Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-25926288-20170421152651/@comment-25536775-20170422103342

Eskaver wrote: This is sort of like a chose-one-and-explain sort of option, while also a presentation of my own thoughts and analysis. It's a decent discussion as it could explain some character dynamics, issues, and future events we may witness.

The show has major characters, Emma, Rumple, and Regina. This show has been their story (Well, Emma's story with those two shaping the narrative). The show has minor character, Snow, David, Belle, Henry, etc. However, important to the story of that moment they main narrative isn't their story, but they play major roles within the major characters' stories. Then there's Hook. Where does he fit in?

My determination is pretty obvious. He's a minor character. There's a touch of nuance to his situtation, however. He is a minor character wearing a major character jacket while still being treated like a minor character. In other words, he's a minor character dressed as a major character. How is he a minor character? He is within someone else's story. Hook's existence is simply part of Emma's story. Similar to how Belle mostly functions within the bounds of all things related to Rumple and how Robin and Zelena stay within all things Regina, Hook is no different.

I think part of his handling is what happens to most minor characters that get a long time in the limelight: they are exposed for what they are. Belle recently gained a lot of screentime, but her story no matter how central to her was stuck within "How does this affect Rumple?" Regina letting Zelena keep Robin Jr was not about Robin, but "How does this affect Regina?". Such is they way with Hook and season 6's angsty adventure. Often the show displays who is the dominant character (like how David rarely goes outside Snow), despite more intriguiging options to explore in the minor character at the moment. Thus it is sort of painted that way. Hook had a bad instance in the past and it was painted "How will Emma react? How could he do such a thing to Emma?" with small references to David who's the bigger victim. I saw similar things when Belle stood up to Rumple with claims of running away and some people asking "How could she do that to Rumple?". I doubt it's simply bias towards a favorite character, but also due to the character dynamics presented. But hey, it's just a theory, a ONCE theory.

'''So, what do you think? Do you think Hook is a major character? Why? How do you think he's handled in these major roles he's given?''' I think we have different concepts of what "major" and "minor" characters mean; the way I classify characters goes like this:

1-> Lead characters (Different from lead actors): characters that have their own "storyline niche", that is, characters who directly influence and may be the cause of the storylines of certain other characters that revolves exclusively around them. OUaT has four niches, Rumpel's, Emma's, Regina's, and Snow's, but Snow has lost prominence from season two onwards, so her status changed. This is different from a lead actor, as leading actors '''are contractual issues. '''The show also has four leads, JMo, Ginny, Lana, and Bobbie.

2-> Main Characters: characters that have appeared in more than a season of the show, with individual storylines spanning multiple episodes outside of their character arc, and involvement in others' storylines. This show has, currently,  nine main characters: Regina, Emma, Zelena, Snow, Charming, Hook, Rumpel, Belle and Henry. Usually, but not always, coincides with the regular cast; Robin was never a main character, nor was Ruby.

3-> Major Supporting: characters that have had individual storylines and have appeared in multiple episodes. This show has too many to list, but here are a few: Ruby, Robin, Archie, Aurora, Mulan, the Frozen cast, the QoD, Cora, Hades, Arthur, Granny, etc.

4-> Minor Supporting: the rest. Examples include all dwarves other than Grumpy, all the Camelot cast other than Arthur, all the Lost Boys, all the Oz characters, etc.

In my understanding, '''Hook is a main. But he is not a lead. '''