Propp was a literary critic who developed a theory of narrative structures involving eight character types that commonly appear in stories. The eight types are: the hero, villain, dispatcher, helper, princess, her father, donor, and false hero. Propp's theory helped writers and filmmakers develop successful narratives by providing a framework to categorize characters based on their roles and personalities.
2. Propp was a literacy critic, who came up with the idea
that there is certain type of characters, which can be
used in every narrative structure. In addition. Propp’s
theory has helped numerous writer and filmmakers to
write and produce successful narrative.
The helpful thing about Propp’s theory is that he separates characters into
eight section, that categorise them depending on their personality, which
allowed writers and film makers to choose their characters.
They are:
•The hero
•The villain
•The dispatcher
•The helper
•The princess
•Her father
•The donor
•False hero
3. The hero is always the protagonist in the film and they are always seeking to help others,
who are not capable of saving themselves from the danger, which they are facing or they
are truing to restore pace. Within certain films the women is also presented as the hero.
For instance in the film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Angelina Jolie plays Lara Croft, who
takes on a secret society who wishes to rule the world.
4. Unlike the hero, the villain goes against everything the hero is trying to accomplish.
The best example is the joker, he is always trying to stop the batman from saving the day.
5. The dispatcher is usually the person who requests the hero to come and help him
with a situation. For example in film ‘The Avengers’ the character Nick Fury played
By Samuel L Jackson would seen as the dispatcher because he desires help from the heroes.
6. The donor is the one the provides the tools and the equipments that the heroes need in
order to succeed. In James Bond films the character Q can be consider as the helper because
He is the one that makes the fascinating tools for James Bonds for his missions.
7. The princess is always a female who needs a males help because she is in trouble.
In Spiderman, Mary Jane can be seen as the princess because she is someone that the
hero values, which mean that his enemies would try to bring harm upon her.
8. The father is clearly the princess father or the girl , who is in trouble and they usually
Reward the hero for his effort or take matter into own hand.
9. The helper is one that looks after the hero or goes with the hero to help him.
Within the film ‘The prisoners’ the Detective can be seen as the helper because he has to
Help the protagonist in order for them to succeeded.
10. The false hero is always pretends to be the hero . But the true is that he or her is failure.
In the films ‘The prince of Persia’ The characters Nazism act as if he is a hero, just to become
a king.
