Characters with Catchphrases?

[Mindfire]

A catchphrase can be a double edged sword. Good ones can make a character more memorable. What would characters like Judge Dredd ("I am the law!"), Optimus Prime ("Transform and roll out!"), and Batman ("I'm Batman!") be like without their iconic lines? On the other hand, a bad, out of place, or overused catchphrase can make a character ten times more annoying than they would have been otherwise.

What makes the difference between a good catchphrase and a bad one? What kind of characters work best with catchphrases and what's a good general rule on how often to use them?

 

[CupofJoe]

I agree about iconic lines - moments - images, they can make a character but I'm not so sure that the writers knew that they were writing the phrase - the picture while they had pen to paper [fingers to keyboard].
While I have used characters with speech mannerisms I would avoid catchphrases all together.
I don't think there are rules to what makes one catchphrase work and another fall flat.
If there is one, then [for me] it would be seeing how a character develops and see what comes naturally.
Okay I was wrong there are 'rules'
here is one set of them: How to Create a Catch Phrase | eHow.com - Who knew...

 

[Telcontar]

A) I'm not sure catchphrases work as well in books as they do in tv and movies.

B) A catchphrase should be a way of encapsulating a character. I actually think the ones you listed aren't great examples (no offense! ) because those characters are especially iconic for other reasons as well - Batman especially.

On the other hand, take someone like John McClain, who is basically Joe Average Action Star. However, he has an awesome catchphrase which kinda sums up his action star personality, as well as references an important exchange in the first Die Hard movie.

The best kinds of characters for catchphrases? ... not deep. Not particularly well developed. There are, of course, exceptions, but overall I find catchphrases to be amusing in a cheaper, shallower way than fiction should aspire to. We can't really rival TV or movies in that category of shallow entertainment.

 

[Endymion]

"I'm Batman!" is a catchphrase? I dislike many characters for misusing or overusing catchphrases and I don't think catchphrases make anyone more memorable (or well, they do, but in a negative way).
Wouldn't use them if I were you.

 

[Anders Ämting]

I think the important thing is to make the catchphrase sound natural. It seems to me like the kind of thing that can easily backfire, not because of overuse but simply because the readers don't buy it as spontanious. I mean, what sort of dork actually uses a real catchphrase in real life? Like, deliberately? Think about it.

I'd say the best approach is to either make it a phrase that the character uses out of habit without thinking about it, for example a peculiar curse or saying, or a phrase used among friends as part of an inside joke.

 

[FireBird]

I'm trying to think of a way to describe a good catchphrase and I'm having a hard time. They must be memorable and have an impact whenever they are said or done. The best one I can think of is the Jokers. "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" I love that phrase. On the other hand you have someone like Horatio from CSI: Miami. I never thought *sunglasses* could be a catchphrase but I was dead wrong.

 

[Zero Angel]

Mindfire, did you have one of your own characters in mind when you came up with the post?

I use a catchphrase in my first novel. The foil character always says to the protagonist, "You can't save everyone."

I agree that it needs to sound natural and make sense. ...unless the character is a ditz. Then it makes sense for the character to not make sense and use the catchphrase even when it isn't natural.

 

[Anders Ämting]

I'm trying to think of a way to describe a good catchphrase and I'm having a hard time. They must be memorable and have an impact whenever they are said or done. The best one I can think of is the Jokers. "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" I love that phrase.

Still, didn't they put that into the movie only because they had shoehorned the Joker into being the Waynes' killer and they needed a way for Batman to identify him? IIRC, it was just some random thing he liked saying because he thought it sounded cool.

I think I prefer the newer version and his: "You wanna know how I got these scars?"

"Why so serious?" is also a good one, except I'm not sure he ever actually said it.

On the other hand you have someone like Horatio from CSI: Miami. I never thought *sunglasses* could be a catchphrase but I was dead wrong.

...

 

[Shockley]

There is never an appropriate time, in serious literature, to use a catchphrase.

That said, your goal should be to write lines that stick with the readers. If a character says something so weighty, so magnificent that they can never visualize that character without the line coming to mind - that's wonderful. Do that. Do that a thousand times. But never, ever create something with the intent of it becoming a catch-phrase.

I am writing this, obviously, with an Inigo Montoya image in my face. That's a perfect example. 'Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.' could be defined as a catchphrase. But you only really experience it twice: Him announcing his desire to say it and then saying it to his target (counting all repetitions in that moment as one occurrence). It's not a catchphrase, not even close, but it's a phrase that defined the character.

Much better than, 'Transform and roll out!'

 

[Zero Angel]

It not only *could* be defined as a catchphrase, it is defined as a catchphrase.

Google, please?

A well-known sentence or phrase, typically one that is associated with a particular famous person.

So since it is a well known phrase associated with a particular person, it is by definition, a catchphrase. (just want to avoid any arguments about semantics...although I can't imagine a better place to have an argument about semantics than a literature forum )

I think probably what you are referring to is the connotation behind using a word like "catchphrase". We almost instantly think of advertising, and go, "Wait a second here. Catchphrases are pulp."

I do agree with what I interpreted as the intent behind your words though Shockley. We should not create a phrase with the intent of it being a catchphrase. They need to develop naturally. If they get repeated, then they get repeated, but it shouldn't be forced or, in my opinion, done with the intention of branding.

 

[Steerpike]

I think I like the definition by Merriam-Webster:

catch·phrase noun \-ˌfrāz\

Definition of CATCHPHRASE

1
: a word or expression that is used repeatedly and conveniently to represent or characterize a person, group, idea, or point of view
2
: slogan

Using the definitions above, I think all three of us (Shockley, Zero Angel, and I) would agree not to use them in writing (except in comedic writing, where they are being use for comic value).

 

[Shockley]

I, of course, was using the definition as presented by Steerpike.

 

[Zero Angel]

KK, I yield.

My Dictionary.com app agrees with Steerpike for the most part. Sorry, Google, better luck next time.

I submit that Google adjust that definition so it comes in at #3 and specifically applies it to pop culture. ...as in, prefaces the definition with, "In pop culture..."

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

I literally can't hear the word "catchphrase" without thinking of this.

 

[Zero Angel]

I literally can't hear the word "catchphrase" without thinking of this.

Inspiring confidence of following random youtube links. Renewed hope for future of internet.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Inspiring confidence of following random youtube links.

 

[The Dark One]

Catchphrases are much better suited to film/TV, not least because of the timing issue. In anything other than a comedy or one of the more filmic genres (horror maybe), catchphrases could easily misfire and make a character seem like a self-obsessed dickhead. (Unless of course that's exactly how you want him to be.)

I wouldn't use a catchphrase, but I do have a couple of characters in one of my books who delight in using the words of others in ironic derision - almost as though those words define the other characters and are now making them look ridiculous. There is much piss-taking banter between the two despite the most bizarre adventure going on around them.

 

[Mindfire]

It should be noted that in my head, I was going more with Zero Angel's definition:

A well-known sentence or phrase, typically one that is associated with a particular famous person.

So, that one line people remember forever about a character, like "You cannot pass!" for example.

 

[Helen]

What makes the difference between a good catchphrase and a bad one?

I'd look at copywriting theory.