Good morning, lovelies!

Today's topic is short and sweet: Supporting characters need identities.

That is all.

...

What?  You want more than that?  

Alrighty.  

So, supporting (or secondary) characters are important to your story.  If a character is important, they should have a name and a personality.  The same conventions should be followed as outlined in the three chapters, "How to Create an OC That Doesn't Resemble a Cardboard Box."

This doesn't mean you have to name every single galoot that comes galomphing along, but if someone is important, identify them.

Alternatively to creating your own OC secondary character, you can definitely use someone from the real world or from an established canon.  Since I'm a BTS fanfic writer, I'll pull in characters from other idol groups to fill in important positions that aren't main character roles.  This is common.  I mean, just look at Jackson.  He's in so many BTS fics as a secondary character that it's practically a running gag.

Situations in which a supporting character is important enough to name or assign to an actual person (with examples from "Six"! (among other fics)  Seriously, if you haven't read "Six", go read it.  I will reference it a LOT in this book.)

For this section, I'll try to give two examples for each.  Example 1 will be a real person I've yanked into the fic.  Example 2 will be an OC I've created for the role.

1.)  The character is reoccurring or referenced multiple times

If this character is going to show up multiple times, or be referenced in the future, give them an identity.

Example 1: Lee Donghae (From idol group Super Junior, appears in "Six")

In "Six" he plays a slave handler that is kind to Taehyung and, by proxy, Seokjin.  Although he's only shown up once (to date), he's referenced multiple times and will make an appearance later in the story.  Therefore, he needed to be identified.  

Example 2: Ahri-noona (an OC from "Hitman")

Ahri-noona is a middle-aged farmer who opens her home to Namjoon and Seokjin at one point in the story.  While she is not a reoccurring character, due to the events at her farmstead, the guys reference her in later chapters.  They spent a couple days with her and her husband, so calling her "the farmer" would have been ridiculous.  They would have exchanged names at some point during their association, so it made sense to give her an identity.

2.)  The character is important to the plot.

Naturally, if a character drives a plot - even if that character is minor or secondary - you should identify them.

Example 1: Kim Heechul (from idol group Super Junior, appears in "Six")

Ah, Heechul.  He is one of my absolute favorites, my Super Junior bias.  He is chaotic energy and I love it.  For ARMYs who aren't familiar with him, you've seen him before.  He's been a host on Weekly Idol when BTS was featured.  If you've ever watched Ask Us Anything, he's the one that can't (and won't) keep his mouth shut.

He's the guy kissing Jimin's cheek in this gif: 

 You can also see him during the "Namjoon tries to cut an onion" scene.

I pulled him into "Six" because, for House Jeon's alchemist, I needed someone who was older than the other characters, had no filter, and had connections.  Heechul fit the bill perfectly (especially the no filter part.  That man'll say anything, I swear.  Watch a couple episodes of "Ask Us Anything" and you'll see what I mean.)

Alchemist Heechul is incredibly important to the plot.  I can't give away specifics since it would spoil the story, but he's a Plot Catalyst.  Without him, a lot of the events in the book cannot happen.

Example 2: Alchemist Yoonhee (an OC from "Six")

For a character we never see, Alchemist Yoonhee is very important to the plot.  She is one of Heechul's old colleagues from when he was in training.  You'll hear her name multiple times in the fic.  I won't reveal her exact role in this here, as I haven't gotten there yet in the fic, but suffice to say that she definitely needed an identity.

3.) The character's name is known to the person who's POV you're currently writing from.

Not every identified character has to be super-involved in the story or even be important to the story.  Naming minor characters that the major characters know adds more realism and flavor to the story.  If your character would know that person's name, then name them.

Example 1: Jaehyun (from idol group NCT 127, appears in "A Little Slice of Heaven")

This one might have slipped by a few people.  Jaehyun makes a single appearance in the second chapter.  He's the cabana boy that takes over bar-tending at the Tiki Hut.  While this is definitely not a vital role and has no purpose in the plot, he was identified because the scene was from Seokjin's POV.  Seokjin knew Jaehyun's name and spoke to him, so it was appropriate to give the guy an identity, even though he could have been replaced with anyone and it would not have mattered.

