First-Person Peripheral Narrator: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Fried Green Tomatoes|Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe]]'' and its film version (simply called ''Fried Green Tomatoes'') has two perspectives; a woman at a nursing home, and the old lady who tells the woman her story. The old lady's stories are mostly about her adoptive sister and her relationship with another girl.

* The [[H. G. Wells]] novel ''[[The Time Machine]]'' is set up as a frame tale narrated by another, who relates what the time traveler has told him about his adventures.

* Professor Arronax from [[Jules Verne]] novel ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]''. He is placed in the position of the [[First-Person Peripheral Narrator]] against his will by the main character (Captain Nemo) and escapes in the end.

* ''The Mad Scientist's Club'' by Bertrand R. Brinley; Charlie serves as the narrator, while Henry Mulligan serves as the protagonist.

* Damien Vryce is the main viewpoint character of the ''[[Coldfire Trilogy|Coldfire]]'' trilogy, but for much of the series he functions as the [[First-Person Peripheral Narrator]] to [[Magnificent Bastard|The Hunter]]/{{spoiler|[[Fallen Hero|Garald Tarrant]]}}.

* The ''[[Everworld]]'' series has ''four.'' The primary four protagonists,(David, Christopher, April, and Jalil) are only protagonists at all, or indeed, in Everworld in the first place, because of they are all associated (in different ways) with the witch who binds all of the story and character arcs together, [[Barrier Maiden|as well as the rest of the two universes]]. Averted later in the series when the witch in question finally narrates a book, and Subverted in the eleventh when {{spoiler|the author [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|Drops A Bridge On Her]] and focuses on the four [[First Person Peripheral Narratorin]] the twelfth book entirely, instead.}}

* In ''[[The Master Of Ballantrae]]'', the story is told after all the important characters are dead by Mr. McKellar, the steward of the Durrisdeer estate, because he wants to set the record straight and clear the reputation of the late Lord Durrisdeer. McKelllar narrates the events he was present at in the first person, and his actions have some influence on the course of events, but he's not central.

* Tim Wynne Jones' short story [http://www.hapon.com/9pdf/kerdydickussty.pdf ''Save The Moon For Kerdy Dickus''] begins with the line "This is Ky's story." -- Ky being a friend of the young narrator, and her story being about a Stranger who came to Ky's family's house one evening {{spoiler|and thought that they were aliens}}. The friend telling the story was not there for the main events of the story at all. The [[First-Person Peripheral Narrator]] perspective is effective here because, as the narrator says flat out in the first paragraph, "In this story, the way things look is really important," and the fact that the narrator is neither as familiar with those things as Ky nor as unfamiliar with them as the Stranger emphasizes the fact that this story is all about the perspective from which it's told.

* Jack Burden narrates [[All the King's Men]] instead of Willie Stark.

* Jim Burden, in ''[[My Antonia]]'', has touches of this. His narration speaks mostly of the fascinating people around him than of his own life, though it is clear from some throwaway lines near the end of the book that he has had an interesting one.

* Haldeth of ''The Master of Whitestorm'' played this role when in Korendir's company. When apart, Korendir's story was always told in third-person.

* The narrator in Aphra Behn's ''Oroonoko'' doesn't even get a name, even though we're clearly supposed to identify her with Behn herself. Either way Behn spends pretty much the entire novella gushing over the enslaved title character's nobility and strength (to the point where the subtext rapidly starts becoming . . . text) and describing events she couldn't possibly have seen (specifically events occurring in West Africa before Oroonoko and his beloved Imoinda were enslaved, and therefore the narrator would have been halfway around the planet from).

* Simon takes this role in the first third of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', up until {{spoiler|Kamina dies}}. In this case, however, it's not a viewpoint shift, but the viewpoint character becoming the protagonist as he comes into his own.

* Souryo Fuyumi's manga ''Cesare'' is about a sixteen-year-old Cesare Borgia, his servant Miguel, and the games of [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] the two are playing with various historical figures. It's actually told by Angelo, some kid who's at school with them (readers usually ''hate'' Angelo, which may or may not be intentional). This is one of those uses where it starts to seem like the Ishmael is a little [[Ho Yay|too fascinated]], though this too may be deliberate.

** Subverted in ''The Rolling Bootlegs'': while it appears that Maiza relating the story about his friend and subordinate Firo to a Japanese tourist, {{spoiler|it's actually [[Actually, I Am Him|Firo himself]] telling the tale, and the tourist just assumed otherwise because Firo never properly introduced himself and was wearing glasses like Maiza's.}}

* Sakuno Ryuzaki, and the Freshmen Trio from ''[[Prince of Tennis]]'' (at least initially). Ryoma Echizen's undeniably the focus of the story, but his personality and development are mostly viewed through other characters due to his aloof nature.