Propp's Character Roles

• Propp, in the early 20th century studied hundreds of traditional folk tails from across Europe to establish what he called character types. For Propp, types each fulfilled a specific function 
• the most useful types to know are: 
• ~ hero: drives the narrative forward (may not be heroic) - Harry Potter / Ralph
• ~ villain: creates obstacle for hero - Voldemort / King Candy
• ~ dispatcher: sends hero on quest - Dumbledore / Fix it Felix 
• ~ the donor: gives hero a special object or wisdom to enable complete quest - Hagrid / Sargent 
• ~ the princess: reward for hero at narrative resolution - Voldemort dies and he doesn't / That     venelope wins the race to leave the game
• ~ side kick: companion for hero - Hermione and Ron / Penelope
• The villain - This is the character who struggles against the hero. Typically with some sort of scarring. The villain will usually wear dark and mysterious colours, and not very attractive. This is to juxtapose betweeen the hero and the villain; to highlight their differences. A good example would be the Joker, from The Dark Knight, he is someone who is quite an unattractive to look at and does not act in a normal manor ad creates huge difficulties for the hero to overcome.