Example 2: Yeonseok (an OC from "Six")

Yeonseok is a merchant that sells cloth at Inner Seoul's Market Square.  That's it.  That's all he is.  But he gets an identity for the simple reason that Taehyung was told to go to his stall and get the things on the list he was handed.  Taehyung is familiar with Yeonseok from previous errands he's been sent on.  It makes sense in this case for this otherwise faceless merchant to have a name.

4.) The character is involved in an important scene.

Even if this character is only seen once, if they are involved in an important scene in some important way, they should be identified.

Example 1: Cho Kyuhyun (from idol group Super Junior, appears in "Six")

Kyuhyun is only seen once, in chapter 8 of "Six", when he identifies Taehyung as belonging to the Jang pens.  He might appear later, but it may only be a reference to him.  He's important enough to the scene, though, that he's given an identity.  

Example 2:  Choi Yejun (an OC from "Six")

Yejun is an OC that's also involved in the Chapter 8 scene with Taehyung.  He's the dickcheese that's treating Taehyung like a horse for sale.  He's a noble who owns one of the slave pens.  His name does pop up here and there but he's really of no consequence to the rest of the story.  But since he's actively involved in the scene, he's identified.

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Keep in mind, these situations can overlap with each other, and often WILL overlap. If you have a character that is both important to the plot and is referenced multiple times throughout the story, you definitely need to give them an identity!

Many of the characters I've listed above have overlapping categories that they fall into.  Some of them actually fall into all 4 of the categories I've listed, while others fall into two or three (with the exception of Yeonseok and Jaehyun, which only fall into the "name known by POV character" category).

Lee Donghae - Reoccurring character, important to the plot, his name is known by the POV character, and he is involved in an important scene

Ahri-noona - Referenced character, important to the plot, her name is known by the POV character, and she is involved in an important scene

Alchemist Heechul - Reoccurring character, vital to the plot, his name is known by the POV character, and he will be involved in multiple important scenes

Alchemist Yoonhee - Referenced character, important to the plot, and her name is known by the POV character

Cho Kyuhyun - Referenced character, involved in an important scene

Choi Yejun - Referenced character, involved in an important scene

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That said, there are situations where naming the characters are not really necessary, nor appropriate.  It's based entirely on the scene in which the characters take part.

Examples! 

The 5 Noble Gossips in Chapter 8 of "Six." 

The scene is from Taehyung's POV.  While he eavesdrops on their conversation, he doesn't know who these girls are.  They don't call each other by name during their chatter, the younger girls calling the older girls 'unnie' instead of using a given name.  They are involved in an important scene and we spend a good deal of time listening in on their scandalized gossip about the prince sleeping with men.  However, it doesn't fit the scene that any of them are identified as more than just young, gossipy noblewomen.

The North Korean Operatives in Chapters 2 and 3 of "Hitman."

These dudes are super important to the plot.  Seokjin and Namjoon wouldn't have been thrust together so suddenly without them.  They take part in more than one vital scene.  However, neither Namjoon nor Seokjin know their names.  There isn't an opportunity to learn them, nor is it important to either of the main characters as they're literally running for their lives from these unnamed assailants.

"Jisoo" from Chapter 13 of "A Little Slice of Heaven."

This one is a little odd in that the character does have a name.  The thing is, "Jisoo" is not his name.  When Namjoon and Dasom confront him at Birdie's, he tells them, sarcastically, that his name is Jisoo.  While this intoxicated dumbfuck is referred to by Namjoon as "Jisoo" for the remainder of the chapter, since it's in Namjoon's POV, we never get this guy's real name.  Namjoon doesn't know who this guy is and really doesn't want to know him, so getting his real name would have been pointless.

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With that, I hope you've learned something today!

Littie out!

P.S. Here's some more gifs of Heechul.  Just because.  *blows a Seokjin-style kiss*