C - Christofer

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C - Christofer

Of all the characters in The Ankulen, Sir Christofer, or Chris as he is usually called, changed the most in development.

When this was a play that my cousin and I were going to perform in the backyard, Chris was Jen's co-make-upper and as human as she was. Sure the part where the two had had a fight and she had locked him in her imagination for eight years was still there, and the fact that he didn't age, but he was reality then, and capable of putting things back in order once Jen managed to get him out and he had the Ankulen.

When I turned the then-untitled play into a book, I retained the idea of him being human, and, for a while, entertained the idea of making the story into a trilogy ... but I couldn't get the story to go anywhere. The ideas were good ... but there wasn't the magic spark that turns a story idea into a story. 

That magic spark came along when I got the brilliant idea of making Chris one of Jen's imaginary friends, specifically, her favorite knight that always accompanied her and her best friend on their adventures.

In The Ankulen, Chris is the Adam of Jen's Imagination. He and Tisha are closest to her of all her imaginary friends, so when they break an important rule ... well, Jen did not react well. Perhaps had it been someone else, Jen would have been a bit more lenient and rational ... but it was them, and she didn't react well.

Chris's punishment was to be locked in her imagination. However, it turned out to be a far worse punishment than even she had anticipated. Unbeknownst to her, a imagination eating creature was lurking in the corners, just waiting for her to be out of the picture.

Sir Christofer, the valiant protector of Lady Jenifer was forced to watch his world crumble around him ... and know that it was his fault. He, the one whose sword and bow could fend off any dragon or ogre who might want to scare his friends, was left powerless in the face of a creature who would eat him weapons and all if it caught him.

Because Chris is Jen's imaginary friend, his age isn't exactly consistent with his actions. He only looks eight, a year older than what Jen and Tisha had been, but his questing expertise is unparalleled in his land. One of his titles is "The Finest Knight in The Land" and few question it.

My inspiration for Chris comes from Grub 1, the cousin who was going to play him all those years ago. (Wait, that was only three years ago ... hum ...), and his personality I could best describe as either a more mature Peter Pan, or a childish Robin Hood.

My cousin still doesn't like the fact that I made Chris part of Jen's imagination, rather than her co-imaginer, but he's getting used to it. The story wasn't working the other way ... and well, I'm almost half-way through the second draft this way. I like it, and I'm sure that, once he reads it, G1 will like it too.

Oh, and the misspelling of Christofer is intentional. Hey, a seven-year-old named him. It's lucky an h made its way into his name.