When you analyze much of pop episodic narratives, you see patterns recurring. This is not at all surprising. After all, if a psychological pattern in storytelling is time tested and reliable, it will continue to be used.
One pattern that keeps cropping up is the virtual family structure: The writers gather a group of characters who are not related, and proceed to treat them as a virtual family, with a particular blend of personalities guaranteed to grab and hold an audience’s attention.
One of these patterns I like to call “Calm Dad / Edgy Mom”. This pattern, in its most common variant, contains six characters. In addition to the calm dad and edgy mom, you also need four kids: Two happy children, and two troublesome children.
Here are three examples of this structure in action. Two of them were architected by Joss Whedon, which is not surprising, since he is very good at this sort of thing:
| Agents of Shield |
Guardians of the Galaxy |
Buffy the Vampire Slayer |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Calm Dad |
Coulson | Quill | Giles |
| Edgy Mom |
May | Gamora | Buffy |
| Happy children |
Fritz Simmons |
Drax Groot |
Xander Willow |
| Troublesome children |
Skye Ward |
Rocket Nebula |
Spike Faith |
This sort of pattern only provides an initial framework, and over time characters can move all over the map. For example, by season six Willow has become both troubled and troublesome. Yet when her virtual family was first formed, she very much filled the role of a happy child.