Welcome to another session of Fanfiction Academy. Today we'll be learning about families.
Don't let this turn you off. This is an important part of writing a story. It is one of the pillars of characterization. Without a family, you're writing about an alien which it is impossible to relate to. The family generally consists of the mother and/or father, sibling(s), grandparents, and sometimes close cousins or little nieces or nephews. The parent(s) have raised, or in some cases neglected, the main character, instilling in them values and beliefs which direct their every choice.
If you decide that whatever family seen in the original book, game, film, etc. is not the family you want the protagonist to have, then there are a few basic models on which you can base your family. I've arranged them on a scale of one to six for how depressing they are.
1. Two parents and their happy child/children. Typically seen as an average household. Something terrible usually needs to happen to them to make the story serious. If the story's not serious, you'll probably have this beginning anyway.
2. Single parent and child/children. This can be a happy or unhappy arrangement. The single parent is usually either cool, irresponsible, tragic, and/or a workaholic.
3. Grandparent(s) and child/children. Usually a mostly happy life with an underlying feel of tragedy.
4. Orphan. This is an overused beginning but by no means a bad one. Except for the orphan.
5. Evil aunt/uncle/stepparent(s)/older sibling and child. Typical tragic or abusive upbringing. I absolutely hate this one. Try one of the others if possible. If you simply must have this, try to make the characters realistic in their actions.
6. Evil organization/business/charity and an enslaved load of veritable freedom fighter prospects.
As you can see, 4 and 5 are often done best with the character being a single child. If for 5 there is another child it will be either a weaker sibling or a spoiled bully. This is what I call the Dudley Effect.
Remember also that it is important for every character to have family. All the people on the hero's team, the person teaching them (I was raised by giant wolves with glowing red eyes and a Shakespeare addiction), and even the main villain should have a family in their past, even if it isn't mentioned in the story, so that you can judge their motives and morals appropriately when you write it. I'll include an example:
The child lay on the ground, a bullet in his head. It seemed strange that there should be a hole there. Dill had been more than a brother, he had been a friend. Dave had always imagined getting married and having Dill be his best man. Without him, it didn't seem a future was possible. There wouldn't have been for Dave had Dill not taken that bullet for him. Dave never forgot Dill. And at the moment of his death , he whispered to himself, "Was that how you'd have lived? Am I forgiven?"
It doesn't have to be that dramatic, but you can see that the little twerp had a significant role in the idiot hero's life. That about wraps it up for today. Now stop pestering me so I can finish my tea.