Different Types of Characters In a Story or Literature, To Give Different Layers To a Story

A diverse range of engaging character types is at the heart of all great narrative. A primary character needs to be interesting and three dimensional so that readers and viewers may spend hours with them without getting tired of them. Supporting characters, such as sidekicks, romantic interests, parental figures, villains, and anti-heroes, are just as significant. Character types can be divided into three categories. One is through archetypes, which are general descriptions of the various kinds of characters that make up human narrative. Characters can also be grouped according to the part they perform in the narrative. The third approach is to categories characters according to their qualities, describing how they evolve or remain unchanged throughout a story. The protagonist, the antagonist, the love interest, the confidant, the deuteragonists, the tertiary characters, and the foil are just a few of the character types that can be categorised based on their function in a story. Here we have mentioned different types of characters in a story or literature, to give different layers to a story.

Protagonist

The protagonist is the story’s primary character. They ought to be thoughtfully constructed with a plausible past, unique motivations, and a character arc that develops throughout the narrative. The story will frequently be told from their perspective. The protagonist is the character the audience cares about the most, whether she is a heroine like Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games or a terrible wretch like Doestoevsky’s Underground Man.

Antagonist

The antagonist is the main bad guy in the narrative. Consider Lord Voldemort, Lex Luthor, or Dr. Charles Nichols from The Fugitive. Remember that a villain differs from an anti-hero like the Joker or Walter White. Anti-heroes are villains who take on the role of a protagonist.

Love Interest

The love interest is the object of the protagonist’s desire. A excellent love interest will be intriguing and three-dimensional, like Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind or Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby.

Confidant

The protagonist’s best friend or sidekick, or the Sancho Panza to their Don Quixote, is a confidant. Even while not every story requires one, the confidant frequently helps the protagonist achieve their objectives. Horatio from Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Hermione from Harry Potter are two notable confidants.

Deuteragonists

These individuals frequently cross paths with confidants. A deuteragonist is someone who is near to the protagonist but whose character journey is not directly related to the action of the story. Horatio serves as a deuteragonist as well. Samwise Gamgee plays the role of the deuteragonist in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Benvolio is a deuteragonist in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet who also serves as a confidant, in contrast to Mercutio, who is a deuteragonist but not a confidant.

Tertiary characters

Secondary characters may appear in the story’s world but are not always connected to it. These supporting players perform a variety of roles and can vary in their level of personal energy. Consider Father Zosima from The Brothers Karamazov or Padma and Parvati Patil from the Harry Potter series. The universe of Peter Parker’s New York is further developed in Spider-Man by a variety of ancillary characters.

Foil

Foil characters are generally used to highlight the strengths of the protagonist. This is due to the fact that the foil is the protagonist’s actual antagonist. Since their personalities are so distinctly different, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock act as each other’s foils in the Star Trek television series. Harry Potter is a foil for Draco Malfoy.

5 Character Types (According to Character Development in a Story)

Examining how characters change or don’t change during a novel is one approach to categorise them. Character kinds can be categorised in this way according to how a character develops, including dynamic, round, static, stock, and symbolic characters.

Dynamic character

A dynamic character is one who develops throughout the narrative. As a result, a compelling protagonist is one who is dynamic. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck and Jim are both vivid characters. In a similar vein, Stingo, Sophie, and Nathan are all dynamic characters in William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice love triangle.

Round character

A round character, which is closely related to a dynamic character, is a significant character who demonstrates fluidity and the capacity for change from the moment we first encounter them. Some dynamic protagonists, on the other hand, don’t change until the plot’s events compel them to. Round characters might be morally questionable like Humbert Humbert in Lolita or noble like Konstantin Levin in Anna Karenina.

Static character

A stagnant character doesn’t alter significantly throughout a story. These characters, also referred to as flat characters, frequently have secondary roles in a story . Many bad guys are also immobile; they did bad things yesterday, they’ll do bad things today, and they’ll do bad things tomorrow.

Stock character

An archetypal character having a predetermined set of personality qualities is called a stock character. Shakespeare’s many fools and some of his comedic characters, like Sir Andrew and Sir Toby in Twelfth Night, are stock characters.

Symbolic character

A symbolic person represents an idea or a subject that is bigger than they are. They may be lively, but they also serve to discreetly guide an audience’s thoughts toward more abstract ideas. Most are minor roles, but certain stories—like Dostoevsky’s The Idiot—have symbolic protagonists. Boo Radley from To Kill A Mockingbird is an illustration of a symbolic supporting character since he stands in for a much bigger group of outcasts. The creation of sympathetic and interesting characters is one of the most important aspects of any story. When writing a novel, a writer should create real people, not just characters, as author Ernest Hemingway advised. A caricature is a character.

The character profile is a well-liked method for creating real characters for your novel. Some stories are born out of a character, while others start with a plot that moulds the characters, depending on the project or person. A thorough character profile will aid in plot development and serve as a helpful resource for information on the personality features, motivations, weaknesses, and difficulties of each character. This article will walk you through each step of creating a character, whether you’re writing one for a book, movie, video game, or comic.

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