Composite character

For Unicode composite characters, see Unicode § Ready-made versus composite characters.

In a work of media adapted from a real or fictional narrative, a composite character is a character based on more than one individual from the story. ^[1] It is an example of dramatic license.

Examples

Film

• The Wizard of Oz (1939): Glinda, Good Witch of the North is based on Glinda the Good from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and on The Good Witch of the North from the same book.
• Lawrence of Arabia (1962): Claude Rains as the diplomat Mr. Dryden. As with Omar Sharif's Sherif Ali and Anthony Quayle's Colonel Harry Brighton, Dryden was an amalgam of several historical figures, primarily Ronald Storrs, a member of the Arab Bureau but also David Hogarth, an archaeologist friend of Lawrence, Henry McMahon, the High Commissioner of Egypt who negotiated the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence (which began the Arab Revolt), and Mark Sykes, of the Sykes–Picot Agreement, which partitioned the post-war Middle East. Screenwriter Robert Bolt stated that the character was created to "represent the civilian and political wing of British interests, to balance Allenby's military objectives". ^[2]
• The Great Escape (1963): The characters in this John Sturges film are based on real men, and in some cases are composites of several men. The main character, Capt. Virgil Hilts (Steve McQueen) a.k.a. the "Cooler King", was based on at least three pilots: Bill Ash, David M. Jones, and John Dortch Lewis. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6]}
• Bonnie and Clyde (1967): C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard) in Arthur Penn's film is a composite of two Barrow Gang members: W. D. Jones and Henry Methvin. In the film, the Moss characterization relies predominantly on the basis of Jones, a juvenile devotee adept at carjacking, whom the couple take under their wing up until the climax. Then, traits of minor but catalytic member Methvin are interwoven near the end as his father, via Moss's dad, bargains with vengeful law enforcement for his son's immunity in exchange for luring the unsuspecting Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker into the fatal, bullet-ridden ambush. ^{[7] [8]}
• Spaceballs (1987): The protagonist of Mel Brooks's parody of Star Wars is Lone Starr (Bill Pullman), a mercenary who gains the powers of the Schwartz. Lone Starr combines the characters of both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.
• Schindler's List (1993): Steven Spielberg's film contains one blended composite character. Although Ben Kingsley's character of accountant Itzhak Stern is based upon a real person and he did interact with Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), in the film Stern also absorbed aspects of a few other historical figures: Abraham Bankier, who planted the seed with Schindler to employ Jews for cheaper labor, thereby keeping them safe; and Mietek Pemper, who was at the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp and later worked for Amon Göth (Ralph Fiennes) as his personal secretary. He was instrumental in persuading Schindler to utilize Jews in assembling war materials. A possible fourth person in the mix is Marcel Goldberg, a corrupt Jewish cop who nonetheless aided Stern in the expansion of their lists, which kept thousands of Jews alive and safe. (In Steven Zaillian's screenplay, Goldberg and Pemper have minor roles played by other actors, but nevertheless are still considered to be part of this composite.) ^[9]
• Apollo 13 (1995): The character Henry Hurt (Xander Berkeley) in director Ron Howard's docudrama is portrayed as a NASA public relations employee assigned to assuaging Marilyn Lovell (Kathleen Quinlan)—the wife of astronaut Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks)—while simultaneously tasked with answering reporters' questions. This character is a composite of the NASA protocol officer Bob McMurrey, assigned to act as a buffer between the Lovell family and the press; and several Office of Public Liaison employees, whose job was to actually work with the press. ^[10]
• Charlotte Gray (2001): Cate Blanchett's titled character of Charlotte Gray is based on such SOE agents as Pearl Witherington, Nancy Wake, Odette Hallowes and Violette Szabo.
• Catch Me If You Can (2002): In yet another Spielberg film, based on the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his counterfeit escapades, the main character is pursued by FBI agent Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks. However, his character is a mixture of several agents, primarily Joseph Shea, who didn't want his name used in any film adaptation—a request Abagnale and the film crew honored after he died. ^[11]
• 21 (2008): Director Robert Luketic's characters were fictionalized; in some instances, with whitewashed versions of their real-life counterparts, stirring controversy. Jeff Ma, whose saga was the main focus, was accused of being a race-traitor, in allowing Jim Sturgess to be cast as his facsimile. But it's Kevin Spacey's Micky Rosa who is a composite of John Chang, Bill Kaplan, and J.P. Masser. ^[12]
• Dallas Buyers Club (2013): Screenwriters Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack told the true story of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), who contracted AIDS and smuggled unapproved drugs to help alleviate symptoms of his and fellow sufferers, such as trans woman Rayon (Jared Leto). The latter character was actually a composite derived from a plethora of interviews with anonymous real-life transgender AIDS patients. Further embellishments were made in creating Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), who was another composite comprised from several doctors—with one, Dr. Linda Laubenstein, being the main source of inspiration, for her activism against the social stigma of the disease. ^[13]
• Molly's Game (2017): Michael Cera's Player X is based on celebrity gamblers who attended Bloom's games, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, and Tobey Maguire.
• Dunkirk (2017): Kenneth Branagh's character, Commander Bolton, in Christopher Nolan's World War II epic is a composite of several real-life people, including Commander James Campbell Clouston and Captain Bill Tennant. ^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18]}
• Bombshell (2019): Margot Robbie's character Kayla Pospisil was an amalgamation, based on a number of conservative women who spoke to the filmmakers about harassment from Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). "We’re not revealing the people we talk to. We’re trying to protect them," director Jay Roach said of the project's sources. ^[19]

