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People Explain Which Side Characters Deserved More Of The Spotlight Than The Main Character

People Explain Which Side Characters Deserved More Of The Spotlight Than The Main Character
Image by Jan Vašek from Pixabay

Be it a novel, play, television show, or movie, it has a protagonist.

Because, frankly, it needs one. The main character provides the lens through which we watch the action, and their emotional journey through some conflict is what drives the whole plot.


But let's face it, the main plot isn't automatically the audience's favorite part of the story. Humans being humans, we love animated people full of relatable quirks and entertaining outbursts--true characters.

And sometimes, the creator of the story has far more freedom with side characters whose every experience won't chaotically veer the plot off into different directions every second.

Nonetheless, we often walk away most thrilled by those side characters above all else.

Necessary-Spinach 182 asked, "What side character deserved more spotlight than the main character?"

For some Redditors, they wanted more light shed on a side character's back story.

Given only a fascinating tidbit that offered a window into a whole unexplored world, they imagined entire other movies where the side character could be a star with a plot of their own.

A Cat With Plenty to Say 

"This is gonna sound weird but Salem from the original Sabrina the Teenage Witch. His character was just a goofy talking cat most of the time and the few times we saw his backstory it was really interesting."

"I just feel like he was underutilized but I haven't seen the new series so they might be paying more attention to him."

-- rubicks56

Best Voice, Best Story, Biggest Snub 

"Santana Lopez from Glee - she could do 'Don't Rain on my Parade' but Rachel Berry could never do 'Valerie' or 'Me against the Music'"

Also her story line was by far the most interesting, her arc was the most fully realised, and she had snark for days (RIP Naya Rivera)"

-- TieYourTubesIdiot

Throne Gaps 

"Tormund Giantsbane" -- Aykhancho

"He was my favorite character! And he really reminds me of my brother" -- natsugrayerza

"Agreed but Brianne of Tarth has to be there absolutely. that is a loose end that's going to haunt me for the rest of my days" -- iCantliveOnCrumbsOfD

Plenty of Katniss' Out There

"I wanted to know more background info about the other tributes in the Hunger Games. It was in Katniss' POV so it wasn't that prominent, but it would still be interesting." -- GiseleDamas

"Me too. I would have loved to see stuff from Cato's perspective in the first movie. And how the kids from the higher districts where forced to train for the games ever since they where children." -- JackSparrowscompass

"I thought I was gonna hate the prequel but I actually ended up loving it. Lucy Gray Baird is an incredibly interesting character. Snow is still a psychopath but that isn't exactly shocking" -- smol_lydia

Rewarding Loyalty 

"I'm not sure how many people watched Ben 10 before the reboot but I feel like Ben's cousin Gwen deserves some recognition."

"People who watched the show tend to focus more on Ben and his aliens since they are the main characters of the show, but Gwen deserves equal recognition because she's been a very loyal cousin who is willing to do everything she could to defend and fight along with his cousin at all times."

"She went through serious character development going from a kid who was jealous and liking to pick on her cousin and then grew up into this bada** who proved to be much useful whenever she's not around her cousin. Kevin and Grandpa Max deserve credit as well."

"Kevin and Ben pretty much had one of the best enemy-turned ally relationships in a show and Grandpa Max was pretty much a father and mentor to Ben who took what he learned from him in order to become a better hero."

"The thing I love most about this show is how tackles character development well and yes the side characters were very interesting and important in their own way."

The Namesake

"Zelda needs her own game about the missing years in OoT when Link is gone and she becomes Sheik and leads an insurgency with Impa as her Alfred." -- Wazula42

"I mean it is called Legend of Zelda. They should definitely make a game about her. It would be awesome!" -- Monkey6518

Probing the Depths Of Space and Time 

"Doc Brown from Back to the Future. He's had much more adventures off camera than Marty did on camera. The thirty years between 1955 and 1985."

"The unknown period he was adventuring in time and space off camera between when he disappeared from the Twin Lone Pine mall and his reappearance at Marty's house at the end of the first film."

"His time in the 1880s before and after Marty's arrival and departure. His subsequent building of a new time travel machine in a locomotive and his adventures after the series finale."

"There's a lot of untold stories of Doc Brown that I'd love to see on the silver screen."

-- II_Confused

Clear Frontrunner

"Spencer from iCarly" -- Agroskater

"He was definitely the best character in the whole show. I'd probably watch a series with him and Freddie in it if they did one. The fencing episode with them was one of my favourites :)" -- ArtemisFowlbooks_07

A Small Business Spinoff

"I binged True Blood recently so it's in front of my brain: Eric Northman and Pam. Sookie got annoying. Bill was an a**hole."

