Quote: Prometheus said: But, see, that would be the point of Adem, as a character. Adem IS a detective. His main strength is his deductive capabilities. Of course he'll be sidelined during most combat situations. He's not a fighter. But, then, the other side to that is, say, Ozzy for example, will be sidelined for the times when deductive thinking is required. Why? Because Ozzy's strengths lie within his fists, not his head.
I always tried to really keep focus on this concept with my old character Prometheus. Pro was the brains. Period. Nine-times-out-of-ten, if he got into a physical match with someone, I always tried to write him getting his ass handed to him. Because, that was his point. He was brains, not brawn. And any waiver in that attitude would have seriously undermined the spirit of the character for me.
This, to me, is the most important aspect of group writing. Play each character equally, and evenly. Play every character to their strengths AND to their weaknesses. Allow each, accept both, and create a stronger whole because of it.
If Adem Different wasn't sidelined during most battles, and stood up there with the rest of the warriors/soldiers/fighters, well....he wouldn't really be Adem Different, now would he?
True. But what really concerns me, and what stems from that, is that Adem is largely background for any given story's climax. Almost always, the stories climax with a fight. Fair enough, it's a good wway to finish up. But that means that Adem is always sidelined at the major moment. Not such a good thing.
Also, Adem is further isolated by one factor. All the other members of VE can fight. To a man (or women), the other members of the team can step up and handle a combat situation. That's partially why I made Tommy the way he is: he's not much of a fighter either, so at least Adem won't be too much out of the way.
