Vladimir Propp was a Russian scholar who analysed folk tales, studying their basic plot components and looking for patterns.
He discovered 7 character types:
The Villain – against the hero
The Dispatcher – sends the hero off on their journey
The Helper – helps the hero during the journey/quest
The Princess – often the hero cannot be with the princess at the start but the journey often ends with their marriage
The Donor – gives the hero something to help them with their journey
The Hero – the person who goes on the journey/quest
The False Hero – takes the credit or tries to steal the prize (often the princess) from the hero
(also sometimes included in the list is the Father of the princess who stands between the hero and the princess but who eventually rewards him)
(note: this is based on old fairy tales and I am aware that it follows the cliché hero rescuing the princess trope but that is basically what folk tales are like)
It can be interesting to identify whether your story has these characters types. You don't have to have them. This is just an interesting piece of theory to know about.
Examples:
Star Wars (original trilogy):
The Villain – Darth Vadar/The Emperor
The Dispatcher – Obi Wan Kenobi
The Helper – Han Solo/Chewy/C-3PO/R2-D2
The Princess – Princess Leia
The Donor – Yoda/Obi Wan Kenobi
The Hero – Luke Skywalker
The False Hero – sort of Han Solo at the start
The Lord of the Rings:
The Villain – Sauron
The Dispatcher – Gandalf
The Helper – Sam/The Fellowship/Arwen
The Princess – (not sure there is one actually...)
The Donor – Bilbo/Galadriel
The Hero – Frodo
The False Hero – Gollum/Saruman
Neither of these examples follow it exactly. For example the princess is Leia but you don't want the Hero to end up marrying the Princess in this case...
As well as characters, Propp also looked at plot elements and what structure the folk tales followed in the form of his 31 functions. This is very long so I won't go over it here but if you're interested then just a quick internet search of Vladimir Propp and you'll get loads of information about it. The book he published on it is called Morphology of the Folk Tale.
I'm off on holiday at the weekend for a week in the Lake District so I won't have any updates for this that week. I'll attempt to update again this week before I go. :)
YOU ARE READING
Illumination: A Writing Guide
Non-FictionIn this writing guide I will be sharing tips, advice and inspiration. There will be stuff on particular genres and on general things such as setting and style. I'll also be sharing any words of wisdom I gain from my degree in English Lit + Creative...
