1. Task 9-Character types
Emma Wells
Vladimir Propp, a Russian and Soviet formalist scholar analysed the plots of
Russian folks and identified their basic character types. He analysed one
hundred folk tales and concluded that they were all made up of 31 plot elements
and 8 character types.
The Hero- The hero of the story is the character that is seen as the bravest and
who is sent on a quest or are trying to solve a mystery that could help his/her
people and bring happiness to them or other people. The hero is the character
that you want to see succeed and feel happy when he/she does.
In my story of Rapunzel, Rapunzel is the hero as she is trying to get out the tower
and tricks the evil witch, letting her escape.
The Villain- The Villain is the character that is out to stop the hero from
achieving his/her goal. The Villains normally have flaws help highlight how good
the hero actually is, turning you against the villain and putting you on the hero’s
side.
The Witch is The Villain in my story as she takes Rapunzel and locks her in a
tower for most of her life, locking her away from the outside world. She also lies
constantly to Rapunzel to stop her from wanting to leave, which Rapunzel is set
out to do.
The Princess/Prize- This character can take over two forms; either the princess
that the hero is fighting for or the reward from the quest the hero has taken and
what he has got out of doing it. Many characters including the villain or the false
hero may pursue the princess for her affection or to weaken the hero.
For my story, the princess is the hero so there isn’t a princess/prince/love
interest as such as her beloved is mentioned but not shown. Rapunzel’s prize
from her quest of escaping the tower is her freedom to take the witches horse
and go back home.
The Donor- The Donor gives the hero something to help on his/her quest such
as information or a weapon. The gift helps the hero complete their quest. The
Donor could also be the Helper who sticks with the hero throughout the quest.
Some Donor’s require something in return for the information or weapon.
In my story of Rapunzel, there is no Donor as Rapunzel is alone with the villain
and has no access to anyone else. But an example of a donor could be Tony’s
computer butler, JARVIS from The Avengers movie as he gives Tony Stark a new
Iron Man suit to help him fly instead of falling to the ground from a high height
and to help him defeat the villain, Loki.
The Helper- The hero needs help on hisher quest and may get help from a
helper that provides support for the hero so he has someone to help him. The
helper could help the hero through the story or just be around and help offer
help where heshe can give help. However, the helper can have limitations such

2. as lower intelligence or could have less courage than the hero. This helps
highlight the hero’s characteristics and make him seem like a better person.
The Princess’ father- The princess’ father is a key figure that the hero must
impress as the father wants what is best for his daughter, meaning the hero must
prove himself to the princess’ father. The father may create a triangle between
the hero and hisher love interest to keep his daughter safe and out of danger.
Propp noted that this character might be hard to define in a more modern story.
My story does not necessarily have a father figure for the princess throughout
the story as he is only shown on the first page, giving Rapunzel to the evil witch
when Rapunzel was just a baby. But King Triton in The Little Mermaid is a
perfect example. He knows of the crush Ariel has on Prince Eric and wants to
stop her from seeing him so he can keep her where she belongs, in the ocean. But
later, King Eric persuades King Triton to let Ariel live her life as she wants to, just
as long as she is happy.
The False Hero- The false hero appears to be heroic at the beginning, but will
reveal his/her true identity once the hero is where he/she wants the hero. The
false hero may get on the good side of the princess’ father and go for the princess
to anger the hero. In my story, there is no false hero as the witch and Rapunzel
are shown clearly as the villain and hero of the story. But an example of a false
hero is Hans from Frozen. At the beginning of the story he is nice to the hero,
Anna, and makes her believe he is in love with her. But as Anna is dying and
needs a true loves kiss to free her, Hans reveals who he really is and leaves Anna
to die.
The Dispatcher- The Dispatcher is the character that sends the hero on a
mission, which could be a family member. It could also be the Princess’ father,
sending the hero to do things for her hand in marriage. The Dispatcher could be
disguised as a false hero to trick the hero and send him on a quest that could end
the hero’s life. In my story, there is no dispatcher but an example could be Nick
Fury from The Avengers. He gives the many heroes of the film a mission to stop
the villain, Loki, from using the tesseract as a weapon to take over the world.
Narrative Structure Components
A Russian structuralist, Todorov, thought all narratives followed the same simple
path. There are versions of his idea that have 3 and 5 steps.
The 3 step version:
An Equilibrium is the start of the story where life is normal for the characters
and nothing s out of the ordinary. In my story, this is on Page Two when the
witch climbs Rapunzel’s hair to get into the tower.
Disequilibrium is when something happens in the story that changes the way the
characters are going about their day. It can be a simple thing or huge thing that
rocks the characters world. From this event happening, the characters act upon it
to get the story back to equilibrium. In my story, this is when the witch casts a
spell on the tower, thinking she has trapped Rapunzel inside.
New Equilibrium is when things go back to normal and the story ends. It could
also be a different normal for the characters, but still normal. We expect the

3. story to stay as it is and not change. This happens in my story when Rapunzel is
free from the tower and takes a horse and uses the horse to get home.
The 5 step version:
Step One: All is well (Equilibrium)
Step Two: An event disrupts this equilibrium
Step Three: The characters realising that something is wrong
Step Four: The characters attempt to repair any damage
Step Five: The story returns to as it was or a new version of equilibrium.
Binary Opposition:
Claude Levi Strauss was French theorist, who came up with the idea of a binary
opposition. This is an idea that says, that in a story, it can only be an actual story
if there are two opposing sides fighting against each other.
E.G. Good Vs Evil
Men Vs Woman
Human’s Vs Animals
Dogs Vs Cats
In my story, this is apparent as Rapunzel is on the good side and the witch is on
the evil side, and good always wins over evil.
Types Of Structure:
Open: These stories don’t have endings and just carry on the story. An example
of this would be TV soaps or comic book TV shows, such as Arrow, as they run
from episode to episode.
Closed: The story reaches an ending and is not carried on. Films such as Liar Liar
are an example of this as the story ends with no thought of leaving it on a
cliffhanger.
Single strand-These stories just have on storyline and don’t go off into different
ones. Children’s books, such as my book, are single narrative as children may
struggle to follow the story if it has many storylines in one story.
Multi-strand- This is the opposite of a single strand narrative, as this goes off into
different storylines about different characters. TV Soaps such as Eastenders are
an example as there are many stories in one street for all the characters that live
there.
Linear- These stories have a beginning and go straight through the story to the
end. The events happen in order and each step follows the next. Linear
narratives are often used in films, books and journalism.
Non-linear- Stories that don’t go straight through the story, they may have
flashbacks or flash forwards to jump around before returning to the actual story
time. These flash backs could offer information and make you understand a
person or the story more. The TV show Arrow shows a lot of flashbacks as the
main character, Oliver Queen, was stuck on an island for a year and in Hong Kong
for another 2. The flashbacks help the audience understand Oliver and his story
or they main reveal something that will be useful later on in the story.

4. Realist- Narratives that reflect on real life events that could happen in real life.
These narrative are interested in people’s everyday lives. TV soaps are a good
example of this.
Anti-realist- Sci-fi or Fantasy stories that will not happen in real life. These can
include characters, events and locations that you would never see in real life. The
movie Guardians Of The Galaxy is a good example as this film includes aliens,
magic boxes and technology that we might not ever get to have.
My story of Rapunzel is a non-realist linear story, as there is magic involved but
the story runs through a straight line and doesn’t have flashbacks or flash
forewords.