Stock characters
A stock character is a fictional stereotypical character. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner or speec, and other characteristics. Stock characters are a key component of genre fiction, providing relationships and interactions that people familiar with the genre will recognize immediately. Stock characters are easy victims for parody, which will most likely exaggerate any stereotypes associated wit these characters. For example some who's gay, the actor would act very camp, swinging arms and girly voice.
In every soap there are always a variety of stereotypical “stockpile” characters. For example the lovable rogue, the tart with a heart, the lovable softy, the pregnant teen and many more.
Here are some examples I have selected from Soap Opera's that fit into a catergory in common stock characters:
THE PREGNANT TEEN:
A school kid or an unexpected young individual who gets herself pregnant. It happens to usually be the innocent looking teen that has this story line perhaps as a message that it could happen to anyone. Alot of the pregnancies do go ahead with it and keep the baby, making them young mums but usually with interefering grandparents. Some go with abortions due to pressure from boyfriends (Eastenders, Bradley and Stacey), parents or their own personal decision but usually they keep their pregnancy in the dark for aslong as possible. Some get pregnant by random one night stands, some by boyfriends. The pregnancy itself may be a result of a one night stand (Amy Barnes, Hollyaoks or Danielle, Eastenders) a romantic relationship (Brigit, Neighbours or Demi, Eastenders), or a first time encounter (Sarah Lou, Coronation Street).
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1. Coronation Street: Sarah Lou The character of Sarah was very unlucky when it came to men. In February 2000, just after her 13th birthday, Sarah found out she was pregnant. Her daughter Bethany was born four months later. The father Neil Fearns told Sarah he didnt want anything to do with her or the baby and was always an “absent father”.
2.Hollyoaks: Amy BarnesAmy's friend introduced her to Ste Hay, who Amy then began dating. Michaela pressured Amy into having sex with Ste, and somewhat reluctantly, she did, losing her virginity in the back of Ste's older brother's car.This was the start of a highly turbulent period in Amy's life with her and Michaela shoplifting, drinking and being promiscuous. After one under-age drinking session, on her 15th birthday, Amy met a boy called Billy. They had sex in the bushes in a park, before returning home drunk. Shortly afterwards, Amy discovered she was pregnant. Michaela contacted Billy, going with Amy and Sasha to meet him. There, Amy was reluctant to tell him about her pregnancy especially when Billy struggled to remember sleeping with her. Michaela had to remind him of Amy's name. Michaela told Billy about Amy's pregnancy but he rejected the idea of being involved with the child. He told Amy and Michaela that he wasn't worried about people discovering he was the father as everyone knew "they're slags". Amy was left to face her pregnancy alone. Through struggling with baby leah already, Amy also had baby number two 'Lucas' with ex boyfriend Ste.
3.Eastenders: Danielle Jones gets pregnant by Paul, a barman she had a one-night-stand with, but who was only interested in her for sex. She gets guidance from her mum Ronnie, who doesn't know at the time she is her mum. The relationship between the two began to develop when Danielle fell pregnant, and was supported in seeking an abortion by Ronnie. Danielle's pregnancy was a plot-device to bring the two closer together, discussing the tragedy of Ronnie being unaware she was encouraging the aborting of her own grandchild.
4. Neighbours: Bridget discovered that she was pregnant with boyfriend Declan's child. At the time Declan was training for an Australian Football League team and feeling scared and alone she turned to his mum for help.When she eventually told Declan, he reacted badly to the news and decided to leave. However Ringo and Zeke went after Declan and persuaded him to return and support Bridget and try to be a dad. Bridget's parents also weren't pleased at the news but they eventually come around to the idea, although Miranda has tried to take over.
Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that Miranda was viewing Bridget's pregnancy as an opportunity to live vicariously through her daughter and have the baby that she always wanted. Steve stepped in before the conflict escalated too far however, and reminded Miranda that it's Bridget's decision, as it is her baby. After a tough week of trying to come to terms with her pregnancy, Bridget finally decided to return to school. After a difficult morning Bridget finally snapped, pushing bully Justin Hunter, and revealed her pregnancy to most of the school, and to Principal Andrew Simpson, who expelled her, supposedly due to the incident with Justin. However, Bridget believed that it was due to her pregnancy, and fought back.
