How to bring new characters into an established universe

[AmazementComics]

We really want to expand the world of Amazement Comics here on tapas. We're already midway through the main series The Action Fruit Society, however there are at least 150+ characters that no one has been introduced to yet (excluding the mainstream universe and Amazement Originals). Currently, there is a new series in the works that will act as a character guide to every character ever. What do you think is the most effective way to bring in the newer characters in this established universe? Should they have their own series? Should they be introduced by means of another series first? Share your thoughts down below.

Amazement Originals | Tapas

The Action Fruit Society | Tapas

The Action Fruit Society (Season 2) | Tapas

[Trevor]

Well, there's lots of ways you can do it, one that comes to mind for me is you can give your main characters a reason to meet them, like in Avatar where Aang meets Toph because he needed a teacher for example. You can also just do a miraculous meet up where the two characters end up in the same place at the same time from either an accident or coincidence. I can go on, but I'd be writing a whole essay lol

[ar-ninetysix]

You say you're halfway, but you still have about 150 characters left to introduce?? Idk how deep you're into the story in terms of chapters or whatever, but to me it kinda sounds like it'd be a nightmare to introduce that large of a cast in the later half.. At that point, I'd personally reconsider whether all of the characters are important enough to be in the story at all... but again, I don't know how long the story is, so there's a chance it could work if it's a super long series.

If you have to keep all of them in, I'd introduce them in groups and focus on a select few, similar to how the anime Hunter x Hunter would do it for each arc. You introduce them quickly and establish who they are, using cliches and tropes if you have to, but the main ones that have an influence over the biggest points of the plot are gonna be the ones you'll wanna focus on the most. I'd highly recommend giving these characters some type of character arc, if not a strong sense of personality. There's no guarantee you'll be able to make the biggest, diverse, and most memorable cast where all of them are equally developed, in my opinion. A huge amount of them might have to be "filler" characters if you go this route, but this is your safest bet in introducing them quickly and effectively.

If you find yourself thinking that like.. not all of them are that important, consider cutting down the amount of characters you're gonna wanna add in the future, but don't abandon your leftover characters completely! You can always reuse them for a spin-off or even a separate story in a different world altogether! .The smaller the cast is, the more chances you'll have for mostly everyone to interact with everyone in some way.

[sprite_1ww]

Holy cow you probably have more characters than a shōnen manga! That's pretty impressive. Sorry I can't add anything to the topic at hand. I can't even wrap my head around having a cast that big in a series

[AmazementComics]

You can always reuse them for a spin-off or even a separate story in a different world altogether! .The smaller the cast is, the more chances you'll have for mostly everyone to interact with everyone in some way.

This is what we meant. We said there were that many characters we wanted to introduce throughout the universe, we didn't say it had to be in the mainstream continuity. Considering the timing, it's obviously too late to introduce them within the mainstream continuity as less than half make appearances in it. Some are supporting characters and others just wouldn't fit the narrative of the main timeline because they wouldn't serve any purpose.

[ar-ninetysix]

Oh, whoops, I forgot you're talking about a universe, so.. "different world" is a bad choice of words xD I meant like, a different series in general. away from Action Fruit and the Originals series you got going on.

[AmazementComics]

In a way, Amazement Originals acts as the bridge between the mainstream continuity where The Action Fruit Society confides in and the possibility of the multiverse. So are you that saying newer characters should be introduced in other universes when there IS already other universes? I feel like that would just add more to the confusion.

[ar-ninetysix]

Not really? It's not hard to grasp in my opinion. There's a clear idea of the main story taking place in the comic, Action Fruit, and the extra stories that could take place in the same universe are in Amazement comics. This new project would be unrelated to either, and if you just announce it as such, it'd be easy to keep for any new reader.to get into any of em.. that's what I think anyways.

[AmazementComics]

Oh, not really what we were going for. Like you said, The Action Fruit Society is the face of Amazement Comics, hence why the mainstream continuity centers around them. We're just thinking ahead. After "The Action Fruit Society" series is completed, we plan to use the 150 characters we have [thus far] in a myriad of different stories. Creating a new lineup of series over the course of the next few years. Everything that happens from ancient realms, the wild west, to space and even "elseworlds" per se, must revolve around the entire landscape of Amazement Comics.

[LordLacroix]

Just make one of the others characters meet with him and then tell his backstory. I don't see any real problem with that....

[ar-ninetysix]

Ah. Well, there you go lol seems like you already know what to do with 'em then! There's not much else I can say on adding more characters in!

[AmazementComics]

It's just about introducing the characters with an arc. Even if the character isn't the most popular, at least the audience will be able to distinguish who they are among the many. Which is what many people struggle with.

[LordLacroix]

I m sorry if i sounded rude, that was not my intent but I still fail to see how hard is to introduce a character in any part of a story. Seems straightforward to me. If you planned their lifes and know how it will contribute to your plot then It is all done. If you didn't do that or if the character won't contribute I wonder, why bring him to the universe then? Maybe it is matter of style, I am not sure but to me the story is what dictates who will appear, when and how. Hope I helped anyway. You see I am not trying to look the daddy knows it all, But when I write it kinda unfolds by themselves. Not sure if I was clear to about that. But this is how it works to me.

[AmazementComics]

Well, what kind plot direction does your story move towards? Unless you're writing about one character or you're intention is to make a small cast of characters, then it wouldn't be an issue. A lot of what is being done here is world building, and it'd be near impossible to add every single character and have their lives fully fleshed out without excluding attention away from the main characters.

[LordLacroix]

Indeed, if you want only to show who the character is and develop it then you need to do a spin off your series. After all a plot is and needs to be about one main character, specialy if it is a novel and how the other impact their life. Or a group and likewise. But if you want to give destak to this character or he will become one of the main characters or he will open a path to his own book.

[LordLacroix]

In my case I have a main character and their support characters so everyone that appears is only to give more credibility to the main plot. If I see a character can have it is own tittle then I will do a spin off to develop it further or add short stories not really related to my main plot. Feel free to message me if you want to discuss this further.