Vladimir Propp's Character Archetypes Theory

Let's try something interesting before we start this video: have a think of some of your favourite characters across all the movies and TV shows you watch - here are some of mine:

It feels like there's an infinite number of diverse characters, now more than ever, doesn't it? Each one feels real, whole, and as close to us as our friends. But what if I told you no matter how many thousands of characters you may name, when you look beyond their age, gender, race, and personality, there are only eight types of character?

It sounds pretty unlikely doesn't it but that's the premise of Vladimir Propp's character archetypes.

Now, you're probably already familiar with the 3 act narrative structure that dominates western storytelling - beginning (Act 1), middle (Act 2), end (Act 3), or as Todorov would put it: equilibrium, disruption, repair, new equilibrium. If you need a refresher on Todorov, you might want to watch this little recap before moving on!

But the big question today is: how do these big narrative plot points happen? What is their trigger? 

Well the answer, according to Propp, who looked at hundreds of traditional folk fairytales looking for patterns, is that they're triggered by the actions of 8 specific character types, each of whom has a specific narrative function. Underneath their personalities and characteristics, these characters progress a narrative from one state to another - let's take a look at them.

The Hero

First up we have the hero - who you'll probably recognise as the protagonist or the main characters, or probably "the goodie". Their job is to achieve something, hence, they're usually responsible for the repair that takes up most of acts 2 and 3. They don't have to look like a hero necessarily like Luke Skywalker: they are simply the person trying to fix whatever has gone wrong. So in a rom-com, it's perfectly feasible for the 'hero' to be the stereotypical nerd character trying to get a date.

The Villain

On the flip side, we have the Villain - the character whose purpose is usually to cause the disruption that the heroe is trying to fix, or at very least trying to stop them achieving their goal. Again, they may look menacing: but they're just as likely to be a jealous boyfriend, or even an asteroid hurling towards earth that needs stopping.

The Doner

Next up we have the donor, who provides the hero with something essential; perhaps a magical item that will help them achieve their goal. Without it, it seems that the hero couldn't possibly succeed.

The Dispatcher

The next character sets the hero off on their journey - the dispatcher; a character whose purpose is to literally send the hero of on their quest. It may be that the disruption has gone by unnoticed by the hero - well the dispatcher is the one who makes it the hero's problem.

The Helper

Next, we very often we will have a helper who not only assists the hero, but will be their saviour later in the narrative when it appears they're going to perish. The helper will have a unique set of skills, but will likely also act as an imperfect counterpoint to the hero to illustrate their exceptional heroism.

The False Hero

Then there's the false hero, who may appear as a good character aligned with the hero but actually disrupts their progress - they may be a red herring, or simply cause a setback.

The Princess

Next is the princess archetype, who acts as a reward for the hero, but might also be part of the hero's quest if they need saving - which will often go hand in hand with the dispatcher who sets the hero off on their quest.

The Princess' Father

And finally, the princess' father, who looks to reward the hero once they achieve their goal, assumes there is a happy ending.

How to apply Propp

So there we have the 8 character types that Propp identified - have a think back to your initial characters from the start of this video - can you place any of them by the role they play?

Now narratives have come a long way since the 1920s when Propp developed his work, so we need to consider a few things if we're going to apply this to a modern context:

Firstly, not every one of these character types has to appear in a narrative - technically you could have a functional narrative with just a hero and a villain.

Secondly, these character types don't have to fit their literal description, so Propp might have found lots of actual princesses in the fairy tales he looked at, but actually, the narrative function is simply a character that acts as a reward or needs saving. More modern film critics would recognise the princess more as a MacGuffin - a person, object, or thing that acts as motivation for the hero.

Thirdly, It's also common to find that sometimes a single character can have more than one of these roles - for example, in Star Wars, Obi-Wan is both the donor and the quest giver.

So how do you identify these characters? Well, you'll get better at it with time, but when you look at a narrative, ask yourself what is the point of the character, or rather: what wouldn't happen if they were removed? How would it impact the narrative?

The key here is to start separating characterisation from narrative purposes. The characterisation may tell you a bit more about a character and make them feel more real, but they ultimately are there to help move their plot from one beat to another. A great example of this is Iron-Man, who, in the Avengers, saga acts as one of the main heroes, but in Spider-Man, he plays the part of the donor by giving Peter Parker his famous suit. Exact same character, but different purposes.

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