Dramatis Personae: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Many manga volumes begin with the names and images of major (but usually not all) characters in the series/volume/story arc.

* ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]]'' takes this to the next level by showing a box with the name of any character who is showing up for the first time ''and'' any character who hasn't been seen in a while. Often with a brief description.

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' essentially starts off with one in the form of the class roster, introducing all of the girls in Negi's class. As the manga goes on, it also has brief character introductions at the beginning of each chapter.

* Every volume of [[Battle Royale]] opens with a page showing the full class roster, with the faces of the dead marked off. The list of names not greyed out gets very short, very quickly. This is largely necessary due to the [[Loads and Loads of Characters]], it can be hard to keep up.

* ''[[Durarara!!]]'' and ''[[Baccano!]]'' both throw a list of the characters over the opening. {{spoiler|They also play around with this a bit - certain important characters are shown, but the names are withheld.}} Baccano {{spoiler|gives [[Axe Crazy|Claire]] [[Crazy Awesome|Stanfield]] [[Badass Nickname|aka]] [[Heroic Sociopath|The]] [[Shrouded in Myth|Rail]] [[The Dreaded|Tracer]] [[I Have Many Names|aka]] [[Psycho for Hire|Vino]] [[Two Aliases, One Character|aka]] [[Sacrificial Lamb|The]] [[Beware the Nice Ones|Young Conductor]] the same amount of screen time as every other character, but withholds his name and successfully tricks the audience into assuming he's just an extra.}} Something similar is true for ''Durarara'''s first opening, which {{spoiler|withholds the name of another character, but this time it clearly shows that the character will be important - it does the same freeze frame that the other characters get, but leaves out the name. This is promptly subject to [[Fridge Brilliance]] followed by a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]]: At first we think her name isn't listed because it's already been shown for another character, then we realize that isn't actually true. The second opening shows her actual name.}}

 

== Comic Books ==

* The Archie-published [[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]] comics generally do a quick list of all the characters who feature in each particular issue.

* After finishing a story, the Belgian/Dutch daily newspaper comic ''[[Suske en Wiske]]'' announces the following story with a short strip mentioning the main characters - which always includes the famous five (Suske, Wiske, Aunt Sidonia, Lambik and Jerom), and occasionally includes a few more important extras, though that is not always so. It also gives a short indication about the story to come, though it omits any twists and turns.

 

== Fan Works ==

* ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' has a four-page character list at the end.

 

== Film ==

* In ''[[Snatch]]'' a montage of short vignettes introduces each character, with freeze frames giving their names. The whole thing is set to Klint's "Diamond."

* All of the ''[[Pusher]]'' films begin with a montage of the major characters and their names, set to a pounding rock beat. Each character is harshly lit from above as they glare at the camera.

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Good Omens]]'' by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, which explicitly parodies the [[Shakespeare]]an ''dramatis personae''.

* Most of the ''[[Asterix]]'' books have a brief description of "A Few of the Gauls" on page 4, with the actual comic starting on page 5. ''Mansion of the Gods'' omits this page so that a 2-page spread later on (pages 28 & 29) doesn't have to be broken.

* Most [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] novels from the ''[[New Jedi Order]]'' series onwards. Pretty helpful when they bring back a pre-existing but recently unused character and even fans could use reminder of his/her species and most recent occupation.

** ''[[Footfall]]''

* The Pevear/Volokhonsky translations of ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'', ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', and ''[[War and Peace]]''.

* Some novels by [[Agatha Christie]], e.g. ''[[Murder on the Orient Express]]''.

* ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' has the first chapter preceded by the "Valaquenta", a full description of the Valar and associated powerful entities.

 

* In the pilot episode of ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'', not only does the [[Narrator]] introduce every main character (except for George Sr and Tobias, who were at first meant not to stay for the entire series) , their first appearance is also accompanied by a subtitle similar to the [[Boss Subtitles]].

* The first episode of ''[[Leverage]]'' also does this, when the team (except Sophie) is first introduced. In seasons two and three, a shortened version appears as the opening credits.

* ''[[Blackadder]]'' season 3 has, true to its Romantic stylistics, credits in form of a period drama Dramatis Personae.

* The TOS ''[[Outer Limits]]'' episode "Counterweight" does this at the ''end'', presumably as [[Filler]].

 

== Theatre ==

** It's [[Boring but Practical]]. When you're casting a play, you want to make sure you know who everyone is, and get a basic description if you can, so you don't end up casting [[The Obi-Wan]] type to play the restless, young [[The Glass Menagerie|Tom Wingfield.]]

** It should be said that not every play gives for every major character a short description like [[The Mikado|"an elderly Lady, in love with Nanki-Poo"]].

* The playbill in the original production of ''[[Rent]]'' had a page listing the main characters and their relationships to each other, in case anyone got confused.

 

== Video Games ==

* A tait of Suda51 is to introduce characters this way. One of the most memorable is ''[[Killer7]]''.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Theater Tropes]]

[[Category:Paratext]]

[[Category:Lit Class Tropes]]

[[Category:Credits Tropes]]