List of heroic stock characters

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This is a list of stock characters within the heroic archetype.

Contents

[edit] The Chosen One

Must typically fulfill an ancient prophecy to save the world, often requiring the help of a Wise Old Man or Elderly Martial Arts Master to fulfill this destiny. Almost always of apparently humble origins or (often is discovered in the story as being) from a noble family. Requires multiple sidekicks, often with radically different skills. Some people believe that a chosen person in reality is to be God's 'favourite'.

Examples include:

[edit] Christ Figure

The Christ Figure is an extended metaphor where a character is strongly associated with or stands in for the religious figure of Jesus Christ. Narratives often present Christ figures as conspicuously moral and innocent, or as broken or wicked persons who find redemption in the act of sacrificing themselves to a hostile world. This figure overlaps considerably with others such as The Reluctant Hero or The Fool.

Examples include:

[edit] The Reluctant Hero

Often overlapping with the Chosen One, this hero is usually an ordinary person thrust into extraordinary circumstances beyond his/her control that will require a great deal of effort and peril on his/her part. This hero has reservations about fulfilling their heroic obligations for various reasons, such as disbelief in their importance, or the desire to live a simple life.

Examples of the reluctant hero include:

[edit] The Clumsy Hero

A well-meaning person who often accidentally injures friend and foe alike.

[edit] The Orphaned Hero

One of the most common heroes in literature, film, and other media. Someone whose parents were killed by the antagonist, evil people, an accident or simply died when he or she was young. He or she is often adopted by their uncle and/or aunt who either plays a villainous role (as in Harry Potter or Cinderella) or a mentoring one (as in Spider-Man), and usually overlapps with one of the other categories (chosen one, reluctant hero, etc.). Examples include:

[edit] The Haunted Hero

The Haunted Hero must deal with a traumatic or tragic past or some supernatural power or curse, which has usually been with them since childhood, before he or she can triumph. Examples include:

[edit] The Born Loser/The Fall Guy

A very friendly and considerate fellow who means very well, and works very hard to achieve his goals only to fail miserably through no fault of his own, and constantly gets victimized by both his peers and fate. Examples include:

[edit] The Competent Man

Can do anything well; repair a machine, fight, cook a meal, build a house, etc. The heroes (and heroines) of Robert A. Heinlein's fiction are generally Competent Men, especially Lazarus Long.

The most famous examples of Competent Men include

[edit] The Everyman

The opposite of the Competent Man; an ordinary person often thrust into extraordinary circumstances who must find a way to triumph without the benefit of special abilities or the variety of skills possessed by the Competent Man. The Everyman is often an audience identification figure.

Examples include

[edit] The Contender

An athlete with raw talent, but who must rely on the guidance of a Wise Old Man or similar character in order to overcome internal limitations in order to triumph. Examples of this are:

[edit] The Loose cannon or Cop on the Edge

A reckless cop forced to bend the rules to see justice served. Sometimes overlaps with the anti-hero. Examples include:

[edit] The Wise Old Man

An elderly character who offers advice and guidance to the protagonists. Examples include:

[edit] The Elderly Martial Arts Master

A more specific class of the Wise Old Man archetype, is typically an extremely old Asian man who is nonetheless a near invincible master of the martial arts, for example:

[edit] The Honest Thief

Only steals to live or for vengeance on the rich. Typically gives to the poor. Often suave or cheeky. Archetype depicted as a fox, may overlap with the Repentant Traitor and/or the Trickster. Examples include:

[edit] The Lovable Rogue

Full of confidence and friendly, but doesn’t recognize local customs and isn't overly sophisticated. A few good examples are:

[edit] The Outlaw

A cold-blooded desperado, as opposed to the Honest Thief or Lovable Rogue, but could become either type. A famous example is Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" character from the Man With No Name movies.

[edit] The Humbled Hero

Starts out as a rich and powerful, but arrogant and selfish, character. He soon has his fortunes reversed, and he is forced to befriend a firm but honest and kindly companion as he struggles to get his status back, becoming a better person in the process. Examples include:

[edit] The Nerd

Always with his pocket protector, spectacles, and usually a strange or old-fashioned name. Often also struck with a speech impediment. He frequently has an ardent, futile crush on the Pretty Ugly Girl but can’t get her attention because she herself has a crush on The Jock or the Nice Guy. Examples include:

[edit] The Prodigy

Gifted with an extremely high IQ but rarely given the opportunity to use it, resulting in a feeling of not having achieved his or her full potential. Often could easily become rich, successful, and prestigious by working in the system but sometimes turns to crime or other unconventional means as a challenge. Examples include:

[edit] The Reclusive Genius

An intelligent and antisocial character that is either a main character or has some of relation to one. He usually no longer interacts with the outside world and antagonizes the main characters for most of the story, but provides crucial support at the story's climax. Examples are:

[edit] The Whiz kid

A brainy sidekick to the hero. Often the weakest physically of the group. As a result, he can be useless in a fight, but knows his way around computers and technical stuff. Often witty, in an erudite way. Typically uses complex technical jargon in his or her speech. Examples:

