Thank you so much for the blog mention -- every bit helps! :)

I was thinking about that myself and talked it over with my husband.

Mitchell is definitely the Hero, but Mitchell's opposite and Lancer would actually be Vala (my favourite character) due to her non-military/thieving outlook. She wants to be good, but she tends to look at the human military's way of doing things to be completely at odds with looking out for number one. Teal'C is still the big guy and I think Sam is the smart guy while Daniel becomes the chick, since he is the one told to keep Vala in check, he's a good friend to Sam, he knows enough about Jaffa politics to help and understand Teal'C concerns and he is able to help out Mitchell when he needs a sounding board.

What do you think? Any disagreements?

Also, I have a question/qualm about today's podcast on the smart guy. I don't agree with the droids being the smart guy(or guys). The droids have the information only because Leia gave it to them and later on in the story she is the one to start giving them ideas on how to escape the Death Star when they find her. Whereas the droids are definitely the Chick, since they listen, mediate and discuss problems with everybody ("Let the Wookie Win" to pin a quote for proof). I agree that C-3PO is the realist "Help-Help-We're-All-Going-To-Die" type, but Leia tends to give actual snarky yet sound reasons on why plans won't work, not just that they won't.

Great week though. I'd love to hear your counter-discussion to this.

I think you're right about Mitchell and Vala -- who is also my favorite character, by the way, played by one of my favorite actresses -- and I think you're right about Daniel evolving into the role of the Chick, which is inherently associated with matters spiritual and philosophical. 

Great minds think alike! I hadn't realized that the chick was also associated with spiritual and philosophical matters.

As for Leia, I can see your point but I still think Leia is the Smart Guy. Obi-Wan never really stayed as part of the group and he acted on his own all the time. Leia had all the information and they aren't even able to access it properly until she's there(hence her rescue). In the end it's even her allies that translate the information for the others and that only because they needed to show that she wasn't the leader of the Rebellion forces.

Perhaps they didn't really use the Smart Guy and that's why we can hang the mantle on so many of the characters. They downplayed and split up his role to make her role and the droids role more important in the overall storyline.

I think there's a pretty good case for R2 being the smart guy.  He's the one who hacks the Death Star to reveal where the princess is being kept, then he stops the trash compactor when the rest of the group is caught in the trash compactor.  He also hides the droids in Mos Eisley from the Stormtroopers. And then R2 delivers the plans and helps Luke with flying the X-wing.  So there's more than just delivering the plans.  (Now I feel compelled to watch Star Wars again so I can more coherently state the points instead of going from memory).  Oh, well, the point is that there's several ways where R2 goes off and does his own thing for the sake of what he thinks will best serve the plan (i.e. he gets Luke to remove the restraining bolt and then goes to find Obi-wan, he takes care of interfacing with many computers without being told to) sometimes not in the way that the hero or the rest of the group would most like him to.

3PO I'm not as sure about.

Fascinating topic this week!  And it gave me a lot to think about for one of my stories.  I'm planning to look at a few examples of the 5 man band to see if it can help me figure out my 5 man band.

Leia certainly isn't as clear-cut as I had previously thought, although I think there's a difference between the details of the plot, in which she is active, and the story itself, in which she is less so. On balance, I'm happier with R2 as the Smart Guy, but I completely concede your points. 

I'll concede Leia to you, though I still think she took her fair share the smart guy role.

Something I think we have to remember is that even in role playing, you'll see this (what, you must have wondered why they suggest on groups of 5 players before, right?). I think it's just human nature. In a group when you're working towards similar goals you will automatically start moving towards the spot that you fit best.

It's really interesting to look at your group of 4 closest friends and
figure out where you would fit into this (though as with anything,
sometimes it doesn't work... human interaction never flows quite as
easily as it does in the stories).

For me, I would be the Chick. I am usually the one mediating differences in my group of friends. I'm not the bravest, I'm not the strongest, I'm not the smartest and I'm not even usually the second... But I am the one that all of my friends say would support them through the hard times and I am a enabler like nobody else (of course you can! Why would you think you can't?).

I'll concede Leia to you, though I still think she took her fair share the smart guy role.

Something I think we have to remember is that even in role playing, you'll see this (what, you must have wondered why they suggest on groups of 5 players before, right?). I think it's just human nature. In a group when you're working towards similar goals you will automatically start moving towards the spot that you fit best.

It's really interesting to look at your group of 4 closest friends and
figure out where you would fit into this (though as with anything,
sometimes it doesn't work... human interaction never flows quite as
easily as it does in the stories).

For me, I would be the Chick. I am usually the one mediating differences in my group of friends. I'm not the bravest, I'm not the strongest, I'm not the smartest and I'm not even usually the second... But I am the one that all of my friends say would support them through the hard times and I am a enabler like nobody else (of course you can! Why would you think you can't?).

I'm confused... why did you just quote my comment and leave no new comments? Or am I missing something (beyond that I think I was tired when I wrote this)?

Oops -- my fault! I added quoting functionality to the forum, and accidentally posted that reply while I was testing it. I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner. Sorry!

I agree that it's interesting to look at the people around you, particularly if you're a part of a close group, although it can be difficult to pin down the Hero and the Lancer because they are so fluid.

And Lani would remind us all, of course, that reality is no defence for fiction. :)

It is very hard to define those two but I figured out that it came out much the same if you considered the Hero the most charismatic member of the group and the Lancer to be his foil (I say that if your friends don't have foils, you are not hanging out with the right friends).

LOL

Don't worry about the issue above. I think the fact that you can work this well with websites is incredible. I can update and keep my blog up Wordpress... but the inner workings are mostly a mystery to me. I will probably (re: next year) take a course on how to build a webpage from the ground up. My website now isn't what I want it to be yet. I suppose I could just pay my B-I-L his professional rates but I am not making the money to make that an option just yet.