Go Into The Story Resource: Great Characters
Need inspiration? Here are 100+ articles analyzing great movie characters.
On May 16, 2019, Go Into The Story turns 11 years old — you can read the very first blog post here. I led with this paragraph:
Welcome to Go Into The Story! Right now, it’s nothing but a humble, threadbare blog, but I hope it will evolve into an active resource for aspiring screenwriters, as well as a community for anyone interested in storytelling and the creative life.
And evolve it did! To the point where it was recently named “Best of the Best” Scriptwriting Website in the 20th Annual Writer’s Digest Best Websites for Writers list.
To celebrate 11 years of blogging about screenwriting, writing, Hollywood, movies, TV, and the creative life, each day in May, I’m going to feature a piece of Go Into The Story trivia, plus a writing resource you can find in the site’s archives. This is not an exercise in self-congratulations so much as I figured readers could use some tips about how to best use the site. With — to date — 26,330 articles and over 100 archive topics, there is a LOT of content here. Hopefully, these posts for the next 31 days will clue in more recent followers and remind long-time readers about resources you can use to facilitate deepening your understanding of the writing craft.
Today’s trivia: I first got an inkling that I might be onto something with my blog when I posted this on June 24, 2008: A connection between Wall-e and Alien? In the post, I compared the Dan O’Bannon draft of Alien and the Walter Hill draft, famous for its use of what he called a ‘haiku style’ of writing.
Within 2 hours of the article going live on my site, I hear a ping from my email. Glancing up, I see the name of the sender: Dan O’Bannon!
A mere 5 weeks after I had launched the site, a blog post I had sent from my office at Trailblazer Studios, some 3000 miles away from Hollywood, got the attention of the co-writer of the movie Alien.
It was the first of many, many times when something I wrote drew the attention of notable people in the entertainment industry.
Today’s Go Into The Story resource: Great Characters.
If you are looking to spark your own character development, why not find inspiration in the Great Characters series? A great way to brainstorm. Mix and match. Gender bend. Genre bend. Give yourself a creative jolt!
Sally Albright (When Harry Met Sally)
Garth Algar (Wayne’s World)
Linda Ash (Mighty Aphrodite)
Donnie Azoff (The Wolf of Wall Street)
George Bailey (It’s A Wonderful Life)
Lester Bangs (Almost Famous)
Dana Barrett (Ghost Busters)
Batman (Batman)
Howard Beale (Network)
Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice)
John Bender (The Breakfast Club)
Bernard Berkman (The Squid and the Whale)
Monty Brogan (25th Hour)
Ferris Bueller (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver)
Mars Blackmon (She’s Gotta Have It)
Martin Q. Blank (Gross Pointe Blank)
Herman Blume (Rushmore)
John Blutarsky (Animal House)
Frank Booth (Blue Velvet)
Brandon (Shame)
The Bride (Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & Vol. 2)
Erin Brockovich (Erin Brockovich)
Dr. Emmett Brown (Back to the Future)
Buddy (Elf)
Truman Capote (Capote)
Johnny Castle (Dirty Dancing)
Celine (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight)
Karl Childers (Sling Blade)
Dolores Claiborne (Dolores Claiborne)
Inspector Jacques Clouseau (The Pink Panther, A Shot in the Dark, The Pink Panther Strikes Again)
Phil Connors (Groundhog Day)
Sarah Connors (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)
Michael Corleone (The Godfather)
Frank Cross (Scrooged)
Damiel (Wings of Desire)
Bree Daniels (Klute)
Donnie Darko (Donnie Darko)
Nola Darling (She’s Gotta Have It)
David (The Lost Boys)
Llewyn Davis (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Alex DeLarge (A Clockwork Orange)
Viola De Lesseps (Shakespeare in Love)
Norma Desmond (Sunset Blvd.)