"One of the plot points of the show was that they ran afoul of the vampire authority and were sentenced to run a video rental store in the 1980s and 90s. I would 100% watch Eric and Pam run a video rental store."

-- ConnieLingus24

Others highlighted the characters who always managed to steal the hearts and laughs of viewers every time they appeared on screen.

These characters were simply so entertaining that audiences always could have used some more.

Line After Line 

'Falstaff from Henry IV."

"Dude was putting out banger lines every scene. So interesting they had to kill him between plays because everyone was like 'IDGAF about anyone not named Falstaff.'"

"Shoutout to all the Shakespeare and literary nerds out there."

-- Onepopcornman

Prime Shenanigans

"Andy from Parks and Rec, his shenanigans could have easily been a spin-off series with April." -- misslemom9

"If you're going to do a Parks and Rec spinoff, and you can get Crisp Rat back for it, you have to go for the Agent Macklin: FBI feature film. Anything else is a waste." -- WhatVengeanceMeans

A Significant Late Addition 

"Niles Crane. I don't know if the show would work with him as the main character without significant modifications, but he's consistently my favorite part of nearly every episode." -- merupu8352

"It's amazing to think that they had no plans for Frasier to have a brother when they were developing the show."

"It's only because someone in casting saw David Hyde Pierce's headshot and said 'hey, this guy looks like he could be Frasier's brother' and they gave him a screentest on a whim that they realised what a goldmine of a concept that was."

"I honestly doubt Frasier would have lasted more than a season if Niles wasn't a character." -- jetsam_honking

And finally, some characters only appeared for a single moment or two, but really turned heads during the brief snippet.

Sometimes it only takes one amazing joke or a heartfelt moment to leave the whole crowd wondering what could have been.

We've All Quoted It 

"frozone from the incredibles" -- thatswhat_shesaid1

"Where he can find his motherfu**ing super suit" -- derthert123

"Absolutely agree with this. He had their back in both movies, a great friend to the family. They just didn't give him enough." -- makeme84

One of Many Pursuers

"James Norrington" -- myhamsterisajerk

"For anyone wondering, this is the admiral that is persuing Captain Jack Sparrow in the original movie, who is the other side of this iconic exchange" -- boopboopadoopity

"Norrington seriously had so much potential. Then he met Bootstrap Bill. We all know how that ended. I kinda wish we saw more of him when he was temporarily a pirate." -- StarWarsCrazy1

"COMMODORE Norrington, as he is now known." -- hazzzaa85

Jockeying For Position

"Sarah Lynn in Bojack Horseman."

"Plus the criminally underrated Officer Meow Meow Fuzzyface."

-- ViperKira

The Promise of a Song 

"I would have LOVED if Mulan 1998 focused more on the friendship between Mulan, Ling, Yao, and Chien-po. I really liked how they seemed to bond after Mulan got the arrow and the three started including her in things, like joking around each other during A Girl Worth Fighting For."

"And how they immediately followed Mulan when they said she had an idea. I wish there was more screentime for the four of them. Their dynamics are so fun."

-- Minimum-Cauliflower2

Think back to your favorite movies and shows. Can you recall a character that really stole the show for you? For me, it's without a doubt Cameron from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

His relentless anxious fidgeting is the closest I have to a spirit animal.

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Our ancient ancestors had their own habits; some were strange and bewildering, others were nearly identical to those we practice today. Looking back through history, one might be surprised to find the daily lives of the ancients weren't so unrecognizable. But then again, there are still plenty of ancient habits that leave us scratching our heads.

1. Ground-Breaking Discovery

Recently, archaeologists working in Italy’s Caverna delle Arene Candide found a heap of rocks. Not exactly headline news, but these rocks had been carried up from a nearby beach and broken in a consistent, uniform fashion, and similar-sized pieces had been taken from each one. It appears that Neolithic Italians broke the rocks as a funerary rite—the rocks themselves may have represented lost loved ones, and breaking them symbolized the person dying.

2. Shake On It

person holding hands of another personPhoto by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

The tradition of greeting another person by shaking hands dates at least as far back as the Ancient Greeks. One column at the Acropolis even shows the Greek goddess of marriage, Hera, shaking hands with the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena.

