Sentence:  In either case, the characters must manage as best they can to work forward from this understanding, perhaps to discuss the details of some agreement, perhaps to prepare for hostilities, perhaps to cope with a gradient by bolstering a flimsy justification. There are clearly many possibilities. One is that the exchanges succeed in building a <WSD>'supercharacter</WSD>'; that is a stable coalition between previously independent parties, genuinely sharing a position and being so sure of their relationship that they have no need to consider its failure. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A group of characters in a play, movie, or story, that act together as a single combined entity.