3 Reasons Why Embo Proves That Some of the Best Characters are Obscure Characters
By: David Brandon Hyland
Tags: Television, Star Wars, Screenwriting, Animation, Creativity

Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm — a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

There’s a certain class of character that gets fans talking. “He’s dark, he’s shadowy, and ‘most importantly’, he’s in the background.” There’s something to be said about an intriguing background character that truly settles the level of immersion in a storytelling medium and spurs the imagination on all four wheels. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a fan-throb and Star Wars-themed television masterpiece, was directed by Dave Filoni to expand some of the richest modern lore fantasy-fiction has to date (Star Wars being the obvious answer). Star Wars is perhaps the prime example for hosting background characters that have far more depth than what a casual viewer with their scanning eyes might realize; Dave Filoni’s very own personal “voice acting debut” character embodies the kind of mythical, unspoken character attributes that lures watchers into fandom. Using his character, Embo, as an example, here are three reasons why obscure characters can be some of the best characters.

1. Aura of Mystery

One of the most captivating elements to storytelling is an element of mystery. Be it the secret plot a character’s mother has throughout a season or the homicide committed in that one CSI: Miami episode, mystery keeps viewers engaged because it keeps viewers guessing and imagining. Throughout my own studies as a screenwriter, I can surmise that mystery in storytelling is the purposeful withholding of information from an audience. This can be seen in the Kyuzo bounty hunter, who embodies that notion as a character. First and foremost, his language is not translatable to the audience — everything he says is spoken in his native tongue and not Basic (English). This makes his communication a mystery.

Similarly, his appearance is also a mystery. Part of what made Boba Fett’s aura so appealing was that he was a masked individual — a man covered in armor from head to toe with no reveal to what his human side looked like (if it was even there). Likewise, Embo is a character who has half his face covered, similar to the attire of a vigilante or perhaps a ninja. No one knows what the bottom half of his face looks like, which gives off a “vibe of concealment”.

2. Unique Character Amalgamations

Action scenes are perhaps one of the most primal elements a story can offer; and that’s something Embo delivers extremely well. What makes his action scenes so creative is that he is virtually an amalgamation of other well-known fighting icons. He blocks projectiles like Captain America, but his shield is also a hat and a throwing weapon, utilizing it like Kung Lao from Mortal Kombat or Oddjob from the James Bond series. Creativity can be at its finest when particular elements can be picked and play-doh-ed together to create an original storytelling element.

Moreover, Embo’s own appearance is something of an amalgamation. In regards to his species, his form takes that of a tall, lanky, humanoid snake; however, his attire suits him as a robed space ronin with the gorget of a warrior, the bandolier of a mercenary, a bowcaster (virtually a crossbow that fires blaster bolts), and a shield-hat. Every creative piece draws inspiration from somewhere; and even in just aesthetics, when all these ingredients are put together, Embo represents some of the best in creativity.

Photo: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Lucasfilm — a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company

3. Action-Packed Scenes Set the Standard for Protagonists

One of the best benefits to having a side-to-background character like Embo is that their action scenes can create the standards for our protagonists. “For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic,”. Though they’re supposed to be peacekeepers, the Jedi Generals of the Clone Wars are renowned as the best warriors across the galaxy. Being able to see this bounty hunter traverse a cliff in less than a minute; agilely and skillfully fight a scout; and kill him by snapping his neck is an excellent way to set the bar for those acclaimed to be more impressive.

Later on in the series, we see Embo go head-to-head with the monstrously strong Savage Oppress; after that, we see Embo chase down Anakin Skywalker, Padme, and Rush Clovis by snowboarding down a mountain side with his hat and faking a lethal intent. As anyone can see, having fighters like this is a pleasurable way to create third-party fight scenes — he or she can be a foil to the protagonists or the antagonists.

As you the reader can see, for a supporting character, Embo offers much for the creative depth and enhances the satisfaction for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The fact that he is a side character in a handful of episodes and a background character for the series as a whole highlights the sheer magnitude of creative power that the series has. This is why I argue that obscure characters keep a story world from becoming flat; in fact, they do quite the opposite: they enrich it. If this level of detail can be drawn from one supporting character, imagine how much more detailed a story world can be if the same level of detail is applied to other characters or even locations. Face it, characters like Embo just make the world look cooler.

God bless, God first,

David Hyland