3. A Little Pick-Me-Up

Nowadays we have Viagra and Cialis, but Pliny the Elder suggested a bevy of ancient Roman aphrodisiacs that reads more like a witch’s shopping list than a doctor’s prescription. To put the pep back in your step, Pliny suggested the yolks of pigeon eggs, in honey, mixed with hog’s lard, or sparrows eggs, or a lizard drowned in one’s own urine. If that didn't work, you could always wear “the right testicle of a cock.” I’ll pause long enough for you to stop giggling.

4. For The Ladies

brown falcon on treePhoto by Photos By Beks on Unsplash

Got it out of your system? Ok, moving on: For ladies with low libido, Pliny advised ingesting a vulture’s tongue, or wearing a patch of wool soaked in bat’s blood on top of the head. It seems so obvious, doesn't it?

5. Just ’Browsing

Nothing made a Greek woman feel more attractive than having a thick, swarthy unibrow. To the Greeks, the unibrow signaled a combination of beauty and brains. Greek women would go to great lengths to get that perfect forehead mustache, lining their brows with kohl or soot, or even using tree resin to affix fake eyebrows made of goats’ hair to their foreheads.

6. Of Corset Was!

white and brown striped textilePhoto by Jamie Coupaud on Unsplash

You probably associate the fitted corset with those breathless Victorian women who, though they maintained their figure, looked constantly on the verge of fainting, but they weren't the first to wear them. The corset goes all the way back to the Ancient Minoan women of Crete, who wore similar restrictive bodices. The Minoan corsets were likely the first fitted garments ever worn.

7. To Be Taken With A Grain Of Salt

Popular superstition states that, if one should spill some salt, one can counteract the bad luck by throwing a pinch of salt over the shoulder. That practice actually goes all the way back to the ancient Assyrians. The superstition was passed on from them to the Egyptians, and then the Greeks, and the Romans, all the way to today.

8. Stairway To Heaven

an egyptian scene with a man offering a bowl to a womanPhoto by British Library on Unsplash

The same is true of walking under ladders—the Egyptians came up with that one. Because a ladder leaning against a wall formed a triangle, representative of the holy trinity of Egyptian gods, to walk through was considered sacrilegious. Naturally, that superstation lent itself perfectly to the early Christians. I always just thought it was because you're likely to get something dropped on you if you walk under a ladder.

9. As It Nappens

Just like the Spaniards with their customary siesta, the Ancient Greeks would insist on taking a quick mid-day nap throughout the summer. One 5th-century medical text advised that a brief nap around noon kept the body from “drying out.”

10. That Sucks!

In ancient Ireland, one showed submission to tribal kings by sucking their nipples. Bog-bodies (ancient remain found well-preserved by the chemicals in a bogs) have been found with slashed nipples, indicating that they had been driven from the throne.

11. Pour One Out

Even if you're completely out of touch, you’ve probably seen a rapper “pouring one out” in a music video. Feel free to pour one out in memory of Pac or Biggie, but you should know the practice actually began with the Ancient Egyptians, who first spilled their drinks as a tribute to their god of death, Osiris.

12. The Good Book

person's hand holding book pagePhoto by Rod Long on Unsplash

The practice of libations was continued by the Greeks. There is even mention of “pouring one out” in the Old Testament: Genesis 35:14 states “Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him [God], even a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.”

13. Beer For Breakfast

While the pharaohs had no shortage of delicacies to choose from—fruit and honey and wine and cured fish and all manner of roasted beasts—the Egyptian working class had a significantly shorter menu. The typical Egyptian breakfast consisted of bread, beer, and onions.

14. Sand Gets Everywhere

a group of people riding horses in a desertPhoto by Veronika Biró on Unsplash

And sand. Lots of sand. Keeping sand out of their food was a huge problem for Egyptians, and coupled with their rough, fibrous diet and the fact that they had no real culture of dental hygiene, it meant that Egyptians of modest means usually suffered severe dental issues.

15. Chickening Out

Roman navies always kept chickens on board their ships, but they never intended to eat the birds. Rather, the chickens were offered cake. If the chickens pecked the cake, the Romans were sure to have luck in their upcoming battle. One Roman admiral, furious that his chicken wouldn’t peck, shunned superstition by throwing his chicken overboard and declared, “If it won’t eat, it can drink instead!”

27. The Stash

green palm tree during sunsetPhoto by Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash

According to Herodotus, certain tribes to the east liked to throw bushels of marijuana on bonfires and enjoy a nice stone. As with a lot of stuff that Herodotus said, historians took this with a grain of salt, but in 2008 archaeologists discovered the tomb of a 2,700-year-old mummy in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang.

In addition to the mummy—presumably, a shaman of the Yuehzi people—was nearly 800 grams of marijuana, worth about $8,000 to modern consumers. Also found in the tomb, a stack of Bob Marley records and a poster bearing the phrase “Legalize It.”

