Vladimir Propp analyzed Russian folktales and identified that narratives typically involve 8 character stereotypes. His theory suggests The Dark Knight follows these stereotypes through the main characters of Batman, The Joker, Lucius Fox, Alfred Pennyworth, Commissioner Gordon, and Rachel Dawes fitting the roles of The Hero, The Villain, The Donor, The Helper, The Dispatcher, and The Princess respectively. Each character fulfills an essential role in driving the narrative forward according to Propp's theory.

1. VLADIMIR PROPP’S
CHARACTER THEROY:
THE THEORY SUGGESTS THAT EVERY NARRATIVE HAS EIGHT CHARACTER
STEREOTYPES.

2. VLADIMIR PROPP:
• Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
April 17, 1895
• Died in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
August 22, 1970
• Nationality was Russian
• Was known as a Soviet Folklorist who
analyzed Russian folk tales to identify
their narrative elements

3. CHARACTER THEORY:
Vladimir Prop analyzed hundreds of folklore tales and
eventually came up with the theory that all tales involve 6 main
characters, which will be shown and explained in the following
slides.
These 6 characters in Propps theory are based upon old
folklore tales, however it is still accurate as most modern films
and stories still involve these characters in different
interpretations.
I analyzed the film “ The Dark Knight, 2008” by Christopher
Nolan, to see if the theory applied to it and most the
characters fit the theory perfectly which is quite ironic as the
title is a slight metaphor to a medieval/ folklore tale as it
interprets batman as a “Dark Knight” and Knights used to be
warriors for the king and usually ended up fighting to get to
marry the kings daughter.

4. 1. THE HERO:
A character that fits the stereotype of the
Hero would be Bruce Wayne/ Batman played
by Christian Bale in The Dark Knight. He is the
main character in the film, he helps people
and stop crime in Gotham City.
He is a dominant character as he has the
majority of screen time and the film is based
around him and his task to stop the joker’s
(villain) crimes.

5. 2. THE VILLAIN:
The Joker played ironically and masterfully by
Heath Ledger is the villain in The Dark Knight as
he causes chaos in Gotham City and wants to
reveal the identity of The Batman therefore
causing conflict between our main character and
him.
He is also a dominant character as his actions
affect the narrative of the story and is feared by
the other subordinate characters in the film.
The Joker and The Batman are Binary opposites as
they have different ideologies on how Gotham
City should be run, due to one wanting to see
chaos in Gotham City while one is trying to
protect it.

6. 3. THE DONOR:
The donor in “The Dark Knight” would be
Lucius Fox played by Morgan Freeman. Lucius
Fox supplies batman with all his gadgets,
vehicles and weapons and allows Batman to
have the tactical and technological advantage
over his enemies.
He is a subordinate character as batman only
goes to Lucius when in need of gadgets to
help save Gotham City

7. 4. THE HELPER
The Helper in the The Dark Knight would be
Bruce Wayne/ Batman’s butler: Alfred
Pennyworth played by Michael Caine. He
helps Bruce Wayne by providing him with his
butler services and also acting as a second
hand for batman as he helps him when
injured and is the closest to Bruce Wayne as
his parents died and Alfred watched him grow
up.

8. 5. THE DISPATCHER
The dispatcher is the character who
makes the problem known to the
hero, in the dark knight it would be
Commissioner Jim Gordon as he
lights up the bat signal to therefore
signal to batman to come to him so
he lets him know intel and the
problems occurring in Gotham City
for Batman to then act on them.

9. 6. THE PRINCESS/ LOVE INTEREST:
The Princess is what is sought after in the narrative
according to the theory. She changes the narrative
based on her actions or if the villain gets involved
and threatens her which is what commonly
happens.
In the Dark Knight the princess character
stereotype would fit Rachel Dawes as she is Bruce
Wayne’s love interest and causes him to make
moral decisions whenever she is involved in
dangerous situations involving the villain, the joker.
Therefore, whatever happens to the princess has a
big impact on the narrative and the hero.