THE BADBOY
Alot of girls tend to always find themselves attracted to the bad boys in their everyday lives.In Soap Operas, there is always a man on the side who has power over alot of places, people and anything thats dodgy. They are sneaky, coniving, generally appear smart, always in control, and are always the ones laughing..These are bad boys. They are involved in everyones business, and once someone gets involved with the bad guy, they cant get away without recieving alot of blackmail and threats. These characters appear wiser, and are usually quite good looking which makes the audience like the character. They have alot of status and power which is what alot of woman are attracted to in real life, so these woman are appealed the the character. It is not just the actor who makes himself the villain/bad boy its the community of the show around them and how they act around him which create the atmosphere of fear and tension around this high status evil man but with out the rest of the cast, how do we get a full idea of his status as we have nothing to compare? Something about the badboy is always likeable, whether it be their looks or a nice side thats visible. Usually their soft spot is shown when looking out for their family, friends or lovers. They usually have a bad upbringing or past that trigger their bad behaviour also.
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1. Eastenders: The actor of Sean Slater's character described his character : "He’s a violent person with a violent disposition. He lashes out. He can’t differentiate between friend or foe and he won’t allow anyone to get close to him. He’s not naturally aggressive; he chooses to be because it gets a reaction. It’s a cry for help. The reason he challenges the alpha male characters in the Square is that he wants a father figure. He wants someone who can basically run him into the ground, then take him under his wing. He’s a nice guy, a good kid. He does the things he does because he just wants someone to help him. He’s a charming, affable guy when he wants to be. It’s just that you don’t cross him, ever"
2. Hollyoaks: Warren always put himself first, and would do anything to get what he wants - be it money, women or business opportunities. Warren is selfish, arrogant and devious and is not to be messed with. Warren arrived as a shady character but slowly viewers got to see his true colours. He finally got the woman he loved, Louise Summers, but tragically killed her on their wedding night, something he regretted deeply. We saw the soft spot to him when we were exposed to his life as a child, we know he has a foster brother Spencer with a mental illness aswell as a sister who he acted more like a father to. So despite the fact he cheated on his fiancee, murdered, used and abused almost everyone in Hollyoaks, there was love in his character. (In 2007 and 2008 the actor of Warren Fox was nominated for best BEST BAD BOY)
3. Coronation Street: David Platt was branded 'the spawn of Satan' by TV critics for his eerily demonic expression and reprehensible behaviour, the tormented teen finally paid for his crimes in a young offenders institution. Some of his antics include sending mum Gail cards from her serial killer of an ex-husband, pushing Gail down the stairs and shaving the hair of his niece's much-loved doll. Since being released, David hopes for a fresh start.
4. Neighbours: Paul Robinson was left motherless when she died giving birth when he was 12 but had a close relationship with his grandma.Paul has a wicked way with the ladies, having been married four times! He returned from prison and burnt 'Lassiter's to the ground killing Gus Cleary. However, despite all this evilness, he had a change of heart over a dodgy deal for developers to ruin Ramsay Street but this resulted in him getting pushed off a cliff and getting his leg amputated.. He then was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and the operation to remove it caused him to lose his memory and for a while he turned nice, but it didnt last long.
VILLAINS
Villains have less sympathy than the bad boys, these people generally are just pure evil no matter what upbringing they had. They don't do evil things because they are in trouble, but usually because they just love doing wrong and making as many people suffer as possible. They are recognized by the audience almost immediately for being suspicious and untrustworthy, but the characters around tend to not acknologe it until its too late. Alot of the worst villains in my opinion are the female, this may be because i am not attracted to them so therefore they wouldn't be able to create a puppy dog eye effect on me like the badboys. Villains prove that theres only so much you can get away with to be forgivven, once theres a line crossed, your always a villain. They also always tend to pick on the favourite loved characters, the oldies, the longterm cast, which never goes down well wit the audience.
