Vladimir Propp says that characters take up the role of narrative 'spheres of action'. He identified 7 different characters necessary to make up a narrative.
The Hero
The Hero restores to narrative equilibrium and is the central character in the media text.
There are two different types of hero:
- The victim hero - the center of the villains attention
- The seeker hero - aids the villains victims
The Villain
The villain is the character that creates a disruption in the narrative equilibrium causing the hero to have to restore things
The Donor
The donor gives the hero something to aid them on their journey to restore disruption and disequilibrium, this can be physical (like a weapon) or not (like magic).
The Helper
The helper aids the hero on their journey to restore equilibrium, they are normally the sidekick and sometimes add comedic or romantic additions to the narrative.
The Princess
The princess, normally female, is normally the prime victim of the villain and has to be saved at the climax of the film. This creates damsel in distress situations seen in many narratives.
The Dispatcher
The dispatcher sends the hero on their task/journey to restore the equilibrium. Therefore they tend to be the wise voice of reason in the narrative.
The False Hero
The false hero is a character that appears to be good throughout the film however is revealed at the end of the film to be bad.
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