Propp's Character types

I mentioned in my genre research that Propp’s character theirs are particularly prominent in Action films. But also, modern films are taking a new twist on Propp’s character types by missing some out or having a character fulfil more than one character type. This is particularly present in Psychological thrillers as the villain may be the same as the protagonist, just a different side of them. There may not even be a villain in some psychological thrillers, you just think there is. Propp’s character types are:

Hero (protagonist)

Villain (antagonist)

The donor (donates something to the cause)

The helper

The princess (seen as a goal)

The dispatcher( sends the hero off)

The false hero (tries to be a hero and fails)

Comedies unlike thrillers however, do often fit quite closely to Propp’s character types. An example is Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010, dir. Edgar Wright)

Hero - Scott

Villain- the league of evil exes (but ultimately, Gideon)- they are the ones Scott has to overcome to win Ramona

The donor- Knives- she basically donates Scott and allows him to go after Ramona

The helper- Stacey/Wallace- they both advise and help Scott how to defeat the exes

The princess- Ramona- she is Scott final goal and the reason he has to fight

The dispatcher- Wallace/Stacey- As in this film Scott has to no choice but to fight, these two simply ‘push him in the right direction’

The false hero – Gideon- he is fighting Scott for Ramona, and tries to have her for himself.

As it is the false heroes job to go after the Princess and fail, and the narrative of Scott Pilgrim is to fight people who used to date Ramona, in this film (and possibily others with a similar theme) the false heroes are the villains, as they have failed to get the Princess. However, in this story, Gideon is the only ex that is still trying to fight for Ramona, the others aren’t bothered about getting her again. This is why I singled out Gideon for the false hero. He is also the main villain as he is the leading force behind the league of evil exes  and the others are only fighting on behalf of Gideon. Also Wallace and Stacey are placed for both the helper and the dispatcher because they both help Scott with his quest to win Ramona and both help him set off to fight the evil exes. Possibly; donor, helper and dispatcher; Knives, Stacey and Wallace could all be interchangeable as they all help and advise Scott in fighting.

Scott Pilgrim is based on a graphic novel, so therefore its roots are in the Action genre, which is why the character types are relatively easy to place. A comedy that is perhaps harder to place Character types onto is Little Miss Sunshine (2006, dir Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris).

Hero- Olive

Villain-

The donor- Dad

The helper- Grandfather

The princess-

The dispatcher- Mother

The false hero-

The closest thing to a villain in the film is the events they come to whilst travelling. Similarly, for a princess, the closest thing for that is the happiness they are trying to achieve by getting to the beauty pageant. As that is the princess, the false heroes may be the other contestants in the pageant, although these are not central to the narrative at all. There are also two more main characters, Dwayne and Frank who I can't place into the theory, perhaps only as helpers, but even then; they don't particularly help, they have only been forced to come along.