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1. Eastenders: Nick Cotton started a villain and he continued to prove that he was rotten to the core. He's been a racist bully, a heroin addict and a pimp, he's lied, stolen, and tried to poison his Ma (who is a much beloved character in Eastenders so that was a clear way to make him hated by the public). He is the result of the deat of is son Ashley and he has dumped his other daughter with Dot. Like Janine, and most villains he pretends to be kind and a 'new man', and gets the victim where he wants them. He wears a leather jacket, smokes and appears in a tatty biker man style in contrast to his bible loving mother. Even his appearance looks dangerous.
2. Coronation Street: Tracy Barlow fell in love with local bad boy Charlie Stubbs however after discovering he had cheated she left him, but came back with one thing in mind-revenge.She tried to frame Charlie for abuse, even burning herself with an iron. She did eventually murder him and pleaded self defence of course but went down for a long stretch.
Tracey and a few other woman agreed that Roy Cropper would be the only man who would never cheat on is wife. Tracy placed a bet for 1p that she could bed him.Everyone was stunned wen he supposedly got drunk and slept with Tracy. News got out and Roy and his wife were heartbroken. Tracy then revealed she was pregnant and threatened to abort the child unless they bought the baby for £15,000. Roy's wife was a transexual, therefore unable to have kids, so they agreed. However, Tracey confided in adoptive brother Peter that Roy wasn't actually the biological father - in fact, she hadn't even had sex with him. She drugged Roy, put him to bed in her room, where he passed out, and made it look like they had slept together
3. Hollyoaks: Clare Devine was a con woman, marrying Max Cunningham simply for his money.Max was a lovable man who was father figure to his brother Tom after loosing both of their parents. Clare made several attempts to kill Max but was unsuccessful. In 2007 she was pushed off a balcony at the Loft and was thought to be dead. She had many enemies and they were all glad to see the back of her, however she returned for revenge on Warren Fox and Justin Burton 2 years later and was arrested for Warren's murder. (In 2007, Gemma Bissix won 'Villain of the year)
4. Eastenders: Janine Evans was a troublesome child, Janine threw tantrums, ran away, was a bed-wetter, a sleepwalker, a thief, a compulsive liar and self-harmer, and hated Pat. Unable to discipline her, Pat forced Frank to take Janine to family therapy. Even though she was abandoned alot as a child, no sympathy is given to her from the audience. She uses people for money, she took advantage of Terry who took her in as a surrogate daughter as she new he was vunrable as he had lost his own. She used him for all the money she could get feeding her cocaine habit and eventually got him beaten up. No matter how many times she decieves, she blackmails and manipulates people to take her in..She finds older men to marry so she can kill them off to get their money. She is a gold digger. (In 2004, Charlie Brooks won 'Villain of the year')
THE ELDERLY/GRANDPARENT/WISE ONE
This character has usually been in the show for some time, unsurprisingly usually the viewers favourite. "Oh Everybody loves....Dot Cotton" for example. The character is usually older, and wiser (full of life experience). They just go about their day to day life, not causing any harm just simply minding their own business but always being helpful, happy, friendly and always a shoulder to cry on. These people are genuinely kind and caring and the audience can really trust the character. The rest of the community of the show tend to look up to this character with respect and if they need any advice, they'd always turn up at the wise elderlys house for a natter. Characters that have been in the show since it began for example, have grown up on the show so therefore the audience feels like they have a relationship and 'know' the character.
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1.Eastenders: First appeared in 1985. Chainsmoking Dot is a religious woman, with an endless capacity for gossip. From the launderette, she keeps a watchful eye over Albert Square's residents. She was unlucky enough to sprout a child who was the nastiest man in Walford (see above Nick Cotton). She tried to forgive and be Christian about her son's wrong doings but everytime he lied and manipulated his way back in and plotted to kill her! She has been wise enough to figure out his plans just in time throughout the show. She will always put her problems behind others of the community.
