Thought of the day: What is an NPC to you?

So, for this account, I have Dee and AVI. Dee is the names PC that is the primary focus of pretty much any story that is written. AVI is the supporting role/co-star of the ensemble. Both are necessary to the wholeness of the character that is Dee, but either can function on their own. They have their own quirks and personalities, and AVI could very well get a spin-off series that will do well enough for a few seasons before getting canceled by Fox.

An NPC is any character I write into the story to fill a momentary need. Dee walks up to a bar and orders a drink. An NPC bartender will make and serve that drink but afterward is usually forgotten about. I think it is viable to have NPC's that become regulars. Like if someone visits a place more than once, or has a servant droid, it may help the story to give the NPC a little background, if not just to add character to it.

Honestly, I share similar sentiments to what has been said already and agree with that has been said.

An NPC, to me at least, is an expendable place holder. Unless I have gone through the trouble of naming them and adding a little detail to them, the are generally used as one-offs. Named NPC's aren't as expendable and have more value in terms of supporting the PC.

Secondary characters are even higher on the food chain than NPC's, even if they are overshadowed by the PC. They serve a purpose and can act in whatever fashion the PC needs them, generally.

A good question. To me, a secondary character is one that a person puts a lot more effort into compared to an NPC. Essentially like the Robin to Batman. A secondary character, while not on par with the PC, is one that could potentially go off on their own story and hold their own, whereas NPCs generally don't do that. Secondary characters could most likely become full fledged PC's in their own right, if done well enough, in my opinion.

Personally, I see it like a scale.

You have NPCs which range from "mook #3" to "Bob, from the office down the hall", these are the 'set piece' characters. You see them, they act, they continue. But you never see inside their heads. They make talk about the 'missus' but you never really get a sense that it is anything more than talk.

Secondaries are a step up. Here you start to get a look inside their heads. Are they annoyed about something? Perhaps a little personal motivation? Whatever it is, they start to have depth.

Mains are just that. The story is following their life. Sure, other characters could be really important in the story, but at the end of the day, it is their story.

The dividing line between the groups is, however, really blurry. You might have a character that shows up for a singe SL, but is so focused on that they gain a memorable bit of character in your head. On the other hand, they same NPC could show up a thousand times & never grow into a secondary.

The really cool thing for me, though, is watching them slide up & down the scale. Aya started off as an NPC, she existed only to fill a story need & then fade into the background. After a while though, her interactions in that very specific circumstance started having more ... depth, more color in it. So she pushed her way up into secondary. Eventually, she even managed to have a profile of her own created. In the other direction, I have/had a character called Resi. He started out as a somewhat odd (but well within norms for 1.5) jedi. As his story dried up & I found less & less that he could do or progress, he sank more & more in to the role of a secondary character to other PCs. Yes, he still had some color & flavor of his own, but the story he was in was no longer about him. Eventually, he ended up attacking the MA, killing off a bunch of Mandos & running afoul of an Imperium kill team. So now he is safely locked up in a high security cell being studied for his abilities. NPC to PC & PC to NPC.

So then, how do you classify the Corruption, a Geonosian Hive, etc? is the consciousness alone the PC, while the many members are NPCs and SCs as needed/desired?