Foil Characters

Another offering for the would-be authors from my reading on writing. This time from What Is A Foil Character?.

I did not know the phrase so I read the article.  Having read it, I am thinking is this not obvious? I can give you two more examples: Sherlock Holmes and Watson; Raintree County has two foils for its hero.

A good foil character will draw your reader’s attention to the qualities of your protagonist, often without your reader even knowing you’re doing it. This can be done in a variety of ways. Let’s take a look at some contrasting examples and match them to famous foil characters. 

• Your protagonist may be a law-abiding citizen, so the foil could be a law breaker (think how different Harry Potter’s friends, Hermione and Ron, are). 
• An adventurous character may have a more cautious foil (look at the old man and the boy scout in the animation Up).
• A more reserved character may have a loud friend (the perfect example of this is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde).
• One may be violent and one wanting to keep the peace (Tybalt trying to fight a loved-up Romeo).

Foil characters can be used in a variety of ways, but whichever way you wish to do this, a good foil can make all the difference to how the reader identifies with your character. This adds to the underlying strength of your writing and may not be so obvious to your reader without their inclusion.

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