2.Neigbours:Harold Bishop first appeared on screens in 1987. Harold was a church-going, vegetarian prude whose blustering ways had a certain charm. He was a volunteer salavation army worker and worked also in a coffee shop. He is also a deadly efficient tuba player (definitely one of his biggest trademarks). He had a touching long term friendship with Lou Carpenter and was accompanied by him when leaving the series after discovering he had prostate cancer.
3.Emmerdale: Alan Turner begun in 1982 as a boozer and a womanizer in his younger years. He didn't endear himself to his fellow villager. But he's mellowed with age and become a stalwart of the community.
4.Coronation Street:Blanche Hunt first appeared on screens in 1974. “Blanche is all curmudgeonly gallows humor and insensitivity; she gets all the best one liners...." "with all the young people wandering around on TV nowadays, with their slang, texting and hippity-hop, it's great to see Coronation Street can still write fantastic older characters.” The character of Blanche Hunt is renowned for her acerbic sense of humour and wit.She is often described as having an "acid tongue" as she often makes unnecessary insensitive comments, often to her daughter. Although this behaviour upsets Deirdre, Blanche occasionally admits to caring for her daughter.
THE STRONG WOMAN
A powerful and independent woman who is always involved in some kind of conflict or drama. Just when it seems like things might be going well for this person, another problem occurs. And due to all the suffering, it can make the character seem hard and cold as that is their coping mechanism but the audience can see there will always be a nicer, softer side which is revealed through love interests, children etc. Most relationships always fail due to tragic circumstances or unfaithfulness which lead to the character becoming even tougher.
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1.Hollyoaks: Jacqui Mcqueen was dealt a double blow during Niall's revenge on her family. Not only did she lose younger sister Tina but she also found out that partner Tony had slept with her other sister Mercedes and that they aborted their child together. This is heartbreaking for Jacqui as the one thing she really wants is children and she is unable to have them. Her late sister Tina had a son with Russ, and Jacqui tried to play the role of mum for him but Russ took the baby and left, leaving Jackqui with nothing. Despite all this, she has a tight relationship with her family and will defend them no matter what. She has been to prison in her past and got in a few fights but she is the one her family would go to if they needed help.
2.Hollyoaks: Steph Dean was a victim of an attack along time ago in the show and has suffered from epilepsy since. But it seemed that Steph had finally found happiness with old friend Max until she was widowed on their wedding day after a drunken Niall accidentally ran Max over. Following Max's death, Steph became involved with Niall - until she realised he was a vengeful murderer! Steph witnessed Niall committing suicide after she told him she didn't love him. She is now struggling to find and trust a man again, while looking after the late Max's younger brother Tom.
3.Eastenders: Following their introductory episode in July 2007, both Mitchell sisters were received favourably by Mark Wright of The Stage. He commented that "Within an episode, Roxy and Ronnie look right at home" and that "they’re in the same tradition of strong soap women that ‘Enders seems to have been lacking since the exit of Kat Moon".
Treadwell-Collins has suggested that the audience were "not quite sure what to make of Ronnie" at first, due to her being cool and guarded. However, he insists that this was exactly what they wanted. They wanted viewers to become intrigued by Ronnie's coldness, and once that happened they started introducing aspects of Ronnie's backstory, making viewers more sympathetic towards the character.
She fell pregnant young with a daughter after having sex from the age of 14, but kept it quiet until she was in her fith month of pregnancy. Archie told her to stay away from Joel and sent her to live with distant relatives. Ronnie gave birth to her daughter, Amy, on 26 June 1989. However, just hours after the birth, Archie had the baby adopted, devastating Ronnie and resulting in a hatred between father and daughter. After finally finding her daughter Danielle, (after Archie doing all possible to make Ronnie disbelieve Danielle),to top things off Danielle gets hit by a car. Happy times...
