Vladimir Propp identified 7 character types that commonly appear in folk tales and films: The Hero, Villain, Donor, Dispatcher, Helper, False Hero, and Princess. The document provides examples of how these character types appear in thriller films such as The Silence of the Lambs, Batman, Inception, and Shutter Island. For each character type, short descriptions are given and examples are shown of actors playing those roles in famous films.

1. NARRATIVE THEORISTS
VLADIMIR PROPP
BY ART NOBLE-DITCHFIELD

2. • Vladimir Propp was a Russian man who analyzed the plot components of
Russian folk tales to identify their simple narrative elements.
• Propp believed that there was 7 character types within every film,
• 1. The Hero
• 2. The Villain
• 3. The Donor
• 4. The Dispatcher
• 5. The Helper
• 6. The False Hero
• 7. The Princess

3. THE PROPP CHARACTER TYPES WITHIN THRILLER
FILMS – THE HERO
• The Hero may not necessarily be the main character. However, The Hero fights against The Villain and is
normally lead by or shares a tight bond with The Donor, another one of the 7 character types.
Jodie Foster playing the
role Clarice Starling, the FBI
agent assigned to the
Lecter case.
Roy Scheider playing the
character Martin Brody,
defeating the shark ‘Jaws’.
Christian Bale playing the
infamous Batman, helping
bring justice back to the city of
Gotham and finally beat The
Joker.

4. THE VILLAIN
• The Villain is the character that the stereotypical Hero is trying to defeat. This challenges the ‘Good’
narrative of the film.
Hannibal Lecter played Anthony
Hopkins, is the sadistic,
horrifying villain character of the
film ‘The Silence of the Lambs’
Kathy Bates plays the villain
Annie Wilkes in Stephen King’s
story, Misery.
Heath Ledger (1979-2008)
played the infamous role of
The Joker in Christopher
Nolan’s Batman Trilogy, one
of the most famous villains of
all time.

5. THE DONOR
• The Donor usually helps The Hero on his/her quest/mission, this can be done through anything, giving
him/her any sort of help to defeat The Villain.
Alfred Pennyworth played by
Michael Caine, one of the most
famous donors to Batman's tasks,
gives him all the vital info on all of his
tasks, aiding him through them all
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, is
the right hand man to Dominick
Cobb, aiding him with support in
the missions and quests through
the subconscious .
Patricia Clarkson plays the role of Dr.
Rachel Solando, who Edward Daniels
comes across in a cave, whether it is his
imagination, she still gives him vital
information about the mysterious
island.

6. THE DISPATCHER
• The Dispatcher commonly sends The Hero out on his/her quest, this could be any sort of other
character within the movie. The Dispatcher can also be played by many of the other character types,
through disguise The Villain could act like The Dispatcher when in reality he turns out to be The Villain.
Scott Glenn plays The Dispatcher in ’The Silence
of the Lambs’ an FBI Agent by the name of Jack
Crawford, sending Clarice Starling out to
investigate the case of Hannibal Lecter.
Commissioner Gordon played by
Gary Oldman, sends Batman on
the majority of his missions with
the aim to capture The Joker.
Ken Watanabe plays Mr.
Saito the man who hires
and deploys Cobb’s team
to their biggest mission
ever.

7. THE HELPER
• The Helper helps The Hero in his/her quest going through same things The Hero does in order to be
successful at the end of the quest/mission.
The Helper played by Mark Ruffalo,
Chuck Aule in ‘Shutter Island’ helps
Edward Daniels on his mission
through the investigation on the
island.
Although Hannibal Lecter is the clear
Villain in the film, he also helps Starling
on her quest to find Buffalo Bill, giving her
key information that no one else could
give her, it is debatable as to who the
actual Villain is, Buffalo Bill or Hannibal
Lecter.
Morgan Freeman playing the role
of Lucius Fox, helping Batman by
running the company whilst he is
away and also aiding him with new
gadgets and equipment that may
help him on his mission.

8. THE FALSE HERO
• The False Hero is viewed as a good character from the beginning but later on in the narrative emerges
to be evil and goes against the audience that used to like him.
Ted Levine before he know him
as Buffalo Bill is somewhat a
likable character giving some
information to Starling on her
investigation but later we find
out that he is indeed Buffalo
Bill.
Anthony Perkins playing the role of
Norman Bates, obviously the infamous
story shows him as the actual Villain
but at the beginning of the film he
comes across as likable, kind character
until the death of Marion Craine.
Mila Kunis as Lily portrays a likable
character, one who has a bit of an
attitude within the film (Black Swan)
turns out to be the False Hero doing
everything she can to land the lead
role.

9. THE PRINCESS
• The Princess is the character that The Hero is trying to save or do something that will build a
relationship between the two, anything to bring The Hero and Princess together, The Hero will do with
the help of the other character types.
• Unfortunately for Thriller films it was extremely hard to find any films where The Hero had tried to be
with The Princess at the end of the film. This can be a good thing as this means that not all films follow
Propps Character Type Theory therefore, meaning that some films like to go down their own route and
create their own character types, but 9 times out of 10, the majority of films do indeed follow Propps
Character Type Theory with the possibility of the odd missing character type.