Television

• Ulana Khomyuk in Chernobyl is a composite character created to represent "the many scientists who worked fearlessly and put themselves in a lot of danger to help solve the situation." ^[20]
• Colin Hanks as Barry Lapidus in The Offer was based of many executives at Gulf & Western that Ruddy dealt with during the production of The Godfather. ^{[21] [22]}
• The Tudors (2007): Henry VIII's sisters Margaret Tudor and Mary Tudor, Queen of France were amalgamated into one character named Margaret. The character of Margaret's story more closely matches Mary's life. She is a known beauty who was married off by her brother to an older King to form an alliance (in real life the King of France, in the show it's Portugal), only to be quickly widowed and marry her brother's best friend Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk behind his back. However, the creators of the show decided to call the character Margaret instead of Mary to avoid confusion with their niece Mary I of England. ^[23] Margaret was played by Gabrielle Anwar.
• Once Upon a Time (2011-2018): Gabrielle Anwar portrayed Rapunzel Tremaine, also known as Victoria Belfrey, who is a composite between Rapunzel and the Wicked Stepmother from Cinderella.

Literature

• The three Herods in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (Herod the Great (Luke 1:5), Herod Antipas (Luke 3:1; 9:7-9; 13:31-33; 23:5-12), and Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-23)) are three separate historical rulers, but are portrayed as a single character in Herod as a Composite Character in Luke-Acts, described "as an actualization of Satan’s desire to impede the spread of the good news though his ["Herod’s"] rejection of the gospel message and through political persecution". ^[24]
• The Senator: My Ten Years with Ted Kennedy, a memoir by Richard E. Burke allegedly exposing various activities of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy featured several composite characters associated with Kennedy's alleged drug use and sexual dalliances; the inclusion of such became a point of criticism for the book. ^{[25] [26]}

Journalism

• A series of 1944 The New Yorker articles by Joseph Mitchell on New York's Fulton Fish Market which were presented as journalism. Once the stories were published in 1948 as the book Old Mr. Flood Mitchell disclosed that "Mr. Flood is not one man; combined in him are aspects of several old men who work or hang out in Fulton Fish Market, or who did in the past." ^[27] Mitchell assigned his composite character his own birthday and his own love for the Bible and certain authors. ^[28] In his introduction to Mr. Flood, Mitchell wrote, "I wanted these stories to be truthful rather than factual, but they are solidly based on facts." ^[29]
• John Hersey is said to have created a composite character in a Life magazine story, as did Alastair Reid for The New Yorker. ^[29]
• Vivian Gornick in 2003 said that she used composite characters in some of her articles for the Village Voice . ^[30]

