Dramatis Personae: Difference between revisions

Line 4:

This stemmed from the necessity of casting a play, and has somehow drifted into fiction from there; the end credits roll of a movie or TV show evolved from this practice too. Usually lists them by name with a short description, most often relaying who is related to whom. In works which fit into a large continuity with [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] (such as comic books), this helps the reader keep up with the characters involved in the work.

A Dramatis Personae is quite often written in a slightly [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe|olde-world]] style, evoking the Shakespearean style of writing. Sometimes this is done separately at the beginning of each chapter as part of [[In Which a Trope Is Described]].

A '''Dramatis Personae''' is quite often written in a slightly [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe|olde-world]] style, evoking the Shakespearean style of writing. Sometimes this is done separately at the beginning of each chapter as part of [[In Which a Trope Is Described]].

If the characters are not strictly listed alongside which actors are playing them in a live drama, expect identity-based shenanigans.

Line 42:

== Literature ==

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

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

** Also ''[[Discworld/Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]'', in-story, with its parody of ''[[Macbeth]]''.

* 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.

Line 58:

* Novels by Erle Stanley Gardner (aka A. A. Fair).

* Harry Turtledove's ''Into the Darkness''.

** Most of Harry Turtledove's work. This is actually ''necessary'', because Turtledove likes to write large novels with several intertwining plotlines seen from the viewpoint of different characters. So the book will have, say, six major protagonists. And each of them has several family members or comrades-in-arms. Plus a lot of throwaway characters that you only see once. The [[Dramatis Personae]] list runs for pages.

** Most of Harry Turtledove's work. This is actually ''necessary'', because Turtledove likes to write large novels with several intertwining plotlines seen from the viewpoint of different characters. So the book will have, say, six major protagonists. And each of them has several family members or comrades-in-arms. Plus a lot of throwaway characters that you only see once. The Dramatis Personae list runs for pages.

* Lindsey Davis's [[Marcus Didius Falco]] novels. She says she does it because Roman names follow such similar patterns that she gets confused herself.

** Done tongue-in-cheek in "Last Act in Palmyra" in which Falco joins a travelling theatre troupe.

Line 76:

* Rather bizarrely, and for reasons unknown, [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s hardboiled noir ''The Glass Key'' does this.

* ''The Case of the Seven of Calvary'' by Anthony Boucher, a mystery novel with a tendency to [[Lampshade Hanging|hang lampshades]] on the then-current mystery novel tropes, begins with a list of the dramatis personae that explicitly divides the characters into 'people to whom you need to pay attention if you're trying to solve the mystery' and 'people who can be safely ignored'.

* Books in [[Neal Stephenson~~|Neal Stephensons~~]] epic ''[[The Baroque Cycle|Baroque Cycle]]'' have them at the end; they have some characters' histories as well as basic descriptions, and so come with a spoiler warning. Entries for people that really existed are in normal typeface, whereas characters Stephenson invented have their entries in italics.

* Books in [[Neal Stephenson]]s epic ''[[The Baroque Cycle|Baroque Cycle]]'' have them at the end; they have some characters' histories as well as basic descriptions, and so come with a spoiler warning. Entries for people that really existed are in normal typeface, whereas characters Stephenson invented have their entries in italics.

* ''Die schwarzen Brüder'' by Lisa Tetzner. It unfortunally contains spoilers for the novel.

* The [[Warhammer 40000]] [[Horus Heresy]] books include a list of all the people in it at the beginning to help keep track of who is part of what group.

Line 114:

* You'd think clicking the ''cast'' page in [[Terror Island]] would lead you to a page listing the actual webcomic characters. Instead...

* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' compilations after the first. There's also [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/ootscast.html this].

* Most webcomics, including online archives of print comics, will have character description pages; you could make a case that it's a form of [[Dramatis Personae]]. [[Abandoned Info Page|It's often obsolete, though.]]

* Most webcomics, including online archives of print comics, will have character description pages; you could make a case that it's a form of Dramatis Personae. [[Abandoned Info Page|It's often obsolete, though.]]