This was an extraordinarily insightful and useful frame for understanding character conflict. I'll definitely be rewatching this again and using the trio in my own work.
This is actually a very good alternative to the Five-Man Band trope. As much as I love it, it can be a struggle to come up with five characters personalities. Which is why in the story I’m writing, I instead wrote three main characters who eventually come together to achieve a common goal. The story I’m writing is called “The Road Ranger.” It’s a post-apocalyptic action crime thriller about a young former sergeant in the Calivadan Army Rangers who leaves military service after six years of intermittent conflicts to rebuild his connection with his parents. However just weeks later, Matt’s mother is shot dead even though she was supposed to be legally protected as a witness to a crime. Although he was promised justice by the police initially, it was later revealed that they refused to launch an investigation which Matt later decides to take matters into his own hands by bringing war and death to those involved in his mother’s murder. There are three main characters that come together to form a trio albeit slowly throughout the story. They are: Matt Santos/The Road Ranger (The Id): A killer of murderers and a crippler of thieves. Punishes evildoers harshly without a second thought. Due to his six years in the Calivadan Army Rangers, Matt is well-versed in using guns ranging from assault rifles to pistols and even explosives like grenades. He even makes use of tactical armor but he doesn’t actually get armor until the moment leading up to the climax. But at the start of the story, he does own a pistol due to his status in the military even though he’s no longer in service. He’s the one who does most of the killing of criminals between the three main characters. And because the story is mostly about him, he is eventually given the moniker “The Road Ranger” by the very end of the story after he sees himself in a newspaper wearing his full-body tactical gear. Maria Garcia: (The Superego) Prefers diplomacy over dealing death. She meets Matt Santos purely by chance because she was assigned to put legal protection placements on Matt’s parents. She actually starts a budding romance with Matt but things become complicated after she soon finds Matt is murdering criminals after his mother died from an unseen gunman. At the same time, she slowly finds her workplace is not as lawful as she thought they were. Eventually she allies herself with Matt which doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with her budding romance with him. She knows how to use a gun herself. She’s just reluctant to use it if she can diffuse the delicate situation first. Miz: (The Ego) He’s passionate with all things hi-tech but he also prefers to act as tech support, leaving all the fighting to his soldier and cop friends. Due to his young age, Miz is the least combat-oriented of the trio. However his eccentric nature of needing to understand how things work makes him useful to Matt and Maria. He’s quite adept with computers and hacking. But he’s also able to maintain weapon functionality, craft bullets in abundant quantities, and repairing robotic devices like aerial drones. In a way, he’s like both Matt and Maria. Because he’s a non-violent vigilante when he exposed his school admins for fraud which resulted him in being expelled but he also worked for the FBI as a commuted sentence for career fraud and underage laboring. His commuted sentence being a cybercrime specialist due to his skills with computers and hacking. I love this trope more than the five-man band because of its use of three main characters instead of five. However this trope can overlap with the five-man band if executed well. TL; DR: Currently writing a book set in a post-apocalyptic world called “The Road Ranger.” Main characters are Matt Santos/The Road Ranger (The Id), Maria Garcia (The Superego), and Miz (The Ego).
This is BY FAR the best work on this topic available on TH-cam. Thank You!
Thanks for the awesome comment, Cedric! The next video is almost in the can. Hope it’s as entertaining/useful to you.
This was an extraordinarily insightful and useful frame for understanding character conflict. I'll definitely be rewatching this again and using the trio in my own work.
Thanks, Nathan! That’s the best kind of compliment to me. Hope the next few videos are as helpful!
I hope you don’t give up on your channel. It’s one of the best on TH-cam.
You are seriously too kind! Thank you 🙏🏻
You're like Every Frame a Painting for literary devices. Need this so badly.
Ha! That sounds like it should be the channel elevator pitch! Thanks for the awesome comment.
Every Scene A Story
Catchy and true!
This is actually a very good alternative to the Five-Man Band trope. As much as I love it, it can be a struggle to come up with five characters personalities. Which is why in the story I’m writing, I instead wrote three main characters who eventually come together to achieve a common goal.
The story I’m writing is called “The Road Ranger.” It’s a post-apocalyptic action crime thriller about a young former sergeant in the Calivadan Army Rangers who leaves military service after six years of intermittent conflicts to rebuild his connection with his parents. However just weeks later, Matt’s mother is shot dead even though she was supposed to be legally protected as a witness to a crime. Although he was promised justice by the police initially, it was later revealed that they refused to launch an investigation which Matt later decides to take matters into his own hands by bringing war and death to those involved in his mother’s murder.
There are three main characters that come together to form a trio albeit slowly throughout the story. They are:
Matt Santos/The Road Ranger (The Id):
A killer of murderers and a crippler of thieves. Punishes evildoers harshly without a second thought. Due to his six years in the Calivadan Army Rangers, Matt is well-versed in using guns ranging from assault rifles to pistols and even explosives like grenades. He even makes use of tactical armor but he doesn’t actually get armor until the moment leading up to the climax. But at the start of the story, he does own a pistol due to his status in the military even though he’s no longer in service. He’s the one who does most of the killing of criminals between the three main characters. And because the story is mostly about him, he is eventually given the moniker “The Road Ranger” by the very end of the story after he sees himself in a newspaper wearing his full-body tactical gear.
Maria Garcia: (The Superego)
Prefers diplomacy over dealing death. She meets Matt Santos purely by chance because she was assigned to put legal protection placements on Matt’s parents. She actually starts a budding romance with Matt but things become complicated after she soon finds Matt is murdering criminals after his mother died from an unseen gunman. At the same time, she slowly finds her workplace is not as lawful as she thought they were. Eventually she allies herself with Matt which doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with her budding romance with him. She knows how to use a gun herself. She’s just reluctant to use it if she can diffuse the delicate situation first.
Miz: (The Ego)
He’s passionate with all things hi-tech but he also prefers to act as tech support, leaving all the fighting to his soldier and cop friends. Due to his young age, Miz is the least combat-oriented of the trio. However his eccentric nature of needing to understand how things work makes him useful to Matt and Maria. He’s quite adept with computers and hacking. But he’s also able to maintain weapon functionality, craft bullets in abundant quantities, and repairing robotic devices like aerial drones. In a way, he’s like both Matt and Maria. Because he’s a non-violent vigilante when he exposed his school admins for fraud which resulted him in being expelled but he also worked for the FBI as a commuted sentence for career fraud and underage laboring. His commuted sentence being a cybercrime specialist due to his skills with computers and hacking.
I love this trope more than the five-man band because of its use of three main characters instead of five. However this trope can overlap with the five-man band if executed well.
TL; DR: Currently writing a book set in a post-apocalyptic world called “The Road Ranger.” Main characters are Matt Santos/The Road Ranger (The Id), Maria Garcia (The Superego), and Miz (The Ego).