Spear carriers

I've always wondered what it would be like to be a spear carrier in somebody else's story. A spear carrier is someone who stands in the hall when Caesar passes, comes to attention and thumps his spear. A spear carrier is the anonymous character cut down by the hero as he advances to save the menaced heroine. A spear carrier is a character put in a story to be used like a piece of disposable tissue. In a story, spear carriers never suddenly assert themselves by throwing their spears aside and saying "I resign, I don't want to be used." They are there to be used, either for atmosphere or as minor obstacles in the path of the hero. The trouble is that each of us his own hero, existing in a world of spear carriers. We take no joy in being used and discarded.

Rite of Passage; Alexei Panshin 1968