See also

• Fictional character
• Fictional location

References

1. Gutkind, Lee; Fletcher, Hattie (2008). Keep It Real: Everything You Need to Know About Researching and Writing Creative Nonfiction (1st ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. p.  39. ISBN   978-0393065619.
2. "Lawrence of Arabia or Smith in the Desert?". Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
3. Kaufman, Michael T. (13 August 1999). "John D. Lewis, 84, Pilot in 'The Great Escape'". The New York Times . Retrieved 15 March 2015.
4. Bishop, Patrick (30 August 2015). "William Ash: The cooler king". BBC Online . Retrieved 30 August 2015.
5. Foley, Brendan (29 April 2014). "Bill Ash obituary". The Guardian . London . Retrieved 30 August 2015.
6. "William Ash - obituary". The Daily Telegraph . London. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
7. "Riding with Bonnie & Clyde". Playboy Magazine . November 1968. That C. W. Moss in the movie was me, up to the end, when he let his old man turn in Clyde and Bonnie.. It was Henry Methvin that done that, not me I was in jail when that happened. The papers was right when they said Moss was a composite of me and Methvin.
8. "Death Comes in the Sun: Trading one life for two; mistrust". BabyFace Nelson ~ Journal. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2023. After months of constant tracking, Hamer was finally ready to make his move. For some time, he had been meeting with Methvin's family, which was trying to broker a deal that would not only keep Methvin out of the electric chair, but possibly even out of prison. In exchange, they would hand over Barrow and Parker.
9. Sartore, Melissa (29 September 2022). "12 Figures From Historical Movies Who Are Actually Composites Of Multiple People". Ranker . Retrieved 2 September 2023. While there was a real Stern, and he did work with Schindler, the movie character represented the collective activities of no fewer than four men.
10. Lovell, Jim; Kluger, Jeffrey (1994). Apollo 13 . New York City: Pocket Books. pp.  118, 209–210, 387. ISBN   0671534645.
11. Pagnotti, Sean (28 February 2023). "Catch Me if You Can: The "True" Story of Frank Abignale Jr. Explained". Collider . Retrieved 3 September 2023. Speaking of the FBI, Carl Hanratty is actually a composite of several agents who were assigned Frank's case, the main one being Joe Shea. Joe has since passed on but didn't want his name used in the movie when he was alive.
12. "House of Cards". Boston.com . 6 April 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2013.(subscription required)
13. Thapa, Shaurya (14 May 2023). "Dallas Buyers Club True Story: 7 Things The Movie Changed From Real-Life". Screen Rant . Retrieved 3 September 2023. [Ravon] was supposed to represent the judgmental behavior and stereotypical assumptions that many trans people living with AIDS faced during that time.…\\….Saks also bears similarities with the late physician Dr. Linda Laubenstein, one of the first American doctors to spread awareness of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
14. Alexander, Bryan (20 July 2017). "Dunkirk: How historically accurate is Christopher Nolan's WWII battle film?". USA Today . Retrieved 22 January 2018.
15. Bruemmer, René (2 August 2017). "Inspiration for summer blockbuster Dunkirk an unsung Montreal hero". Montreal Gazette . Retrieved 2 August 2017.
16. "Unsung hero of Dunkirk evacuation a former McGill student". McGill Reporter. McGill University. 7 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
17. "This war hero was forgotten in Canada and portrayed as a Brit in Dunkirk. Now he's finally getting his due". Washington Post. 21 September 2017.
18. Broich, John (20 July 2017). "What's Fact and What's Fiction in Dunkirk". Slate . Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
19. Epstein, Rachel (12 December 2019). "Spoiler Alert: Margot Robbie's Bombshell Character Isn't Real". Marie Claire . Retrieved 8 December 2020.
20. "Emily Watson on her new TV drama, Chernobyl". The Scotsman . Retrieved 4 June 2019.
21. Parker, Ryan (29 April 2022). "'The Offer' Star Colin Hanks Knows His Character is Easy to Loathe: "He Stands for a Lot That I Am Against"". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
22. Papadopoulos, Charles (1 June 2022). "The Offer: 8 Things The Show Changed About The True Story". ScreenRant. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
23. Gates, Anita (23 March 2008). "The Royal Life (Some Facts Altered)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 4 August 2024.
24. Dicken, Frank (2014). Herod as a Composite Character in Luke-Acts. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck. p. 7. ISBN   978-3161532542.
25. "Ex-aide's Book Alleges Kennedy Used Drugs The Senator Called Allegations About Orgies, Drugs And Alcohol "Bizarre And Untrue"". The Inquirer. 27 September 1992. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
26. Isaak, Sharon (30 October 1992). "Tales of Ted Kennedy". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
27. Shafer, Jack (12 June 2003). "The fabulous fabulists". Slate. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
28. Carduff, Christopher (3 November 1992). "Fish-eating, whiskey, death & rebirth". New Criterion. Archived from the original on 6 March 2001. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
29. O'Rourke, Meghan (29 July 2003). "Literary license". Slate. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
30. "Unethical writers love the power of creative non-fiction -". WTOP.com. 13 January 2006. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2013.