The 7 basic characters in fiction and why Firefly has all 7.

Joan the Vampire Slayer

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I found this posted on Addicted To Firefly on Facebook. I liked it. What do you all think?

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This article is based on a talk I heard [and took notes from ].

In Ancient Greece and other parts, there were at that time 7 celestial bodies visible with the naked eye. These 7 planets/bodies have distinct characteristics and have given us [arguably] the 7 days in the week and the 7 basic characters in ALL fiction.

1. The Sun - the Guy or Gal in charge. The King. The Leader [Kirk]. In the Firefly-verse this is MAL; no contest.

2. The Moon - reflects the Sun and is the only one who can make the Sun back down/change their minds. ZOE.

3. Mercury - the Joker in the pack. Snappy, funny, often the comic relief, often the messenger/communicator. WASH.

4. Venus - the love object; the goddess [but can be male]; the one everyone would do just about anything to get into bed with. INARA.

5. Mars - the War god. Spoiling for a fight [and good at it]. This is your muscle, your security officer [Worf], your hired gun. JAYNE.

6. Jupiter - Wants to get laid, rarely succeeds, good with their hands, often your resident mechanic [Scotty]. KAYLEE.

7. Saturn - remote, distant, contemplative, different. Figuring out his/her place in the scheme of things [Spock]. BOOK.

Ah, you say, you've left two out!!! This is because Joss is a genius and gives us two more planets and hence two more characters. Here's my guess...

Neptune - [cold, tends to be remote, deep, skillful] SIMON

Pluto - [erratic orbit, possibly not a planet at all] RIVER
 
L
LorneyTunes
Nice :D x
Wow. Neat thread. I'd say there are probably more character types (victims and vice figures both come pretty readily to mind), but I really like the idea of assigning planet based personality types to this wandering tribe of space cowboys.
 
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