TYPES OF CHARACTERS

TYPES OF CHARACTERS

1. Protagonist 

    The protagonist is likely a pretty familiar concept for most of us: this is the main character, the big cheese, the star of the show. Most of the action centers around them, and they’re the one we’re meant to care about the most. 

2. Antagonist 

    If you’re an antagonist, you antagonize — it’s what you do. Specifically, you undermine, thwart, battle, or otherwise oppose one character: the protagonist.

    Most of the time, the protagonist is good and the antagonist is evil, and such is the source of their conflict. This isn’t always the case — especially if the protagonist is an anti-hero who lacks typical heroic attributes, or the antagonist is an anti-villain who has noble characteristics. Still, 95% of the time, the protag is the hero and the “antag” is the villain. 

    Antagonists usually play just as important a role in a story as their protagonist counterparts, but they may not be seen as much. They tend not to narrate stories and often operate in secret. Indeed, the question of “What will the antagonist do next?” can be a source of great narrative tension in a story. 

3. Confidant 

    This one’s even harder to pin down, especially since many stories focus so much on their MC’s love interest that other relationships get left out in the cold. However, the confidant can still be one of the protagonist's most profound relationships in a novel. 

    Confidants are often best friends, but they may also be a potential love interest or even a mentor. The protagonist shares their thoughts and emotions with this person, even when reluctant to share them with anyone else. However, the confidant might also be someone the MC turns to, not because they want to, but because they feel they have no other choice (as in the last example on this list). 

4. Foil character 

    A foil character is someone whose personality and values fundamentally clash with the protagonist’s. This clash highlights the MC’s defining attributes, giving us a better picture of who they truly are.

    Though these two often have an antagonistic relationship, the foil is not usually the primary antagonist. The foil’s precise relationship to the protagonist depends on the differences between them. For example, if the MC is introverted, their foil might be super extroverted, but that wouldn’t necessarily preclude the two of them from becoming friends. However, if the MC is kind and selfless and their foil is extremely self-serving, they’re probably not going to get along. 

5. Dynamic/changing character 

    This one’s pretty self-explanatory: a dynamic character is one who changes over the course of story. They often evolve to become better or wiser, but sometimes they can also devolve — many villains are made through a shift from good to evil. 

6. Static/unchanging character 

    Then on the other hand, there’s the static character — the one who doesn’t change. Many static characters are simply flat, and having too many is usually a symptom of lazy writing. However, certain kinds can serve a larger purpose in a story. 

7. Stock character 

    Stock characters aren’t necessarily flat either, though you do have to be careful with them. Similar to archetypes, stock characters are those familiar figures that appear in stories time after time: the chosen one, the joker, the mentor. You don’t want to overuse them, but they can really help round out your cast and make readers feel “at home” in your story. 

8. Round character 

    A round character is very similar to a dynamic one, in that they both typically change throughout their character arc. The key difference is that we as readers can intuit that the round character is nuanced and contains multitudes even before any major change has occurred.

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Reference:

12 types of characters every writer should know. (n.d.). Reedsy. https://blog.reedsy.com/types-of-characters/