The One Note

♪

The one who has little detail to their personality. It's not that there isn't much that we know about them, but it's that there isn't much to know about them. They function as caricatures with one focused-on or exaggerated aspect. These characteristics include a wacky voice or accent, a single defining catchphrase, a lone persisting emotion or behavior, and a One-Track Mind that inhibits their ability to concentrate on anything outside of one task or goal. One Notes are a harsh departure from real life since no person is so shallow as to be defined by a singular trait. They can be Fiction Candy, purely existing for Entertainment Value, but they can be severely problematic the closer they draw to the center of attention. If somebody in the Main Cast is a One Note, they can wear out their welcome by Boring or Annoying The Audience with extraordinary effectiveness. The One Note is known as the flat character in literature, like how the Fix is called the static character. The One Note may be compared to or confused for a Paper Cut-Out, but Cut-Outs are closer to stereotypes than to husks empty of souls.

The One Note is primarily a character with more problems than we can count. Although there is a time and place for them, most situations call for fleshed-out members of the cast who can pull in the audience's attention and keep it from wandering. A One Note can be worth a chuckle or two, but in terms of enduring Entertainment Value, they're short of any moves. Essentially being a One-Trick Pony, the One Note is forced to rely on their only quality to remain relevant with the audience. However, somebody who can't take three steps before acting out of character can only go so far until they breach their role's boundaries. If the One Note is to stay the course, they have less than a Kiddie Pool's worth of content to fall back on. The audience instantly catches onto their game and can read their every action. Becoming Predictable And Lame is the sad reality of a One Note, but this is the price they must pay for being that plain. The One Note's current abilities are already compensated by their role, but their history and future are equally as ruined. They very rarely have a backstory to call their own, and even if they do, it'll be a far cry from groundbreaking material. The same can be said for their choices in life and the explanations backing them up if they exist. It's for all this the One Note is too clearly a fictional character to abide by Suspension Of Disbelief. It'd be hard for a viewer to imagine regularly running into a person like them and having conversations that go somewhere. They don't have the personality, behaviors, skills, or life story of an individual who can be seen in reality.