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Introduction
Perhaps
the best-known character type is the Hero. But if you ask a
thousand different writers to define a Hero, you'll get a thousand different
answers. That's because the term has been used so indiscriminately it has
become a catch-all to describe the central character around which a story
revolves.
What's
more, the word Hero has been used interchangeably with Protagonist,
Main Character, Central Character, and even Good Guy.
As
convenient as that may be, it muddies the true nature of the Hero, and makes it
a useless moniker - a four letter word - full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing. Worst of all, an author setting out to develop the hero of his or
her story finds no guidance in this formless template, and is left to fumble
about for whatever works.
Fortunately,
the true Hero is a very specific entity. In this lesson we're going to
explore the Hero Type and present several key elements such a character must
possess.
Life
vs. Story
In
the real world, we use the term Hero to describe everything from a
brave individual who rescues someone or overcomes incredible odds, to someone
who dies at the hands of a terrorist, even if the attack was so sudden that
the victim never saw it coming. Still
and all, when most of us use the word Hero, we mean someone who acts in a
heroic manner, meaning that they are willing to sacrifice themselves to
protect others.
But
in stories are not life, they are about life. Dramatically, a Hero is something quite
a bit more than someone who acts heroically. In fact, a story Hero
doesn't necessarily have to act heroically at all! Hamlet, for example,
is hardly a Hero by today's cultural standards. He holds back, he
over-thinks the plumbing, and eventually he fails in his quest and dies a
horrible, unfulfilled death. But dramatically, he is a Hero in every
sense of the word?
The
Hero Breaks Down
So
what is it, then, that defines the story Hero? No matter what other
elements you may wish to include in that definition, there are four key
elements that absolutely must be present. The dramatic hero must be:
1.
The Protagonist
2.
The Main Character
3.
The Central Character
4.
A "Good Guy"
In
fact, the story Hero must have the qualities described by all of the four
terms we mentioned as being often used interchangeably with the word Hero!
So
what makes each of these other four character types a different quality?
Let's find out...
The
Protagonist
The
Protagonist is the Prime Mover of the effort to achieve the Story Goal. In
other words, of all the characters in the story, it is the Protagonist who
drives the push toward the goal. Without him, the quest would fall
apart. With him, it cannot be stopped, short of the potential of failure
at the climax. But until that moment, the Protagonist will not relent in
his endeavor.
Now,
don't go flying off the handle if you have a completely different definition for
the word Protagonist. The point here is that one character will
have the quality of driving the goal. What word we use to describe that
character is arbitrary. We've chosen Protagonist as the label for
this quality because that word is most often understood to be the driver of the
quest in the story. So call the quality "Fred" if you prefer,
but note that the Hero must, first and foremost, be the driver of the effort
toward the goal.
The
Main Character
The
Main Character represents the reader or audience position in the story.
The story is experienced through his or her eyes. And, the Main Character
carries the moral dilemma at the heart of the story's message.
To
get a sense of the difference between the Protagonist and the Main Character,
consider the classic book and movie, To Kill a Mockingbird.
In that story, a principled Southern lawyer in the 1930s is assigned to defend a
black man wrongly accused of raping a white girl. The lawyer (Atticus) is
the Protagonist, as he is the driver of the effort to see justice done by
acquitting the defendant. But the story is not told from his
position. Rather, we see the events unfold through the eyes of Scout, his
ten year old daughter.
In
addition, Scout is the fulcrum of a moral dilemma. She is afraid of the
local Boogey Man (Boo Radley), whom all the neighborhood kids believe is a
monster. In truth, he is their protector, and is simply a slow-witted but
caring adult who lives in his elderly parents' basement.
If
Atticus had been both Protagonist AND Main Character, the audience would have
identified completely with the self-righteous lawyer and learned little about
prejudice. But by having the reader/audience identify with Scout, we
are suckered into believing the terrible stories about Boo without ever having
met him. In other words, we find ourselves having fallen prey to prejudice
right along with Scout.
So
while we watch Atticus go about his quest, we ultimately learn that we are all
capable of prejudice when we believe negative information about others without
finding out for ourselves if it is true. In this case, the Protagonist and
Main Character are two different people, and by splitting these functions a
stronger message is made. Nonetheless, the Hero must be both Protagonist
AND Main Character, combining the logistic power of the quest-driver with the
empathetic identification of the avatar for the reader/audience.
The
Central Character
Quite
simply, the Central Character is the one who is most memorable. Usually
this is because he or she get the most Media Real Estate (the most pages,
lines of dialog, or screen time). Still, some character "steal the
show," either because they are drawn with tremendous passion or are
portrayed with an inspired delivery. Characters such as Darth Maul in The
Phantom Menace, or Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs are
Central Characters, even though they are neither Protagonist nor Main Character.
A Hero, however, must also possess
this quality as well.
A
Good Guy
To be a
Good Guy, a character must intend to do the right thing. He or she
must try to be helpful, rather than hurtful. Note the key word
"try." Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther
movies does more harm than good, but only because his inept attempts to do the
right thing go horribly awry due to his natural clumsiness. Yet, a Good
Guy he is, due to his intentions.
The
Classic Hero
The
classic story Hero, then, drives the quest forward, represents the
reader/audience in the story and grapples with the moral dilemma. He or
she is the most memorable character and tries to do the right thing. This
combination of qualities makes the Hero truly heroic. It also makes him or
her truly melodramatic. That is because everything dramatic centers on
this character, and all important dynamics flow from it.
Yet,
this arrangement is very appealing, which is why the Heroic arrangement of
qualities has endured since the first stories were told. Even today,
such characters often draw the largest audiences and greatest numbers of
readers. Take, for example, Neo in The Matrix Reloaded. He is the
Protagonist, as he is the chief driver of the effort to dismantle the
Matrix. He is the Main Character because we stand in his shoes, and
because he must grapple with the dilemma of risking the deaths of everyone in
the Matrix to save Trinity. He is the Central character because he gets
the most screen time, and because his fights are the most spectacular.
And, he is a Good Guy for his intent is to do what is best for others, even at
great personal peril.
Note
how Trinity is not a Hero because she is not the Protagonist, nor the Main
Character, nor the Central Character. The only dramatic quality she
shares with Neo is being a Good Guy, as she tries to to what's right, even to
risking herself to save others. Though she is not a Hero Dramatically,
from a cultural perspective, she absolutely is heroic in her attitudes and
actions.
That
is why, when creating characters, it is important to separate the heroic
nature of one's personality from the dramatic function of truly being a story
Hero.
Study
Exercises: Heroic Qualities
1.
List three well-known Heroes you have come across in a book, movie, stage
play, or television episode.
2.
Explain why each qualifies as a hero by being Protagonist, Main Character,
Central Character, and Good Guy.
3.
List three well-known characters who are heroic, but are not classic Hero types.
4.
Explain why each is not a true story Hero, based on the material in the lesson.
5.
List three character that qualify as classic Hero types, but are not heroic in
the popular sense of the word.
6.
Describe the traits that make each of these dramatic Heroes non-heroic in
personality.
Writing
Exercises: Building Heroes
7.
Create a character who is a Protagonist, and explain why he or she fulfills that
function.
8.
Create a character who is a Main Character, and explain why he or she fulfills
that function.
9.
Create a character and describe how you would make him or her the Central
Character.
10.
Create a character who is a Good Guy and describe why.
11.
Create a classic Hero type, and describe how he or she possesses all four
essential qualities of a Hero.
12.
Turn this Hero character you have created into a non-heroic person, while
maintaining his dramatic function as a Hero.
Copyright
2003 Melanie Anne Phillips
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