And here comes part 2, its been 2 weeks coming. This weeks topic...
Good Characterisation
Interesting thing about these characters is that some of theme come from really bad cartoons. But what is good characterisation anyways? Well,normally a good character is an individual, the dialogue they use wouldn't sound right coming from any other character around them. Its also the driving force for relationships between characters, which is where most good dialogue based humour comes from. I will be limiting this to dialogue driven series, so sorry, no Bitey. This brings back to my first point, some of these characters, some of these characters are from horrible series, im not a fan of a number of these. But just because the writing/animation/voice acting/everything else is horrible in a number of these doesnt mean the personalities themselves behind the characters are there. So heres a list of characters that are just that, real characters.
Blockhead & His Consciounce:
The classic set up, energetic and stupid teamed up with short tempered and reasoning. This duo system has been around since the beginning of entertainment and the system has always worked, Blockhead and his conscience are no different. Blockheads voice is unique and distinct, and while his personality comes accross as random, it never seems like its random without a purpose. His conscience is exact opposite, but in a twist to the old formula hes completely helpless in the situation, having to watch on and give up rather then being able to slap the moron in the face as his genre of character normally would.
Salad Fingers:
Theres only one Salad Fingers,a creepy yet somehow pathetic being from the wastelands, between his love for rust and caressing things and his mental instability, Salad Fingers has established himself as one of the most unqie and creative characters out there.
Burnt Face Man & The Narrator:
Burnt Face Man, while at first seeming like the generic superhero parody, is really another clever send up of the buddy system buddy system, Burnt Face Man being a moron (tho obviously not as stupid as characters like Blockhead)and the witty and cruel Narrator, who seems to always win, and diss Burnt Face Man at any given oppertunity. Its the innocent idiot and asshole knowall that makes the series work. Its not only a clever play on the usual Superhero set up, but also of the buddy set up.
Strong Bad & Co:
Everybody already knows well and truly about the Homestarrunner Crew, Theyve been around forever. There also probably the best example of a large yet diverse cast of clever and individual characters. Its a wonder how the series has been around for so long yet nobodys came close to pulling off such a diverse cast again.
Ingus:
Ingus, whats there to say, hes random words that fly out of a red necks body. While that itself doesnt lend all that well to his personality, his voice and mannerisms help make him more then just another random line of dialogue.
Toast King & Insanity Prawn Boy:
Suprise suprise, the smart and the not so smart are teamed up again, and once again, they play off each other beautifully. Praw Boys voice absolutely perfectly suited to his mannerisms and dialogue, as is Toast Kings. Its hard to argue against the amount of personality these 2 have and the chemisty between them.
Weebl & Bob:
Weebl and Bob are getting on in years, but they proove very well that theres more to character then appearences. Despite being almost identical they both incredibly individual. Weebl is the idiot incharge and Bob the gullible guy that follows him. Its another well prooven system that Weebl and Bob pull of brilliantly.
Greasy Moose Crew:
Unlike most of the other characters listed, The Greasy Moose characters are just to deep to really have a short summary of, suffice to say, there all genious.
Jerry Jackson:
Jerry Jackson was without a doubt a stroke of genious, a fictional kid who makes flash about the events in his life. His voice is unique yet somehow doesnt sound like it couldnt exist out there in the newgrounds forums. His personality is a realistic parody of the kinds of kids you find on the net. Hes the ultimate fake personality, and since he has a fictional life outside of his cartoons he earns an even greater amount of respect from me.
So then whats bad characterisation? Well, thatd be when the dialogue is written in a way that its so gag based that it doesnt matter who says it. This is a popular system in most animated sitcoms, scripts arent written with the characters in mind but rather the jokes and pop culture references are decided on and divided amoung the characters afterwards. Its a poor system and leads to toons with little to no characterisation. Some examples would be...
College University:
High School Saze:
Waterman:
Notice also how these series consist of 99% standing around talking? Can we have some personality please?
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MRat
While I do agree with all you're points on what makes a great series in terms of good personality and all that, I disagree with what I assume you are saying in the "standing around talking" part.
You can have an assload of personality with brilliant characterizations with nothing but talking, but you just have to know what you're doing. The cartoons you listed are animated by poopfaces who don't, so that explains that.
But expanding even to live-action stuff. Just talking can be great, but you'd need a great cast. Same with cartoons, just talking could be brilliant, but you'd need a hell of a character(s) and some brilliant voice actors.
Anyway, that's my two cents.
Gerkinman
What you say is true, but i cant think of any flash ive ever seen that did it right. If you find one let me know <3