What do character foils do

Here are some guiding questions to help you talk about foils:. Schedule a free Guided Session with us to become a Storyboard That pro! Each version of Storyboard That has a different privacy and security model that is tailored for the expected usage.

All storyboards are public and can be viewed and copied by anyone. They will also appear in Google search results. The author can choose to leave the storyboard public or mark it as Unlisted. Unlisted storyboards can be shared via a link, but otherwise will remain hidden.

All storyboards and images are private and secure. No one else can view anything. Teachers may opt to lower the security if they want to allow sharing. All storyboards are private and secure to the portal using enterprise-class file security hosted by Microsoft Azure.

To end your book with a detailed explanation of what the book was supposed to do? Hopefully not, but then what does it mean? Many things go into a successful theme in order to make a novel instructive as well as entertaining. However, one of the most important ways that a theme is brought across is by using the various characters in your book as positive and negative character examples.

Foil characters are one of my favorite writing tropes to utilize for several reasons. One reason I enjoy utilizing foil characters is that you can use them to develop your theme very well while still being subtle, thus avoiding the preaching that too often happens in Christian fiction.

Another reason is that they add a good bit of beauty to the literary text through the use of parallel. Essentially, a foil character is someone who an author sets in contrast to another character normally the main character in order to highlight certain virtues or flaws of one or both of the characters. Foil characters are essentially a paradox of similarity and dissimilarity. They are made to be direct comparisons to the other character in order to make their differences clear to the reader.

Both characters look almost exactly alike: a fact that features prominently in the beginning of the book and sets the two of them up as foil characters. They also both love the same woman: Lucie Manette. But at that point, the similarities end: Carton is a drunkard and allows himself to be used by others, and Darnay is successful and strong-willed.

By creating parallels and contrasts like this, Dickens brings both of these characters to the forefront of the book and uses their opposites as a way of deepening both characters.

Foil characters are also often seen in superhero films, as the antagonist is often a foil of the main character. To look at some examples briefly, in Captain America: The First Avenger , both Captain America and Red Skull have immense physical prowess due to the serum, but one uses his power to preserve life while the other uses it to take life.

In Man of Steel , both Superman and Zod have the same Kryptonian powers, but Superman uses it to preserve humanity while Zod tries to use it to preserve Krypton. The different routes they take then define their characters. Hopefully, all these examples have begun to make it somewhat-clear what foil characters are and how they tend to be used in fiction.

However, there is a distinction that needs to be drawn between minor characters when they act as foils and villains when they act the part. Some writers argue that only minor characters can really be foils, and that villains are a separate category. I personally think the designation can be used for both: however, both do need to be considered somewhat-separately. When the hero and the villain are both acting as foils, the purpose of making the villain a foil is often to drive the story conflict.

However, when the hero and a minor character are both acting as foils, then the foil often serves as a way of shedding light on what type of person the main character is. However, you may still have a question, namely:. One method is to set two foil characters against each other. My current work-in-progress, Empyrean Vengeance draws rather heavily on this principle as I set up my two protagonists as twin brothers in order to then showcase their differences—differences which end up driving most of the story.

Essentially, to follow this method of foil characters, you take two semi-important characters, and then set them up as parallels and contrasts to each other in order to bring about your intended effect. Another method is to create a web of foil characters.

As a negative example, Gollum represents the worst possibility of what the Ring ends up turning everyone into if they give in to its power. Bilbo also acts like a foil by reminding Frodo and the reader that this change can happen to anyone. Boromir is slightly-less-corrupt than these, as he represents the temptation to use the Ring pragmatically to try and achieve peace.

On the positive side, however, Gandalf and Galadriel both represent the healthy fear that Frodo ought to have concerning the Ring. Tom Bombadil also possibly shows the freedom that the righteous ought to have, even with instruments of great destruction.

But, maybe if the two families had lightened up Romeo and Juliet would have dated like normal. These two sisters of the Longbourne Estate are a stark contrast of each other. Lydia is the spoiled, youngest daughter of the Bennett family.

She is flirtatious and improper. Lizzie is bright and intelligent. Her pride and her prejudice towards others are her biggest flaws. These two traits are at the heart of the conflict she faces in the novel. In case you were wondering. Lizzie is also very romantic and is determined to find the perfect partner.

Are there two more perfect foils than Woody and Buzz? Probably, but you know what? That was a dramatic way to start a paragraph. We should just move on. Woody is tall and lengthy where Buzz is short and stocky.

Buzz wears a white space suit accented with primary colors. Woody, a cowboy, wears earth tones like tan and brown. Look at their personality and viewpoints. Buzz is sure of himself, of his singular identity as a space ranger.

These best friends are full of opposite traits. Where George is sharp-witted and small, Lennie is large and muscular with a developmental disability. Lennie is quick-tempered, and George is friendly. These two characters are perfect foils. William Shakespeare was famous for his foil characters. Romeo is anything but, and it shows. Not only did Claudius kill his father, but he blocked him from the throne by marrying his mother. Shakespeare was a true master at using foil characters to push a plot forward and show character flaws.

However, other classic and modern books also use this plot device. One is a Slytherin, and the other a Gryffindor. Additionally, Draco becomes a Death Eater. Harry, on the other hand, works to defeat the Death Eaters.