How big is your cast?

1 main main character
2 sort of mainish characters
13 more characters central to the story (alive at the time of main action)
7 more characters central to the story, but as backstory (dead at time of main action)

It's a family saga, so almost all of the characters are related, in some way.

And I have various other background characters and shady supernatural. Somewhere I have a full character list that includes about 100 total named characters, but many are brief walk ons, important political figures mentioned in passing, or parents of characters that just figure in their backstory and don't really get seen much, if at all, in the actual narrative.

Story told in Omni POV.

AEFerreira said:

Story told in Omni POV.

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Ooh, omni!

in my NaNoWriMo I have:

2 MC's
4 major supporting characters
16 lesser supporting characters
2 antagonists
a host of antagonistic events and obstacles

2 main p.o.v. characters (protagonist and antagonist)
3 secondary p.o.v characters

In Solus that we're working on now there're:

- 6 MCs with rotating POVs though 2 are slightly "less main"
- around 10 supporting, named characters (mostly squad mates / family)

Pthom said:

You guys probably think I was kidding, or making a joke, when I said my story has 42 characters.

I'm not.

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I never thought for a moment that you were joking. Because I have more than that. So do most of my favorite books and series.

Main WIP (Contemporary epic fantasy)
4 MCs (all with about equal POV)
2 secondary POV characters
8 or so major supporting characters w/o POV
2 main antagonists
3 important supporting characters on the antag side
At *least* 40 minor named characters. Probably more.

Second WIP (Heroic fantasy)
2 MCs (dual POV)
3 major supporting characters who are there for most of the book
15 or so minor characters who are there most of the time (ship crew and assassin team members)
15 or so 'guest stars'. The format of this book is a bunch of somewhat separate adventures, so there are a whole bunch of characters who are extremely important, but only for a few scenes or chapters. This includes the villains (all of whom are only important for one section or so of the story).
Probably another 15 or so minor named characters who are there briefly.

Third WIP (Fantasy erotica)
2 MCs (dual POV)
4 important supporting characters
20 or so minor named characters (including villains).

I like reading long, complicated books with big casts, so the huge casts in my own books don't intimidate me. I know how to keep focus on the leads and how to quickly differentiate the gaggles of less important characters, because I've read it done well (and poorly) so many times.

Reading about your big casts is making me feel better about my own.

Let's see, I have:

5 in the core group (3 with POV).
4 'alternates' which are important to the plot and serve the same role as those in the core group.
2 Antagonists. (A third antagonist is a shadowy organization, not sure if I should count them as a character.)
...and at least a dozen minor characters with speaking roles.

I'm going for a five-fold symmetry in this book, revolving around the core group, for plot reasons. It's not quite there but it's close. If I had one more alternate...

Six POV characters, 3 major supporting characters, between one and two dozen minor supporting characters (two of whom are dead before the story even starts), and about 150 unnamed extras/cannon fodder (most only implied by the setting). I would say 3 of the POV characters carry the main weight of the story, while the others are there for flavor/support/my-protagonists-aren't-actually-present-for-some-scenes, and could just as easily be lumped in with the major supporting characters who don't have POVs.

For book one, I have 4 protagonist MCs, and probably 3-4 protagonist supporting characters. There is 1 antagonist MC, and probably 9-10 antagonist supporting characters.

For book two, I have 4 protagonist MCs, and about 4-5 protagonist supporting characters...so far. There is 1 antagonist MC, and about 10-12 antagonist supporting characters...so far.

The piece I am working on is a bit on the small side.
2 MCs
6 Minor characters
13 Super minor characters
2 Villans

For a total of 23 characters. I expect in my revision one of my characters who is borderline main, will make the full jump. Now that I say 23, I realize my cast isn't that small.

In this WIP I'm trying to edit, there are 2 main characters and five supporting.

In another I'm planning, there are 3 main characters so far.

Depends on how much room I have. If I can get a good wind-up I can cast my manuscript clear across my living room.

caw

40 characters.

1 MC
3 major supporting
25 supporting
The rest are minor

The rub is that this is for an upper middle grade fantasy, and it seems like a lot to throw at a kid. But I just remind myself that Rowling had just as many in the first HP and none of the kids seemed put off by it.

Aside from the protagonist, I have 3 other main characters (all POV characters). Additionally, there is an ensemble cast of diverse supporting and minor characters (25+). I have 1 main antagonist, but there are other antagonists based on the perspective of the characters and reader. (There is a war with different sides and nearly all the characters are written somewhere in the spectrum of the gray area).

Depends how far the umbrella of "cast" extends before you get into the land of "extras", I guess.

My current WIP has about a half-dozen "core" characters, plus another five who are important, but only around for a couple of chapters at most, plus three more who are fairly important but only pop in for a handful of pages (although they're mentioned a fair bit when they're not around)... So I guess the number of people who couldn't be replaced with shop-window mannequins is about fourteen. That is, assuming you can find shop-window mannequins that are competent sailors; these ships need crew, after all. If you include the crews, then that's another... eighty or so? To start with, anyways. A number of them are dispatched along the way, with varying degrees of mercy and mess. I'd wager some of them wouldn't mind being replaced with mannequins for that part.

Hmm, well over the entire series I have:

1 MC

3 Major secondary characters

5 Minor secondary characters

13 Supporting characters

5 villains

Wow that seems like a lot! Most of them only appear in one book though.

In my epic fantasy, 138K, I have:

1 POV character (it's first-person POV)

4 major supporting characters

15-20 minor supporting characters

2 minor villains

1 major villain

1 major ambiguous character

Pthom said:

42

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dagnabbit.

well, the amt of characters I have = the meaning of life x by the amount of roads a man must walk down.

so there!

hmmmm...

3 MC's (2 male, one female)

2 main villains (both male)

2 antagonists (they're not villains, but they are opposed to one of the male MC's for much of novel)

4 secondary characters (who are alive and important to the plot)

Paul said:

dagnabbit.

well, the amt of characters I have = the meaning of life x by the amount of roads a man must walk down.

so there!

Click to expand...

Wasn't a joke. Just coincidence.

Wow a lot. One MC. One major villain and a few secondary/supporting villains only one of which is named. 4 2ndary characters. A bucketload of tertiary characters and minors.

Up to four first person POVs so far, including the antagonist. I like to make use of the unreliable narrator, though I'm a touch worried that keeping up with too many would be too much of a hassle for both me and the reader.

One narrator, 18 important characters, 18 more speaking parts, and another 70 or so to fill out the town. Some of them don't even have names, but they're all crucial.

Before someone points it out--yes, I am good at fleshing out characters.

Did I win? Is having the most winning?