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| - Bob is a Homicide detective for a large New York police station. After the exposition of a murder crime-scene, and a basic interrogation of a few witnesses, Bob heads down to the morgue for the autopsy. But, wait, why is Bob performing the autopsy? Is he a detective or a coroner? Where's the coroner? Aren't there people around who should be doing this while Bob heads out, say, to question the suspects and look for clues? Isn't THAT his job? To find out whether this trope applies to Bob, just ask these questions: Examples of The Main Characters Do Everything include:
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| abstract
| - Bob is a Homicide detective for a large New York police station. After the exposition of a murder crime-scene, and a basic interrogation of a few witnesses, Bob heads down to the morgue for the autopsy. But, wait, why is Bob performing the autopsy? Is he a detective or a coroner? Where's the coroner? Aren't there people around who should be doing this while Bob heads out, say, to question the suspects and look for clues? Isn't THAT his job? It seems that on Bob's show, The Main Characters Do Everything. His job in the organization is supposed to be clearly defined and include a set number of tasks and responsibilities, just like similar jobs in real life. Instead, Bob is often seen doing things well beyond the scope of his job. In other words he's doing someone else's job, whenever it suits the story. And it's not as if he's going against orders either! Bob will often be TOLD to overstep his authority by a superior, and no one will even raise an eyebrow! Or maybe Bob is the boss and still insists on doing the menial tasks instead of finding the most qualified underlings to do it. Whether Bob has the skills necessary for the task or not is irrelevant - the point is it's not (and shouldn't be) part of his job. This trope happens because writers are faced with a dilemma: in the real world, police and military organizations are heavily departmentalized, which means that each member has a clear-cut set of responsibilities. But following the exploits of a character with limited responsibility can get repetitive; How interesting would it be to watch The Captain pushing papers and managing his crew all day? How many interesting stories can revolve around watching the doctor diagnosing patients in his little office? Instead of adding Loads and Loads of Characters to follow around, potentially confusing the viewers, most writers prefer increasing the scope of the Main Character's job far beyond realistic limits. So now, the Captain goes out on dangerous away-missions, the general practitioner goes into surgery, and the forensic analyst does interrogations and arrests - whatever serves the drama. And no one else in the organization seems to think that this is a problem. It is important to note that this may not actually be a bad thing, often being considered one of the many Acceptable Breaks From Reality. It cuts down on the use of Flat Characters and keeps the main characters in focus. To find out whether this trope applies to Bob, just ask these questions:
* In the real world, would a character with Bob's job be allowed to do what he's doing?
* Are there any characters around whose job it is to do what Bob is doing?
* Are there loads of extras in the background that seem to have absolutely no job, since Bob's doing everything anyway?
* Does Bob constantly place himself in danger despite there being lots of expendables around whose only job it is to confront dangers in his stead?
* Does anybody care that Bob is doing this? Especially, Bob's superiors? Note that this is rarely confined to one character. It's usually a group of characters who, between them, seem to carry out every possible task in the show. You'll never see the extras doing anything important, it's always one of the Main Characters who gets the task. Occasionally on shows where The Main Characters Do Everything, a task will be relegated to an off-screen department, but this only happens when showing it being performed wouldn't serve the writers' interests or the drama. If the writers get can any sort of drama by showing a task being done on-screen, it'll always be the Main Characters performing it. To be clear, The Main Characters Do Everything is an explicit contradiction: In an organization that's presented as specialized and departmentalized, the main characters seem to have no clearly defined job description nor any real limits to their authority. And the boss doesn't seem to mind - In fact, in many cases one of the Main Characters Who Do Everything IS the boss, and still insists on doing practically EVERYTHING by himself. Closely related to Ghost Extras, as the two tropes are almost always played together. Also connected to Red Shirt; if you're in a series where The Main Characters Do Everything, and suddenly you see someone else participating in the main action, they're there for a specific reason. Expect the main character(s) to be an Omnidisciplinary Scientist or Open Heart Dentist (it's usually an excuse to let him Do Everything). Somewhat related to Composite Character, where after adaptation one character contains traits (and tasks) that originally belonged to two or more characters. Compare with Einstein Sue and The Only One, where our main characters do everything because everyone else is apparently incompetent, or just isn't around when you need 'em. Contrast Minimalist Cast, which is when the main characters do everything because there isn't anyone else. Examples of The Main Characters Do Everything include:
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