comic:
The Starry Ladders - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2025/apr/29/featured-comic-the-starry-ladders/
Featured music:
Plague Rat - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Plague_Rat/ - by Rabbit_Dance_, rated T.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Kawaiidaigakusei - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/kawaiidaigakusei
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
VIDEO exclusive!
Become a subscriber on the $5 level and up to see our weekly Patreon video and get our advertising perks!
- https://www.patreon.com/DrunkDuck
Even at $1 you get your name with a link on the front page and a mention in the weekend newsposts!
Join us on Discord - https://discordapp.com/invite/7NpJ8GS
Quackcast 738 - Ensemble casts
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, May 6, 2025
Banes,
Drunk duck,
Ensemble casts,
Featured comic,
Gunwallace,
Kawaiidaigakusei,
musical feature,
Ozoneocean,
Plague Rat,
Quackcast 738,
Tantz,
The Starry Ladders,
Webcomics hosting
5 likes!
©2011 WOWIO, Inc. All Rights Reserved Mastodon
plymayer at 7:51PM, May 8, 2025
Ensemble casts are great but I really don't know anything about music.
dragonsong12 at 7:21AM, May 6, 2025
Ensemble casts are a lot of fun! Characterization is basically my favorite thing so the more the merrier as far as I’m concerned. The more varying personalities you can throw together the more they bounce off one another! It’s great! I don’t know if I’ve ever REALLY written one though…while my stories have a lot of characters I’ve noticed in hindsight that I my natural inclination is to dual protagonists. I don’t usually write about just one, I like having two characters whose relationship (whatever it may be) and interactions are the main focus of the story. Even when I have big casts, looking back it’s always obvious who the two characters I’m most interested in are…it’s not even intentional! It’s just sorta how I write! It was an odd thing to discover. It’s a shame really, I wish I was better at ensembles. It’s possible Conscripted will get there in the nit so distant future, though.
Ozoneocean at 7:01AM, May 6, 2025
@marcorossi - you are right but I was actually thinking of the films too haha!
Ozoneocean at 7:01AM, May 6, 2025
@usedbooks - Yes! Your comic is the perfect example!
usedbooks at 4:28AM, May 6, 2025
I love ensembles. They feel more real to me and are less susceptible to Mary Sues. They are harder to write in some ways but more fulfilling. What makes them tricky to write is that for any given plotline, I sometimes wonder what other characters are doing or why they aren't part of this arc or if they should be part of this arc. And sometimes key characters are neglected awhile. In a webcomic, awhile is a LONG time, even if it's just a single story. Usually two storylines can run simultaneously, and they can enhance the timing and suspense of each other. Ensemble casts have a tendency to grow over time when secondary characters get elevated because they become a favorite. My comic was inspired by my roommates, so at least at first, the roommate-inspired characters got equal attention. But some of my completely made-up characters crept into the main ensemble. Sometimes, I treat the cast like a tool chest and have to select the right tools for each story.
marcorossi at 2:52AM, May 6, 2025
My two cents: I don't think the fellowship of the ring really counts as an ensemble, the only ones who really have a personal plot thread are Frodo (the protagonist), Merry and Pippin, and Aragorn (although he is really important for the plot, we never see the story from his POV). Gandalf is more a mentor/guardian type, like Obi Wan in Star Wars or Miyagi in Karate kid (in fact these three are the charachters that mostly represent the concept of mentor/guardian in my head).