17. A Different Period

To cope with severe menstrual symptoms, Roman women used tampons soaked in opium, while Egyptian men were allowed—and even encouraged—to take time off work to care for their menstruating wives or daughters.

18. Don’t Sweat It

gray concrete building during daytimePhoto by Federico Di Dio photography on Unsplash

After a big day at the Colosseum, Roman fight-goers liked to celebrate the trip by buying souvenirs. Gladiator sweat was a favorite, as was lard from the animals who had been killed during the show. The sweat was mixed with olive oil and sold as a perfume. It was also considered a powerful aphrodisiac. I'll pass, thanks.

19. Decisions, Decisions

According to Herodotus, the rule of thumb among the Ancient Persians was if something was decided upon while drunk, all people involved must wait until they’ve sobered up, and decide again. Later writers added that, if something were decided while sober, the Persians would again put the decision under scrutiny by getting drunk and seeing if the idea held up. At least they covered all their bases!

20. Puking Party

girl in grey tank top holding purple flowerPhoto by Дмитрий Хрусталев-Григорьев on Unsplash

As everyone knows, the Romans loved to party, but of course one can only party so much. The idea of any Roman feast was to eat and drink as much as physically possible. When a Roman began to feel too full, or too drunk, it was socially acceptable, and even encouraged, to induce vomiting, thereby making room for more.

It should be said, however, that it's a misconception that they had special rooms called "vomitoria" for this purpose. Vomitoria did exist, but they were special passages in theaters or auditoria designed to efficiently allow many people to exit at once. The name comes from the Latin word vomo, which means "to spew forth."

21. No Pants Allowed

The Greeks and Romans had pants, they just didn’t wear them. The Greeks thought they looked silly, and the Romans considered them “for the barbarians,” since they were customarily worn by Germanic peoples to the north.

22. Spitting Image

man spitting waterPhoto by Asael Peña on Unsplash

It wouldn’t be unusual to see a Roman spit on himself; it was something they did any time they encountered a mentally ill person or someone with epilepsy. Not only were these traits undesirable, they were considered contagious as well. By spitting on himself, a Roman was protecting himself from the spread of a disease—an action that had no basis, even in Roman medicine, but remained a widely held superstition.

23. The Cure-All

For everything that spitting couldn’t cure, the Romans swore by "theriac." The compound, invented by Nero’s personal physician, was made of 64 different ingredients, including opium and viper flesh, and was said to cure everything from poisoning to plague. Theriac remained a common item in apothecaries and pharmaceutical shops well into the 19th century, because if nothing works anyway, you might as well eat some snake parts.

24. Ancient Times

grayscale photo of round analog clockPhoto by Timo C. Dinger on Unsplash

Punctual Romans carried around portable sundials, not unlike our more modern pocket watches. Each sundial came with specific instructions on how to use it based on one’s geographical coordinates and the season. But the Romans didn’t rely on a regular 60 minute hour like we do: rather, they followed the Egyptian example of keeping a 45 minute hour through the summer and a 75 minute hour in the winter. How could that not have confused people?

25. Fast Food

The Romans were a busy, on-the-go people, so it’s not surprising that, just like us moderns, they loved fast food. There were restaurants all over the Rome, many of them with windows that opened onto the street so customers could just order their food and go. I wonder if they had drive-thru windows for chariots?

17. Pompeiians Can’t Cook

brown and white concrete buildingPhoto by Yaopey Yong on Unsplash

There were more than 200 take-out restaurants in Pompeii alone. Taking dinner out was so common that many Pompeiian homes didn’t even have kitchens.

16. Vend Diagram

The Romans even had vending machines. Or at least they had the technology—the only known example, built by Roman-Egyptian inventor Hero of Alexander, was coin-operated and dispensed holy water.

28. Cone Heads

brown concrete statue of manPhoto by Tom Podmore on Unsplash

Long before the spray bottle was invented, the Egyptians developed a unique way to apply perfume. They wore tall cones of resin or ox fat on the top of their heads. The cones would be infused with aromatic oils and myrrh. As the balmy night wore on, the cones melted, leaving the Egyptians coated in fragrant oil. It was considered good hospitality to offer these cones to guests at a party.

29. The Best Part Of Waking Up…

Coffee came from Africa, tea from the far east. Neither seemed to have caught on among the Romans. Given the dearth of caffeinated beverages, the Romans began their mornings with a beverage made of goat feces and vinegar. I'll stick to my bean juice, thanks.

