Cultural Silhouette. Source
Public Domain Ramayana, link to the reading online.
Characters:
Rama
- Son of King Dasaratha and Queen Kausalya
- Prince of Ayodya
- Vishnu as a human avatar
- Married to Sita
Sita
- King Janak is her father
- Married to Rama
- Lakshmi, goddess avatar, Vishnu's consort
Ravana
- Rakshasa cannot be killy by a god
Lakshmana
- Rama's brother
- Married to Sita's younger sister, Urmila
King Dasaratha
- King of Ayodhya
- Well liked king
Viswamitra
- A sage
- Wise man
- Was once a king
- Gained powers through meditation
- Takes Rama to defeat a demon and lift the bow of Siva
Ganga
- Goddess
- Daughter of Himavan
- Siva brought her to earth and she became the river Ganges
Siva
- Able to tame the powers of the other gods
- Married to Parvati
Lava
- One of the sons of Rama, but does not know
Kusha
- One of the sons of Rama, but does not know
Vasishta
- Offers King Dasaratha advice
Rishyaringa
- Great rishi
- Presided over the sacrifice that King Dasaratha offers to get a son
- Combination of deer and man
Tataka
- Beautiful woman transformed into demon when she tried to seduce Agastya
- Drinks blood of living creatures and kills everything
- Rama slays her and breaks her curse
Kaikeyi
- King Dasaratha's third and youngest wife
- Saved King Dasaratha's life in battle and he said he will do anything she asks
Sumitra
- Second wife of Dasaratha
- Mother of Lakshmana and Shatrughna
Kausalya
- First wife of Dasaratha, however they do not have a close relationship
Manthara
- Asks King Dasaratha to exile Rama nd crown Bharata as king
Guha
- King of the hunters
- Loyal to Rama
Bharata
- Son of King Dasaratha
Shatrughna
- Lakshmana's twin
- Follows Bharata everywhere
Sumantra
- Chief counselor of Dasaratha
- Brings Rama into exile
Surpanakha
- Ravana's sister
- Attempts to seduce Rama and kill Sita
Maricha
- Ravana's uncle
- Rama defeated him with a magic weapon
Khara
- Ravana's cousin
- Likes to kill rishis
- Rules an area near a forest
Jatayu
- Golden eagle
- Speaks like a human
- Loyal to King Dasaratha
- Pledges service to Rama
- Dies defending Sita from Ravana
Kabandha
- Bad rakshasa
- Has no legs or head
Sugriva
- king of the vanaras (magical monkeys)
Hanuman
- Advisor to Sugriva
- Son of the win god Vayu
Vibheeshana
- Ravana's younger brother
- Joins Rama's army
Sampati
- Golden eagle
- Jatayu's brother
- Wings burned when he flew too close to the sun
Jambavan
- King of Riksharaj (magical bears)
- Ally of Sugriva and Rama
Indrajit
- Ravana's favorite son
- captured Indra, the king of the gods
Kumbhakarna
- Ravana's brother
- Giant with infinite strength
- Sleeps for six months at a time before waking up and eating everything
Agastya
- Blesses Rama
I am planning on using a lot of the main characters to make a full on war style story. Rama and his allies and friends will be on one side and a lot of Ravana will be on the other side. I will probably cut a lot of these characters down but I wanted to list them all out and see what they could offer to either side.
Ryan, I just wanted to say that is such a cool thing to have done with the story planning. Having a character list like this can be useful for the story you write next week and in your future reading too. What a great idea! This story planning thing was something new a student suggested just last semester, and it is fun seeing the different ways people are using it. For more about those characters, you can find Wikipedia articles probably for each one. Even the minor characters usually have at least a short article of their own! If you find some character becomes of real interest to you, focusing a Storybook project on a single character is always a good option too, so you can keep that in mind during the next couple weeks of project brainstorming. :-)
ReplyDeleteWow! By just seeing the list of characters you have here and seeing the idea you have for your story, I am really looking forward to reading it! However, I wonder how are you going to fit such a large concept into your storytelling due to the word limit. I also have a bit of trouble trying to write my story this week as well because I feel like I can expand on it even more. I wonder if you will plan on a sequel to this story? Because I think that will give you more room to develop your story without rushing on the plot as well.
ReplyDeleteRyan, I really like how you listed the characters and all of their specific aspects/situations unique to them. I think this overall outline of each character will help immensely when actually creating your story. I like your idea of splitting the characters into two groups. It gives a clear protagonist to your story and helps lay who we want to root for. I am looking forward to see how all of this planning lays out when you create your story.
ReplyDelete