Eight Character Roles

The Eight Character Roles describe what function each character serves in the story.

They are similar to archetypes, but with less importance on how the character behaves as a person and more importance on what each character does for the story. Character roles are not interested in how the character approaches the job, just that the job is fulfilled.

(Note: I advise using this as a rewriting tool to avoid forcing characters into a role they are not meant to have. Instead, allow the characters to exist as they already are in your creative mind and they will naturally find a role, which you can flush out during the rewriting stage.)

A story may have more than eight characters, but all characters (including groups of people or the story’s setting) can serve a particular role.

Protagonist – the character responsible for handling the main problem and the one most in need of change, emotionally.

Antagonist – the primary bad guy. The character that opposes the protagonist outright on all counts, physically and emotionally.

Mentor – the protagonist’s conscience and the prevailing side to the thematic argument. The mentor voices or represents the lesson that must be learned by the protagonist in order to change for the better and achieve the goal. (Note: Be mindful of creating a mentor who is as perfect and principled as humans can be, for doing so will make the character seem inhuman. Instead, let the mentor be flawed, like all us humans.)

Tempter – the right-hand to the antagonist. The tempter doesn’t need to know the antagonist, but they both stand for the same thing: stopping the protagonist from achieving the protagonist’s goal. The tempter tries to manipulate and convince the protagonist to join the “dark side”. However, in the end, the tempter can change his/her mind and realize the benefit of joining the good guys.

Sidekick – the protagonist’s unconditionally loving friend. This character can get frustrated with the protagonist and have doubts, but will always stand by the protagonist in the end. Typically, the sidekick embodies the theme without even realizing it. (The mentor can explain the theme, while the sidekick just does it without thinking and can’t explain it – they just do it).

Skeptic – the lone objector. The skeptic does not believe in the theme nor in the importance of achieving the protagonist’s goal. Without loyalties, the skeptic is on his/her own path. The skeptic may like the protagonist and want the protagonist to succeed but not at the cost of the skeptic’s goals. However, the skeptic may have a change of heart by the end of the story.

Emotional – this character acts according to their gut and lets motions fuel decisions. Impulsive. Reactive. Sometimes the emotional character is right and succeeds in ways that a thinking person would never have even tried, but sometimes the character finds trouble by not thinking before jumping.

Logical – the rational thinker who plans things out, shoots for logical solutions and gives reasonable, matter-of-fact answers to questions. However, sometimes the head needs to listen to the heart to work at its best.

I’ve found variations of this information in a number of different sources. The first two that come to mind are Dramatica Pro, a software that helps you organize your writing, and I Could’ve Written a Better Movie Than That by Derek Rydall, a great book about script consulting.