Django (Django Unchained)
Phyllis Dietrichson (Double Indemnity)
Dignan (Bottle Rocket)
Lloyd Dobler (Say Anything)
Lancaster Dodd (The Master)
Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (The French Connection)
Frank Drebin (The Naked Gun)
Dr. David Dreyfus (The Apartment)
Shosanna Dreyfus (Inglourious Basterds)
Driver (Drive)
Michael J. “Crocodile” Dundee (Crocodile Dundee)
Reggie Dunlop (Slap Shot)
Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
E.T. (E.T.: The Extraterrestrial)
Cousin Eddie (Christmas Vacation)
Arthur Edens (Michael Clayton)
Maria Elena (Vicki Cristina Barcelona)
Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Game)
Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Max Fischer (Rushmore)
Tracy Flick (Election)
Brendan Flynn (Doubt)
Axel Foley (Beverly Hills Cop)
Alex Forrest (Fatal Attraction)
Bill “D-Fens” Foster (Falling Down)
Patricia Franchini (Breathless)
Frank (Donnie Darko)
Carl Fredericksen (Up)
Cameron Frye (Ferris Buller’s Day Off)
Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings)
Gamora (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Chauncey Gardener (Being There)
Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness)
Mavis Gary (Young Adult)
The Geek (Sixteen Candles)
Gordon Gekko (Wall Street)
Leo Getz (Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Lethal Weapon 4)
Glinda (The Wizard of Oz)
Gollum (The Lord of the Rings)
Judy Goodman (Private Benjamin)
Grandma (Parenthood)
Bridget Gregory (The Last Seduction)
Del Griffith (Planes, Trains & Automobiles)
Grinch (How the Grinch Stole Christmas)
Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
Guido (Life is Beautiful)
Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb (The Silence of the Lambs)
Marge Gunderson (Fargo)
HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Annie Hall (Annie Hall)
Frances Halladay (Frances Ha)
Hanna (Hanna)
Andy Hanson (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead)
Alice Harford (Eyes Wide Shut)
Alonzo Harris (Training Day)
Bob Harris (Lost in Translation)
Brooks Hatlen (The Shawshank Redemption)
Pee-wee Herman (Pee-wee Herman’s Big Adventure)
Hit Girl (Kick-Ass)
Holly (Hannah and Her Sisters)
Dwayne Hoover (Little Miss Sunshine)
Howl (Howl’s Moving Castle)
Mr. Incredible (The Incredibles)
Jasmine (Blue Jasmine)
The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Johnny Boy (Mean Streets)
Navin R. Johnson (The Jerk)
Dr. Henry Jones (Indiana Jones and the Final Crusade)
Charles Foster Kane (Citizen Kane)
Col. Vincent Kane (The Ninth Configuration)
Charlie & Donald Kaufman (Adaptation)
Sutter Keely (The Spectacular Now)
Kikuchiyo (Seventh Samurai)
Roy Kinsella (Field of Dreams)
Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street)
Col. Walter E. Kurtz (Apocalypse Now)
Jake LaMotta (Raging Bull)
Col. Hans Landa (Inglourious Basterds)
Harmony Faith Lane (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)
Jeff Lebowski (The Big Lebowski)
Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs)
Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3)
Lux Lisbon (The Virgin Suicides)
The Little Girl in Red (Schindler’s List)
Don Logan (Sexy Beast)
Lucy (Lucy)
Juno MacGuff (Juno)
Regan MacNeil (The Exorcist)
Madison (Splash)
Dan Mahowny (Owning Mahowny)
Malcolm X (Malcolm X)
Kevin McCallister (Home Alone)
John McClane (Die Hard)
Marty McFly (Back to the Future)
Lt. Col. Wilbur “Bull” Meechum (The Great Santini)
Dorothy Michaels (Tootsie)
Miles (Sideways)
Kesuke Miyagi (The Karate Kid)
Miles Monroe (Sleeper)
Tony Montana (Scarface)
Mookie (Do The Right Thing)
Michael Myers (Halloween)
Shannon Mullins (The Heat)
Neytiri (Avatar)
Clarence Oddbody (It’s A Wonderful Life)
Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. (Patton)
Gay Perry (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang)
Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
Annie Porter (Speed)
Harry F. Potter (It’s a Wonderful Life)
Rupert Pupkin (The King of Comedy)
R2-D2 (Star Wars)
Jessica Rabbit (Who’s Framed Roger Rabbit)
Lt. Aldo Raine (Inglourious Basterds)
Ralph (Wreck-It Ralph)
Ralphie (A Christmas Story)
Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
Ren (Footloose)
Captain Renault (Casablanca)
Renton (Trainspotting)
Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens, Alien Resurrection)
Randy “The Ram” Robinson (The Wrestler)
Roger Rabbit (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)
Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow (The Avengers)
Ruby (Middle of Nowhere)
Daniel E. ‘Rudy’ Ruettiger (Rudy)
Ben Sanderson (Leaving Las Vegas)
Annie Savoy (Bull Durham)
Veronica Sawyer (Heathers)
Dr. King Schultz (Django Unchained)
Edward Scissorshands (Edward Scissorshands)
Cole Sear (The Sixth Sense)
Sam Shakusky (Moonrise Kingdom)
Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Keyser Söze (The Usual Suspects)
Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)
George Spigott aka The Devil (Bedazzled)
Tony Stark (Iron Man)
Donna Stern (Obvious Child)
Willie T. Stokes (Bad Santa)
Dr. Strangelove (Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Stopped Worrying and Loved the Bomb)
Furious Styles (Boyz n the Hood)
Sulley (Monsters, Inc.)
Tallahassee (Zombieland)
Chas Tenenbaum (The Royal Tenenbaums)
Thelma (Thelma & Louise)
Tiana (The Princess and the Frog)
Rod Tidwell (Jerry Maguire)
Toaster (The Brave Little Toaster)
Danny Torrance (The Shining)
Jack Torrance (The Shining)
Catherine Trammell (Basic Instinct)
Nigel Tufnel (This Is Spinal Tap)
Billy Ray Valentine (Trading Places)
Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction)
Dr. Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters)
Annie Walker (Bridesmaids)
Matty Walker (Body Heat)
WALL-E (WALL-E)
Andie Walsh (Pretty in Pink)
Jack Walsh (Midnight Run)
Vivian Ward (Pretty Woman)
Lorraine Warren (The Conjuring)
Sam Wheat (Ghost)
Sam White (Dear White People)
Carrie White (Carrie)
Mr. White (Reservoir Dogs)
Mary Wilke (Manhattan)
Wilson (Cast Away)
Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction)
Withnail (Withnail & I)
Ed Wood (Ed Wood)
Rosemary Woodhouse (Rosemary’s Baby)
Yoda (Star Wars)
Steve Zissou (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)
Alexis Zorba (Zorba the Greek)
Each day this month, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for supporting Go Into The Story. I’d love to hear from you in RESPONSES. When did you start following the blog? What are your favorite features? And as always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to suggest away.
