Having borad, accurate representation is ideal in writing, however, when you include a “token” character it definitely has the opposite effect on your readers. Here’s how to spot them, and how to avoid them in your own writing.
What is a token character?
A token character is often a minor or background character who represents a minority. Commonly, this is thought of as the “token black character”, however it doesn’t always refer to race, and can be any minority in your writing. Note I said “in your writing”, as your story’s minorities may not mimic our everyday minorities, especially if you’re writing in the fantasy genre.
Some examples include:
Cho Chang, the only Asian character in the entire Harry Potter franchise, with next to no character development besides whom she dates (and her name isn’t representative of her supposedly Chinese heritage, but is apparently two Korean surnames stuck together to sound Asian to white readers).
If you’ve not read the Throne of Glass series, I won’t give anything spoilery away, but if you have, you’ll recall there’re only two POC characters across the entire 8 book series, and both of whom are present in just one book each. One exists majorly to further a main male character’s plot.
Mean Girls includes a few, from the single (unpopular) gay male character Damien who has no arc but to hang out with the main character on occasion and be generally unpopular, to the cafeteria table groups of “unfriendly black hotties”, "Asian nerds", and "cool Asians", who never merit another mention, nor are they separated into individuals.
Recently, there have been books playing into this whole idea, with titles like The Princess Saves Herself in This One (by Amanda Lovelace, published 2016), and the non-fiction book examining the token character trend titled The Black Guy Dies First (by Robin R. Means Coleman, PhD, and Mark M. Harris, published 2023).
The Bechdel test
The Bechdel test was created in 1985 as a measure of representation of women characters. In recent times the premise has been extended to also test representation of minorities such as LGBTQ+ characters (the Vito Russo test), native or person of colour (POC) characters (the DuVernay test, 2016), and more. The goal is for any piece of media to pass the test. There are just three rules, which should make it extremely easy to pass, however it’s surprising how many don’t. Those rules are that the piece of media being analysed (1) includes 2 or more women, (2) who converse with each other, (3) about some topic other than men.
The Sexy Lamp test works similarly: if you can remove a female character and replace her with a sexy lamp, and none of the plot is altered, the woman is tokenistic. Identifying if your story's minority representations fit these basic guidelines can help you to identify if your characters are tokenistic or serve as valid representitive characters.
A good example of how this can be broadened to cover other minority representations is a horror film I recently watched with my partner. Spoiler: it doesn’t pass. The basic plot is a group of white investors and developers attempting to develop a portion of natively owned land. In this movie, they focus on this predominantly white group, with their one token native representative to aid in communications between the native inhabitants. Not once do the main group ever speak with the natives directly, rather they talk about them, within earshot.
Following the basic form of the Bechdel test: there is only the single named native character who is a part of the focus group (the requirement for the characters to be named is a newer addition but definitely worth considering in my opinion); this named character does speak with the other native people who reside in the area; however, they don’t discuss anything besides the white people.
See how, through this example, the single named native character is only included for the sake of representing the native community in the face of white people, and nothing else? He is therefore a token character.
How to improve your representation
Let's say that your current work in progress (WIP) or novel doesn’t pass the Bechdel test, or another iteration of, or you feel one of your characters comes off as tokenistic, and you don’t want to leave it this way. There are definitely ways in which this can easily be combatted.
Firstly, think about how many times the minority representation is mentioned. Did you mention it once at the beginning and by the midway point your readers have probably forgotten your token character’s race, disability, sexuality, etc.? Make it mean something. Add in a little scene or even a comment which flows within the context of the story where you can remind readers of the minority the character is representing. For example, in a romance with just one or two LGBTQ+ characters, maybe the friend group is talking about dating apps and this character of yours could hesitantly speak up and enquire if they know if the app matches same-sex couples as well, or what gender identities the app accepts.
The next goal is probably going to be passing that Bechdel test. This one is super easy to combat as well! All you have to do is insert a single paragraph where the two or more minority representation characters talk about something mundane. Maybe the women go for brunch together? The queer characters visit a strawberry farm and make a dessert with them? Or how about your disabled characters going to the movies together to watch some random romcom and then stop by the adjoining arcade? Notice how these examples don’t feed into stereotypes, like having the women go clothes shopping, or having your LGBTQ+ representation characters go to a Pride event together.
The most in-depth change you’ll have to make would be if your work isn’t passing the Sexy Lamp test. This requires giving more depth to the affected character, by means of developing either a backstory, or giving them their own character arc within the main storyline. It can definitely be made easier with little slice-of-life challenges. Say for example, your book or WIP involves a minor character with minority representation, maybe a main character’s sibling is transgender, and they’re particularly close with the family’s dog. The dog sleeps in their bed, follows them around the house. You could create a minor arc for this character by having them attempt to teach the dog a new trick, or get into agility with the dog. When other characters are left alone with them, they could bring up “I heard you’re starting sports with [dog’s name], has that been hard to teach?” The next time the friend/ friend group visit the home, they might hear the sibling’s voice emanating from the backyard, enticing the dog through obstacles. In your wrap up at the end, maybe a ribbon appears on the wall of their family home then, and another character draws attention to it by saying, “You guys won! That’s fantastic!” It’s as simple as that to create a minor character arc.
Within my own WIP (The Amethyst Curse), I wanted to accurately capture the multicultural nature of Australia and therefore looked at the cultural makeup of our country over the last few census results from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. On top of this, I have a few different types of disabilities represented, and various sexual identities and gender identities. All of my characters interact with whomever they require based on their character goals within the storyline, not based on whom they relate closest to (i.e. I don't think any of my disabled characters actually talk about being disabled; my queer characters don't really discuss being queer, they just are, and those around them accept it; and pronouns are clarified for the demigirl character out of respect when they're introduced).
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