Theory - Vladmir Propp (1895 - 1970)

Character Roles


Propp believed that films had character roles and these characters had a specific duty to do. He believed you could fit characters into the following roles with almost every film (I have provided some examples, my chosen film is James Bond - Goldfinger):

1. The Hero - The character who seeks something (James Bond) (In films and TV 'Hero' can be male or female - someone who moves the story forward e.g. Bridget Jones or Homer Simpson)
2. The Villain - The character who opposes the hero (Gold Finger)
3. The Donor - Who provides and object with some magic property (Q)
4. The Helper - Aids the hero (Felix Leiter)
5. The Princess - reward for the hero - often object of the villains schemes (Pussy Galore)
6. Her Father - who rewards the hero
7. The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way (M)
8. The False Hero - who seems heroic initially but turns out to be evil or a red herring*

You won't be able to account every role type in every text, but this shows how the theory works.


* = Red Herring - A character or object that is introduced as seemingly important and is then left behind, forgotten or never mentioned again. The Red Herring is a character that turns out to be of no importance to the film.