Key To Understanding Types
(from Chapter 3 of Creating Characters: Let Them Whisper Their Secrets by Marisa D'Vari
© 2005 - All Rights Reserved

Use a variety of innovative techniques to build rich characters.

As we discussed in the last chapter, whenever you need to figure out if a character is a Mover or an Energizer, a Relater or Observer, ask yourself this definitive question:

What is their ultimate objective?

In the classic Academy Award winning film Chinatown, Jake Gittes (played by Jack Nicholson) was a Mover character in that he enjoyed obstacles to overcome.

He welcomed challenges. He saw himself as the hero and could not even envision losing. Fame did not matter to him in the way it would be crucial to an Energizer. Gittes was focused on solving the mystery, even if he died trying.

Yes, Eveyln Mulwray (played by Faye Dunaway) was as seductive as an Energizer and as powerful as a Mover. Yet she only used seduction and power as a means to her personal end, which was to ensure her daughter's safety.

A traditional Energizer would care only for herself and her own social success or creature comforts.

Fictional Relationships

In films and novels, the longest-lasting man/woman relationship is that of the Mover/Relater. Quite often, it is a satisfying marriage of convenience. In the Michael Douglas feature film Fatal Attraction,

Douglas' character was a Mover with strong Energizer qualities who married a housewife Relater, happy to spend her life taking care of Douglas, the kid, and the dog. Their happy marriage was threatened by Douglas' affair with the sultry Energizer character played by Glenn Close.

Mover/Energizer relationships (and Engergizer/Engergizer relationships) are characterized by incredible passion that often leads to violence. In real life, one can look to the murder/suicide of Saturday Night Live comedian Phil Hartman and his wife Brynn.

Phil Hartman was a successful Mover/Engergizer in that he found fame in his chosen field. Brynn, an Energizer who craved fame, was forced by circumstance and society into the role of the "Relater" - a wife, mother, and helpmeet to the "real" star in the home.

The Mover/Engergizer and Engergizer/Engergizer competitive pairing is fraught with conflict, high emotion, and never-ending drama. Film stars who marry within their field often divorce. Elizabeth Taylor with her many marriages is a perfect example.

Even though male Energizers and Movers "need" a Relater to look after them, sexually and emotionally they crave the fiery seductress who already has mesmerized the public and proves a formidable challenge.

Yet once she is conquered, once she loses her attraction to the masses and unwittingly turns into a wife and mother (now conquered and his possession) the male Energizer/Mover loses interest.

Female Energizers/Movers face a tougher road. They are attracted to powerful men and count on their ability to master them, but too often, the tables turn and their mates have the upper hand. For female Movers, it means they remain single until quite late in life.

For female Energizers, they will stay in the relationship as long as the man retains his status, power, and can be useful to her.

Female Relaters
If you are tempted to put a female Relater in your story, ask yourself if she is a "true" Relater or like the Eve character in All About Eve, is just pretending - either as part of her nefarious strategy or has adopted this type of persona because it is most readily accepted by society.

In the 1980s National Public Radio once surveyed typical Americans about their thoughts about First Lady, the senior Mrs. Bush. One male commenter remarked that he approved of Mrs. Bush because "she looks like a wife and mother."

Pressure to embody a specific societal ideal is strongest the further one moves away from large, cosmopolitan cities and the closer one identifies with solid family and religious values.
As you sketch out your story, be certain to investigate your character's backstory, as it will have a huge impact on his present life.

In the years before the 1960's, many women fashioned themselves into Relaters, whether they felt like playing the supporting role in their families or not.

Curiously, in the eighties and nineties, women who were not natural Movers took on this role, seeking out advanced professional degrees and working full time well into marriage and motherhood.

So as you create your characters, try to figure out if societal trends may be driving themselves into a role that is not their desire by nature.

Understanding the Psyche of Your Character

To understand your characters well, you must discover their greatest fear and threaten them with it at every appropriate opportunity.

In the film Wall Street, Michael Douglas played a Mover - a financial genius who plotted and manipulated his way to success. Failure was his worst fear, and to avoid it he was driven to crime.

John Malkovich played another Mover type as the Vicomte de Valmont in the film Dangerous Liasons. Money and business success was not the objective for Valmont, winning a bet was - even (or especially) if involved betrayal and murder.

For Mover personalities, the more challenges thrown their way, the better. Nothing short of death will stop them from achieving their goal once they determine they are in the game.

Observers have a strong constitution, but can not match the strength of a Mover. At the top of their game, Observers are rational and avid contributors to society. Yet their fears are many, and they are so dependent on their own ability to prove their superiority and knowledge to the world, ironically this is the very element that trips them up.

Nobel Prize winner John Nash (captured in A Beautiful Mind) and the Hannibal Lector character played by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs are both good examples of the Observer character taken to extremes. Psychologists agree that there is a fine line between extreme intelligence and insanity.

Your Observer character sees the world as a collection of details that are of vivid importance to themselves, inconsequential to others. They require as much praise and admiration as an Energizer, yet only care about praise directed at their keen mental ability.

This keen mental ability isn't necessarily regulated to business, science, or technology. Observers make excellent artists, musicians, costume designers, fashion designers, jewelry designers, hairdressers, make-up artists, interior designers, and architects - in short, any field that demands complete and utter attention to the smallest detail...