Secondary Characters -- Redemption and Dimensions

Secondary characters are there for a purpose, and if you can make them NON-STOCK at all, it would be good. I must admit I've used the over-the-top evil villain with no redeeming features (Bucus Elder in Heart Thief), but I've also tried to give less sympathetic characters some interesting traits.

Shade, in Heart Thief, WAS on the road of redemption, an action happened that triggered the worst in him and he backslid with a vengeance (or into vengeance). Yes, he could have been redeemed. Other characters that I tried to give interesting backstories that would lead to their not-so-good actions were Reynardus in Guardian of Honor and Calli's father, Will Torcher, in Protector of the Flight. Neither one of them was redeemed, but one got what he always wanted and the other got a second chance. Both, I think, were pitiful creatures who threw away the love of their children.

I enjoyed the dichotomy of the clan patriarchs in Heart Duel. T'Holly was beloved of his children, a more admirable man, a more charming man, yet he made the fatal mistake that T'Hawthorn, a colder, more conservative and outwardly arrogant man, did not. They both paid the price for their mistakes.

So let your characters tell you their stories, most of them will have dimensions that you didn't know of when you started writing them.

May your characters prove interesting today.
Robin