Wind Breaker: When You Need Backstories

Everyone has a past. Not everyone's past needs to be known.

Preface

Here’s a fun fact you hopefully already know: Everyone has a backstory. No one came into the world exactly as you see them today. There is a whole slew of experiences and life feeding into who they are now.

That lends itself to a big question—when do readers need to know a character’s backstory? Because—and I’ll say this more than once—backstory, when not used properly, can be unnecessary, distracting, and sadly, boring.

You want your plot to move forward. To keep the action coming. And backstory prohibits that.

Sometimes. Most times.

Other times it really helps the plot and the characters driving it. It’s a hard balance, as with most storytelling, and we’re going to look at a story that does back story right to help.

Preface over!

When I first found my way into manga via Demon Slayer, the thing that won me over was the way the villains were retroactively vindicated for their evil. These demons were out here doing horrendous things, yet as they died, and their backstory rolled out, I found myself asking: can I blame them? The world had been so cruel to them, humanity had outcasted them, abused them, destroyed their lives. So when the opportunity came to get a little revenge, perhaps even in the name of helping out loved ones, of course they’re going to take it.

I even wrote an essay about it, because really, who does that?

As I would find out, manga does that. Just… all of manga. Everyone has a backstory, and whether you want it or not, you will learn it, and you will spend pages, chapters, perhaps volumes, learning why Naruhaya needs to win Blue Lock, and then sob uncontrollably when you realize he’s doomed because of it, because there’s no way he’s going to win over Isagi.

But… what would happen if that backstory didn’t happen? Would we still feel as emotionally connected to a character as they make their exit?

Enter Wind Breaker, a series that I’m beginning to love almost as much as Blue Lock. I’m building out my holy trinity of manga, with Blue Lock holding down the sole seat so far. Wind Breaker looks most likely to take a seat. No one asked, but now you know.

Wind Breaker brings Sakura, the protagonist, into a new town, a new school, and around all new people. He’s here with a purpose, even though his purpose is subverted pretty early on. But we talked all about that in the Inverting the Heroes Journey post that may well be my favorite MangaCraft post. What I’m here to talk about today is the bizarre and unique fact that here I am, trawling through Wind Breaker with sheer joy, and I know next to nothing about Sakura’s backstory.

Where did he come from?

How did he get here?

He lives by himself in a ramshackle home and is very much alone. Other than that, we get a few “mental” panels of him walking a tightrope over a black void—a manifestation of his mental state and isolation.

But what do we actually know about him? Nothing.

And Wind Breaker isn’t categorically opposed to backstories either. Many characters have them, but they just hit different. Tsubaki, for instance, hits us with a fantastic backstory to make sense of why he’s helping out this older couple. But the key to that backstory hitting different? It is immediately relevant to the present of the story and oh, while we’re here, we’re also getting a window into the type of person Tsubaki is.

Here’s the thing about backstories—their purpose is to add importance to a character's present journey. To justify or in some way improve upon the character as we see them now. Not every backstory does that. Sometimes I skip through backstories because I don’t feel the need to know. I see how the character is now and I don’t get the sense that it needs justification. Did I say sometimes? I meant most times.

For Sakura, for the first time in my manga reading history, I found myself craving a backstory.

What a unique concept. All these backstories I’d blazed through because I didn’t want them, and now I feel like I actually need one. Why? Because I care that much about Sakura.

So often, writers of all mediums feel the need to backtrack. To go back into a character’s past and build out their foundations as a character. But rarely—and I mean rarely—is that necessary, and Sakura is the perfect example of why. If the point of a backstory is to justify or improve upon a character’s present, then the effect of that backstory should be all we need. The after effect. If they were outcasted in school and as an adult, they have trouble fitting in, we should feel connected enough with their inability to fit in that we don’t need to see the full scope of the ‘why’.

Sakura is alone. He’s hardened against needing help. He’s not really all about friendship. That’s slowly changing, but for now, that’s all we need to know. How did he get that way? We can make some pretty sensible assumptions, but do we need to know exactly why? Not necessarily.

Let’s pretend they cut to a backstory of him getting bullied at school, having a father who ignores him and a mother who works too much to notice him. How does that change how we see Sakura? Does it make him more lonely? More hardened? More resistant to human interaction?

Not at all.

Sakura is so well-developed in the present that to go into the past to justify it more is unnecessary. He’s dynamic, complex, layered, and actively growing towards a better version of himself. So why go back and establish why he is this way when he’s doing such a great job growing?

That said… how can you know when a backstory is needed? How can you know when the present needs the past?

Great question. I’ll answer with another question.

When did the Lord of the Rings films decide to roll out the backstory of Gollum, formerly Sméagol? Very late. When he was already the most morally grey and compelling character of all. As viewers, we were so drawn into who exactly this character was, that his past was just a bonus.

And that there is the key.

Your character should be so compelling in the present that the past doesn’t matter. The past shouldn’t matter until they are so compelling in the present that the past is just a bonus. I try to stay away from prescriptive “do this!” writing tips, but do not jump to backstory when you’re stuck, or if you can’t figure out what your character should do next. Or if you do—delete it later. Rather, find a new way to move your character forward, to make them more compelling in the present. Your readers will thank you.

Now, there are exceptions. There’s a beautiful book called Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo that balances alternating timelines, past and present. This is a narrative choice that feeds the story as a whole, informing the characters present struggles. It’s the first time I vividly remember clocking that I wasn’t skipping through the past to get back to the present.

Dual timelines are a different ballgame though. Most stories have a singular plot push that exists in the present day. That primary plot push should be enough to carry the reader. They want to move forward, not backwards. They want to see a character grow and advance, not backtrack.

You don’t see dual timelines often in manga. And one big reason why is because there’s so much backstory that it would be surplus to have a past timeline. Then again, most of the backstory is surplus and filler too. Anyway, I’m unnecessarily expounding on the point.

I’ll close with a simple note: I’m ready for Sakura’s backstory.

Hey, creative readers: How often do you go back into the past of your story? What does it provide the present push of your story? Can the same thing be accomplished by something happening in the present?

Hey, fans of Wind Breaker: Do you also want Sakura’s backstory? Do you have any thoughts on how it might feed into his present? Will it come back to “get him”? So many questions.