THE YOUNG COUPLE IN LOVE
A pair of young teenagers who believe they are in love and that it is the real thing. Their relationship is almost always to their parent's or friends dis-approval. They stick together through thick and thin and risk getting in trouble for each other. Their love progresses quite fast and it seems like they have been together for ages. Young couples tend to displease people either through jealous friends, parents worrying about their child's choice of partner (espeically if they are the local player) or sex.
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2. Neighbours: The story between Scott and Charlene is more of a classic love story than the more modern soap operas. Charlene arrived at Number 24, but nobody was home so she decided to break in.Scott Robinson, who lived next door witnessed this and mistook Charlene for a burglar and received a punch for his trouble. It was only when Madge came up the steps, Charlene revealed herself. It was a shock for both Scott and Charlene as they hadn't seen each other since they were kids.
Scott and Charlene later began dating then agreed to marry which was met with much opposition by Madge and Scott's father Jim. Eventually, their parents realised how in love they were and on 1 July 1987, Scott and Charlene were married with all their friends and family present. The wedding episode had more than 20million UK viewers.
3. Eastenders: Peter and Lauren have the most interfering parents on the square. Lauren is rebellious and her protective father always wants to know of her where abouts, while Peter's father Ian looks about it on a more snobbier, nosier approach. Either way, neither families approve but they still sneak out, send 'I love you texts' and carry on with their relationship while dealing with issues that affect their age group e.g pressures of sex.
THE BOSS FIGURE
This character usually owns land somewhere in the community whether it be clubs, pubs, restuarants houses etc. They always become involved in other peoples lives usually because of 'business', they like to make sure everyone knows how powerful they are.These people are usually quite well off in money either because of their successful business skills or down to family inheritance. It is common for there to be 'wanna be' boss figure that look ridiculous because they try to make themselves appear powerful, but these people are made to look stupid by the real authority boss figures. An example would be Ian Beale from Eastenders who is small and weasel like but he picks on people smaller than him so he feels powerful, as soon as he bites off more he can chew with the real boss's he knows about it. Also nothing tops of a high status character than a beautiful girlfriend, so most big bosses have usually got a love interest ...or many.
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1. Eastenders: Phil Mitchell has, at various times, owned many businesses in the Square. He has been married three times and featured in numerous high profile storylines. He is the 2nd longest male to be in the show and comes from a high profile family 'the Mitchells'. The Mitchells own the Queen Vic which is the centre of most action.
2. Coronation Street: Tony Gordon is a respected businessman and he thinks it's all about fairness - you play with the sword, you die by the sword. He truly believes that everyone has a price. Up until this point, that's his game. His ambition is that he wants to retire in his mid 40s with several million in the bank.
3. Emmerdale: Jimmy King was born into money, Jimmy joined his father’s expanding business empire. He arrived on the show with a glamorous wife called Sadie and since her has had many other love interests or flings.
4. Hollyoaks: Warren Fox managed to get 'The Loft' through blackmail, he won half of 'The Dog in the pond' through a game of poker and him and Louise bought a beauty salon also. He has affairs and sexual encounters always with the best looking females, he is powerful to them and respected, so therefore we do too. He has controlled and made many lives a misery in the show, because he could. He has ALOT of money, and is always involved in dodgy deals associating with getting more money, but he always drags in another person to help him along, ruining their lives usually.
Other examples of types of Stock characters could be :
The Joker- Eastenders Minty and Gary, Hollyoaks Max and OB
The Gay- Eastenders Kristian Clarke, Hollyoaks John Paul
The Slag- Hollyoaks Mercedes Mcqueen, Eastenders Stacey Slater
The Golddigger- Hollyoaks Cindy Cunningham, Eastenders Janine Evans
The Good guy- Eastenders Bradley Branning, Hollyoaks Calvin Valentine, Neighbours Carl Kennedy
The Cute kid- Hollyoaks Tom Cunningham, Eastenders Tiffany
Newly Weds- Eastenders Dawn and Gary, Hollyoaks Calvin and Carmel
