Blog Post #5 - Propp's Character Theory



Characters come in many different forms with many varying characteristics. Vladimir Propp's Character Theory helps to simplify and categorize these different types of characters, also known as an archetype. Propp's Theory categorizes these different archetypes into seven distinct categories. The hero, who is the protagonist, the main character of the story. The villain, who is the antagonist of the story, antagonist meaning the enemy of the protagonist. The dispatcher, who sends the protagonist on his/her mission; The helper, who accompanies the protagonist on their mission. The donor, who provides the protagonist with an item that will assist them on their mission. The princess, who can be a person, or even an item, is the reward/motivation for the protagonist. And the false hero, who is a character who is not initially revealed to be the villain, but then is revealed to be at the end of the story.

For example, Propp's Character Theory can be applied to the film Sonic the Hedgehog 2. In Sonic 2, Sonic is the Hero, the main character of the film. Tails is the helper, who accompanies Sonic in his journey to find the master emerald. The Princess of the film is the master emerald, who both the antagonist and the protagonist are after. The Villain of the film is Robotnik, who opposes the hero, Sonic. The donor, and the dispatcher of the film is Longclaw, who provides Sonic and Tails with a map to find the Master Emerald. Although, there are characters in this film who do not fit any of these seven archetypes. For example, Knuckles is a character who is similar to a false hero, in the sense that he changes roles towards the end of the movie. but different in the sense that he switches from the role of a villain to that of a helper. Another example of this is Agent Stone, who acts like a helper, but to the Villain, Robotnik.


The hero, Sonic (Left), the Princess, The Master Emerald (Middle),
and the dispatcher/donor, Longclaw (Back)
The villain, Robotnik (left) and Knuckles (right)
The helper, Tails (left) and the hero, Sonic (right)

The inclusion of these other types of characters, shown by Stone and Knuckles, who do not fit into these archetypes, helps me to understand that while many characters in a story fit into the seven archetypes defined by Propp's Theory, not all of them have to in order to exist in the story, and play a role. This new information will help in my project, to better understand the characters and how they will play their role in the narrative of the project. For example, a detective in my project could be the Hero character, while another could act as a helper. Furthermore, both detectives could play the Hero role, or even have a completely different role. The villain of the project would be the unknown killer, and the dispatcher would be the boss of the detectives.

 


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