Stock characters in fiction (part 1)

Hello everybody, today we will talk about stereotypes (stock characters) in use in various media.

In order to make people being able to understand quickly the characters in fiction, creators have used what they call stock characters (stereotypes). Those characters have some specific traits that distinguish them one from another. The development of the psyche of those characters is not very vast, but it helps to comprehend basically the motivation and the goals of those characters. We will introduce some stereotypes that are must used in fiction and work. We will also present one example in movies, books and video games if possible. Some stock characters are more suited to one type of media.

The action hero

This one is very specific tho movies. Typically, he's a OMAC (One Man Army Corps). This character (very often potraited as a muscular male) can overcome any number of enemies with the less physical damage possible. He can fall from a three story high building and just get up and continue his action. Some actors have made a trademark to play those types of characters like Stallone (Rambo), Schwarzenegger (Commando) and Statham (The transporter). Sometimes, there's a small shift in the archetype (muscular male) like John McClain in the Die Hard franchise has an average Joe physic.

John Rambo in First Blood

Jason Statham in The Transporter

John McClain in Die Hard

We can also encounter, this type of character in video games. They are often main protagonist in first person shooter. One of their famous representative is the hero of Duke Nukem series.

Duke Nukem

The wise old man

He is usually a old man with a lot of wisdom and who is presented as a mentor for a youngster during his quest or his initiation. Sometimes, he is only mentoring the youngster. Other time, he takes part in the action to help his disciple. In movies, some famous wise old men are Mister Miyagi (Karate Kid) and Yoda (Star Wars franchise). In books, we had Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings books series and also Kamé Sennin (Dragon Balls series).

Yoda from the Star Wars franchise

Mister Miyagi from Karate Kid

Gandhalf from the Lord Of  the Rings book series

Kamé Sennin from Dragon Ball

The Damsel in distress

The damsel in distress is often described as a young beautiful woman who is waiting to be saved by a hero or a prince charming. In the majority of medias, such helpless and unable to free herself from her captors. She is in need to be saved. Most of the time they have extremely exaggerated features (extreme beauty, a little dumb, physically weak). The fist incarnation of Princess Peach of the Mario Brothers Series is a perfect example of damsel in distress (she is needed to be saved on each and every level). In movies, April O'Neil from the first screen adaptation is an example of Damsel in distress.

Princess Peach from Mario Brothers game series

An helpless April O'Neill surrounded by three of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

There's a lot more stock characters to introduce to you, but for now we'll keep it short with those three types. We will present mre in future posts. Enjoy the reading and see you soon.