[edit] The Repentant Traitor

Often used in children's books and films, he starts out as a clear-cut villain, who is sent to infiltrate and betray the "good guys", but is won over by the kindness/goodness of the good guys and builds up a rapport or changes their actions to save a loved one on the "good guys'" side. Sometimes his defection is caused by abuse or a betrayal from the main villain. Changes side to join them, but in this almost always loses their trust in admitting to having worked for the enemy, and at this point becomes a true traitor in betraying his (or her) original side. Almost always killed or severely wounded in this change to the good guys. A repentant traitor can also be someone who was the main villain but was betrayed by someone who worked for them and helped the good side after being treated with kindness. Examples:

[edit] The Rookie

Often young, bright, and eager to please. Typically fresh out of school and often at the top of his/her class. They tend to act “by the book” because it is all they know; thus, they are often disturbed by the hero's sometimes unorthodox methods. Although the hero may occasionally lose patience with them, he knows that the rookie is valuable raw material with potential, ready to be shaped and molded. Examples:

[edit] Second string villain turned hero

Very persistent and invariably pursues the hero with a personal vendetta. Usually a flunky of the main villain or a petty criminal acting on their own. They are usually shown as incompetent and not taken too seriously by either their enemies or allies (this is less common in anime or other Japanese-based series such as Power Rangers, where the same archetype generally starts out as a powerful adversary). Like the Repentant Traitor, they have been known to reform when the hero treats them with compassion having witnessed their progressive fall into disgrace and humiliation. Also, they have acted as early placeholder villains who inevitably join with the hero when the true villain of the story comes on stage. Examples include:

[edit] The Boy Next Door

He is often invoked in American contexts to indicate wholesome, unassuming, or "average" masculinity; he is the male counterpart of the "girl next door." He is a young man who is just discovering his physical and spiritual strengths, and still maintains an innocent wonder about them. There are a whole set of typical relations he may maintain in the story. The boy next door is often, but not always, the protagonist of a story. As such, his innocence, sincerity, and common origin will often be contrasted with the cleverness, hypocrisy, and privilege of the antagonist. The boy next door may have a sidekick. Often a femme fatale or a girl next door will be pulled between love for the boy next door and her desire for a luxurious life offered by the villain. Examples include:

[edit] The Nice Jock

The Nice Jock excels in athletics, while often being low on intelligence. His name usually only has one sylabble. He tends to be the muscle of the group and is usually found on the outskirts of the Misfits. Examples include:

[edit] The Bad Boy

The male counterpart of the Bad Girl, the Bad Boy/Rebel is usually a troubled and rebellious adolescent or young adult, often the black sheep of the family and a sort of outcast in school. His preferences in music, fashion or lifestyle are unconventional, alternative or non-mainstream. The Bad Boy is sometimes loud or obnoxious, and is not afraid to stand out in a crowd, an individual who doesn't care much about what anyone else thinks. Examples include:


The bad boy is an archetype in popular culture for a rebel who is impulsive, brash and undeterred by social restrictions. Examples in film and entertainment include Tommy Lee, Clint Eastwood, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Vin Diesel, Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis and various rock stars. He is characterized by mysteriousness, non-conformity, extreme confidence, a seeming lack of concern with the restrictions of a moral compass along with apparent indifference toward what others think of him.

In seduction literature, the attraction of many beautiful women to the "bad boy" archetype is attributed both to his confidence, the rarity of this type of personality which makes him stand out, his intriguing mysteriousness, and his seeming indifference (perhaps springing from an overabundance of sexual options)[1] and unavailability, which challenge her to "chase" him. This is in contrast to supplicating men who come off as needy and desperate to please her, which suggests lower value and thus ironically makes her less interested in them.[2]

The bad boy is an extremely common archetype in romance novels.[3]

[edit] The Outsider

Bad Boy type, he excludes himself from popular social circles and avoids people acting idiotic. His story is centred about a new life for him and how he gets into trouble with the new society. Examples include:

[edit] The Mean Jock

The jock stereotype is used often in the mass media to portray a relatively unintelligent and unenlightened, but nonetheless physically and socially well endowed character. Rich, spoiled, popular and - usually a tall, physically fit, male in his late teens or early twenties - well-known for his athletic abilities. An antagonist who is often regarded as bullies to his peers, especially those who are not athletically inclined or don't play sports and does not have much of a tolerance for outsiders. Examples include:

[edit] The Misfit

Often a geeky teen, socially awkward. A person who is out of place, or outside the mainstream. Examples include:

[edit] Sidekick

Assistant to the hero. Sometimes acting like a comic relief but can be surprisingly brave and resourceful. Examples include:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brown Monkey Theory - The Feminization of Man (Male Archetype ) Part IV
  2. ^ Tate, Brett. The Professional Bachelor, 91-94. 
  3. ^ Red River Romance Writers - Article