Character Research and Narrative 'Propps' Theory.

In films there are certain character types shown in order to create a certain genre/follow a story line. I am going to look at each of these characters, and link them to examples from modern films.

The Popular Girl - The Popular Girl is someone who you ever love or hate. They are always portrayed as two faced  wealthy and popular. She is normally respected by most people due to them being scared of her, or wanting to be popular themselves.

One example of this could be Megan Fox in 'Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen' who plays Carla, a girl who gets what she wants and is the most popular, 'perfect' girl in school. 

The Wanderer - The Wanderer is the character which puts themselves in situations which are hard to get out of, and sometimes even fatal. They are often the weakest in the group.

An example of this could be Bella from Twilight, who gets herself caught up with Vampires who wish to kill her. As she is in love with Edward, she falls into a trap which results in her having to sacrifice herself into being a vampire. 


Jock - The Jock is the character who is good looking, muscular, in to sport and not very intelligent. He is usually the one which the popular girl falls for.

An example of this character could be Troy (played by Zac Efron) in High School Musical. He is a Basketball Player, who Sharpay Evans (the most popular girl at school) fights to get.

The Final Girl - This character is the final person left to confront the killer. She is normally the most intelligent out of the other victims, and then may be recognised as the 'hero'.

An example of this character could be Laurie Storde who survives to confront the killer but then is also saved by another male character. 

The Pervert - this character is usually male, and gets himself in situations where him and a girl are alone together. He often tries to sleep with her at any given opportunity.

Vladimir Propps eight broad character types:

• The Villain - struggles against the hero.
• The Donor - Prepares the hero, or gives them some kind of magical object to help them.
• The Helper - helps the hero
• The Princess - the character most threatened by the villain, father is the one to give her away
• The Dispatcher - character who sends the hero on his task, which could typically be the princess' father
• The Hero - Restores the equilibrium by embarking on a quest. Usually marries the princess
• False Hero - tries to take credit for the heroes actions, and tries to marry the princess