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Rotating Arcs: Difference between revisions
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It sounds a bit ruthless that one set has to kick out another in order to get their turn, but in actual fact this is probably the most popular way of handling [[Loads and Loads of Characters]]. It reduces two-dimensional characterisation, still employs [[Ensembles]] to appeal to the maximum number of readers, and decreases the number of occurences where one character is [[Out of Focus]]. Or at least placates the fans with the reassurance that their favourite hero will get a turn in the spotlight too. Eventually.
In effect, this is somewhat akin to [[Season Fluidity|writing several character-intense short stories and joining them together]], rather than spreading yourself thin writing a long novel with far more characters than can realistically be handled.
The Rotating Arc isn't infallible though. Sometimes it seems that the revolving door has done a 360 degree spin, and the same characters turn up over and over again, at everyone else's expense. An individual character may take up residence in several groups, which is good in moderation as it provides the teams with a mediator (or, at the very least, provides more [[Wangst]] when there's a conflict of interests and they're stuck in the middle). Overuse it, though, and readers/viewers will likely get sick of the sight of him/her. There's also the risk that one [[Cast Herd]] will be significantly more appealing than the others, so to prevent this, personalities within the groups have to be balanced carefully.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* The ''[[X-Men]]'' uses rotating arcs ''constantly'' - with such an enormous cast, and people [[Put on a Bus|leaving]], [[Killed Off for Real|dying]] and [[Back
* Noticeably averted in Stormwatch and [[The Authority]], where the teams are really too small to divide everyone up.
** Stormwatch does a [[Lampshade Hanging]] on this in "Bleed", where, after viewing a parallel world where there are several Stormwatch teams, Winter remarks "You can't put twenty superhumans in the same '''town''' without them picking fights with each another."
*** It can be argued, though, that these comics do a mini rotating arc within the issue by pairing up some of the characters: for example, in [[The Authority]], Midnighter and Apollo, and Jack and The Engineer usually work together as well as being romantically linked while Shen and The Doctor alternate between teams/partners or work alone. Oh, and Jenny (both versions) does whatever the hell she likes.
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* George R.R. Martin has started to do this with ENTIRE BOOKS comprising one "arc" in his [[A Song of Ice and Fire]] series. A Feast for Crows, only followed about half of the cast, while Dance with Dragons focused on the other half. The casts came together for the last third of the book. Also, the first three books heavily focused on Stark family protagonists (in the first book, 6 out of 8 of the main viewpoint characters were from that family). Subsequent book have shifted focus to other families while the surviving Starks for the most part hide and regroup.
* The [[Redwall]] books are organized like this generally. There's usually 1-3 groups off on the adventure and 1-2 groups dealing with some issue that arises back home while they are gone. At least one Villain group (depending on the number of lead villains) is usually present as well, but they also tend to get less personal attention beyond their actions relevant to the adventurers.
* [[The Valley of Horses]] rotates between Ayla and her pets and Jondolar and his brother.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
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