They can be people in an entirely fictional world - they can be soap opera characters.

他们可以是纯虚构的世界里的人，可以是肥皂剧里的人物。

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From Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, he devoted his entire life to the the art of papercuts…The opera characters he cuts are exaggerated and their postures full of rhythm.

江根和是广东潮州人氏，终生从事剪纸工艺。他手下的戏曲人物夸张而充满韵律感。

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But it is more like a confused soap opera, overcrowded with characters and suffering from the constant desire to prove itself au fait with its cool surroundings.

ECONOMIST: Failure of imagination

Sao Paulo's municipal soap opera badly needs some fresh characters, and a happy ending.

ECONOMIST: Brazil

But it was around the double-disc Southern Rock Opera (2001) that the Truckers began to craft stories about unique regional characters and came into their own as stronger songwriters.

NPR: Drive-By Truckers: Southern Rock Meets Soul