I recently wrote a story in which the Hood takes on Tracy Island, simply because the Tracys aren’t there. He conveniently forgets about everyone else on the island simply because they are only there when the plot line suits.
Is that true for the rest of the characters? We know very little about them. I think that point is proved by the adaptation for the film – nearly all of them are changed in some way. Tin-Tin suddenly has a mother, Brains suddenly has a son. You wouldn’t have been able to change the other characters that are more established without people kicking up a fuss, so how did they get away with changing these ones? Considering how little we know about their characters, does that mean that they are not needed for the plot lines? Apart from the ones that are suddenly about them rather randomly?
Brains never seems to be given much to do, despite the fact that he is technically the one behind the whole creation of the machines. He literally is the brains of the operation. Yet somehow, knowing that he is the creator of the Thunderbirds – something that is hinted enough to make it apparent to any member of the audience – automatically gives him more of a depth. We know why he is on the island, why the Tracys have him around and what his use is. He doesn’t necessarily need to have a plot line of his own in the same way because he has a hand in so many of the others, even if we don’t see it. After all, where would the Thunderbirds be without Brains? But he does crop up in enough of the plot lines in order for us to see him out in action, meaning his character is given a lot more depth to it without us having to see it.
Kyrano, however, never really does anything apart from makes drinks and is there for whenever the Hood needs some information about the Tracys. Tin-Tin never seems to be around unless it is to play on the relationship between her and Alan – again, which only seems to happen when another man turns up on the scene and stirs things up a little bit. Or if she needs to get rescued herself, that seems to have happened a few times. I didn’t particularly like either of these two in the series simply because they seemed to be flat characters with no real background to them and only turned up when the plot line happened to dictate that someone else was needed other than the Tracys. Whereas Brains has a reason for being there that we don’t really need to see constantly, I always find it difficult to place how these two ended up on the island and why they are still there. They seem to be characters of convenience rather than having a real depth to them.
Grandma I always find is a tricky one. Unlike Kyrano and Tin-Tin, you don’t need to guess why she is there, she is family. And yet, at the same time, she seems to be almost a bit of an empty character. But Grandma I find the lines are blurred with. Considering when the series was made, it lacks the deep characterisations that TV series today develop. It was more about International Rescue than the Tracy family, something the film twisted. But yet, this doesn’t stop me from loving these characters. Is it because they are not truly known that means people can put their own spin on them without being told that they are writing out of character. I’ve read Brains shakily punching an enemy, Grandma taking on the Hood with a rolling pin, Tin-Tin being paired with each of the brothers… Somehow, those stories work.
Yet I have also read ones where the Tracys do things that we don’t associate with the series, and they don’t work. Not having the deep characterisations might make the show to be a little flat when simply watching the episodes, but ever since writing Fanfiction, I find that doesn’t bother me. After all, if the producers aren’t going to give them too many defining characteristics, why shouldn’t we just do it instead?
So are they needed for the show, or are they there just to bring in some different blood other than the Tracy family? I couldn’t necessarily name you their purpose, but yes, they should be there. After all, if they are not, would that make our main characters lack their depth and the whole thing fall apart. Every superhero needs his side-kick. But if it is whole family of heroes, then they’ll just have to get their side-kicks from somewhere else, and I think that is the role these “background” characters offer. So they might not be as well known or defined, but they are still there, meaning they are still part of the plots.