How many main character is too many?

A good rule of thumb might be: Include as many characters as needed to tell the story and evoke the proper style and scope—and no more. For intimate novels, this number might be as small as 2-5 secondary characters, and for broader stories, this number might be 20-30.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on jamigold.com


Is 9 main characters too many?

The short answer is: no such number exists. You can include as many characters in your novel as you want to. It's your story, and there's no rule book you need to follow on how to write a great story. The creative process is yours to own.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on writersedit.com


What is a good number of main characters?

Most novels of every genre have 2-5 main characters. Romance novels almost always have 2-3 main characters, usually with two love interests and a buddy/sidekick for the male or female lead. A mystery novel usually has 2-3 main characters, perhaps even up to 5.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on writingbeginner.com


How many main character can there be?

So can you write a story with more than one main character? The short answer is: yes. You can write your novel any way you like, so long as it works in practice. Many writers, especially those writing in genres such as fantasy and sci-fi, have multiple main characters in their novels.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on writersedit.com


How many POV characters is too many?

One of the most common challenges for us as writers is deciding how many point-of-view characters we should use, and yet a lot of the advice we hear can be too generic. Use the right number for your genre. Don't use more than three.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on writershelpingwriters.net


How many main characters is too many? ...And more writing questions!



How many POV Can a novel have?

Romance novels tend to have only a few POV characters, and rightly so. Big-canvas novels with many characters on many stages have more, and rightly so. In my own fiction, I usually have somewhere between 3 and 5 POV characters. I've done a novel once with 2, both of whom were told in first-person.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on advancedfictionwriting.com


How many perspectives can you have in a novel?

Most stories are told from a single perspective—whether that's an omniscient point of view or a close third-person point of view that is tuned into your protagonist's thoughts. But sometimes your story feels so expansive that it's necessary to tell it from more than one character's point of view.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on masterclass.com


Can there be 3 protagonists?

Just because a story has multiple POVs doesn't necessarily mean there are multiple protagonists. However, you cannot have multiple protagonists without having multiple POVs because, as readers, we need to experience every storyline and character arc for a main character.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on thewritepractice.com


Is Sasuke a main character?

The main characters of Naruto are Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi, but the protagonist is Naruto.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on anime.stackexchange.com


How many antagonists can a story have?

Can I Have More than One Villain? Antagonists are plot devices that create obstructions and challenges for your hero protagonist. You can have more than one antagonist in your story. But, the villain must remain the protagonist's main opponent.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on prowritingaid.com


How many characters are in Harry Potter?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is rich in character development and has a wide variety of characters. Most of the characters in this book are from the world of magic. Here is a complete list of the 96 characters from the novel.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on bookanalysis.com


Which novel has most characters?

I know War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy has 559 named characters, and it is a single book (though published in pieces originally). What books do you know that surpass this number or come close, as a lone book or first installment of a series?
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on reddit.com


Does a story need a protagonist?

Every single story has to have a protagonist, no matter what. Simply put, no protagonist = no plot. Remember, all other roles are defined in relation to the protagonist — so if you're currently planning a story, this should be the very first character you flesh out.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on blog.reedsy.com


What do you do when you have too many characters?

Does Your Novel Confuse Readers with “Too Many” Characters? 8 Ways to Unconfuse Them.
  1. by Anne R. ...
  2. 1) Make Characters Vivid When You Introduce Them. ...
  3. 2) Don't Name “Spear Carriers” ...
  4. 3) Don't Give Your Characters Unpronounceable Names. ...
  5. 4) Make Sure the Name fits the Character. ...
  6. 5) Don't Give Too Many Characters Similar Names.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on annerallen.com


Is Kakashi a main character?

Kakashi Hatake is a shinobi and major protagonist from the anime/manga known as Naruto. He is a high level ninja and mentor to the show's main protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on characterprofile.fandom.com


Who is the deuteragonist in Naruto?

Sasuke Uchiha (Uchiha Sasuke) is the overall deuteragonist and the secondary protagonist of the Naruto anime/manga series and rival of the titular hero Naruto Uzumaki.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on protagonists.fandom.com


Who is the tritagonist in Naruto?

Sakura Haruno (春野 サクラ Haruno Sakura) is a tritagonist of the Naruto manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on jump.fandom.com


How many characters are too many in a novel?

A good rule of thumb might be: Include as many characters as needed to tell the story and evoke the proper style and scope—and no more. For intimate novels, this number might be as small as 2-5 secondary characters, and for broader stories, this number might be 20-30.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on jamigold.com


What is the third protagonist called?

In literature, the tritagonist (from Ancient Greek τριταγωνιστής (tritagōnistḗs) 'third actor') or tertiary main character is the third most important character of a narrative, after the protagonist and deuteragonist.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on en.wikipedia.org


Can you have multiple Deuteragonists?

Another name for the deuteragonist is a “window character”, and there can be more than one. A window character is a pretty self-explanatory concept.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on thinkwritten.com


Can you switch POV in a chapter?

If you don't want whole chapters dedicated to a single character, you can use a line break (three blank lines) in your chapter to signify a switch between POV characters. A line break lets the reader know that something is changing and they should look for indications of a new POV.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on prowritingaid.com


Why do authors use multiple narrations?

Sometimes a story is bigger than a single character or is better conveyed through the perspective of more than one character. In order to show the reader more than what any one character knows and still maintain a closeness to the characters, authors might need to use multiple points of view.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on ignitedinkwriting.com


Should my book have multiple POVs?

Your story must be told from multiple perspectives.

This is especially true when each member in your cast of characters provides a unique piece to a larger puzzle: They might not understand each other's lives, or they might clash against one another as a result of plot events.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on janefriedman.com


What are the 4 types of point of view?

  • First Person – “Me, Myself, and I” With first person POV, everything is told intimately from the viewpoint of a character, usually your protagonist. ...
  • Third Person Omniscient – “He, She” ...
  • Third Person Limited – Still “He, She” ...
  • Second Person – “You” ...
  • Examples. ...
  • Conclusion.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on prowritingaid.com


How many POVs are in writing?

In creative writing, point of view is the eye through which you tell a story. There are three main types of POV, but there's no one best POV that every single bestseller uses.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on masterclass.com