30. Just Do It

File:15-07-05-Schloß-Caputh-RalfR-N3S 1528.jpg - Wikimedia Commonscommons.wikimedia.org

According to Pliny the Elder (this guy again...), the goat dung and vinegar beverage was especially popular among chariot racers; it was kind of like an ancient version of Gatorade. The emperor Nero personally endorsed the drink, saying that it gave him extra strength.

31. Urine Luck

The Romans used human urine in industries like leather tanning, and some of these companies even paid a “urine tax” for the privilege. But that’s not all: Urine was used by the Romans as a laundry detergent, a fertilizer, and even as a mouthwash. Because, you know, nothing makes your mouth cleaner than...

32. A Brush With The Egyptians

blue and white plastic bottlePhoto by 莎莉 彭 on Unsplash

In this instance, at least, the Egyptians were centuries ahead of the Romans, and even ahead of pre-20th century Westerners. The Egyptians invented the toothbrush, and used it in conjunction with a toothpaste made of gum arabica, soot, and water that actually would have done an OK job.

33. Mint Condition

In fact, one 4th century Egyptian text offers a complete—though different—recipe for toothpaste: one drachma of rock salt, one drachma of iris flowers, 20 grains of pepper, and, of course, two drachmas of mint for kissably fresh breath. Hey, if it's not human urine, I'll take it!

34. Getting Around To It

man and woman statue under blue sky during daytimePhoto by Sergio García on Unsplash

Let’s talk about bad habits for a minute. Here in the modern world, many of us have trouble getting motivated—we tend to put off starting things, even if they’re important or good for us. But don't feel so bad, even our ancient ancestors struggled with procrastination.

Putting off crucial business was so common in Ancient Greece that the Greeks had a word for it: akrasia, “the state of acting against one’s own interest.”

35. So Stupid, It’s Smart

One Greek statesman discovered a trick to help him defeat akrasia: Demosthenes shaved one side of his head (seriously). Funny, but how does it help? Demosthenes reasoned—rightly, perhaps—that he would be less tempted to go outside if he knew people would make fun of his stupid haircut. Rather than risk the mockery and taunts of his fellow Athenians, he stayed home and studied. Something to remember next time you’ve got a big exam coming up.

36. Moldy Medicine

sliced bread on tablePhoto by Helena Yankovska on Unsplash

The Ancient Egyptians applied moldy bread crusts to burns. This practice has also been found in ancient Greek, Chinese, and Serbian cultures. While none of these ancient cultures had any way to know specifically, they did seem to intuit that the microbes and antibodies active in the mold were good for fighting off infections.

37. An Eyebrow Raising Habit

Eyebrows were important to the Ancient Egyptians, as well. The death of a household cat was a serious tragedy—the Egyptians literally worshipped the furry felines—and families would often demonstrate their grief by shaving their eyebrows off.

38. The Cat’s Pyjamas

Free Images : animal, monument, statue, cat, egypt, sculpture ...pxhere.com

Cats were idolized by the Egyptians because of their skill at killing vermin like rats and snakes, and because they also represented fertility. When a cat died, even the cat of a laborer, it was given a noble burial, mummified, and laid to rest surrounded by pots of milk and mummified mice. We should all be so lucky.

39. Pretty Disrespectful

The practice of mummifying cats was so common that, over the course of the 19th century, British industrialists were able to import nineteen tons of mummified kitties for use as fertilizer.

40. Not Monkeying Around

black monkey sitting on rock during daytimePhoto by Benjamin Ong on Unsplash

Cats weren’t the only pets loved by the Egyptians; they were also known to keep monkeys. Big monkeys. Really big monkeys, like baboons, in fact. Baboons don’t live in Egypt—they had to be imported to Egypt specifically—but their popularity led them to develop a wealth of cultural and religious significance to the Egyptian people, and one was considered lucky indeed to have one of the simians in their home.

41. The Hogs Of War

The Greeks and Romans employed an unlikely ally when they went to war: Because their rivals in the east typically employed elephants, the Greeks and Romans enlisted the help of war pigs, whose squeals terrified the giant beasts.

42. The Romans Treated Their Kids Like Garbage

a statue of a person holding a staffPhoto by Clemens van Lay on Unsplash

Roman families did have adoption practices—even Julius Caesar adopted his great-nephew Octavian, later known as Augustus—but it was mostly a way for the wealthy Roman elite to ensure they had an heir. For poorer families, unwanted children were often just left at the dump.

If those unwanted babies didn’t die, they were usually taken to be raised as slaves.

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