Vladimir Propp’s Character theory

Propp’s Theory • Propp was a Russian soviet formalist scholar

Propp’s narrative functionPropp studied folk tales and found that there were 8 main character types. Prop emphasised the fact that when looking at characters we should not identify them as real people but as function who help the narrative. These 8 main characters are: 1. The hero2.The villain3.The donor 4.The dispatcher 5.The false hero 6.The helper 7.The princess/prize 8.Her father The main character have relevance to the horror genre and are shown within horror films.

The Hero • The hero is the character that the audience is

routing for. They also are in a battle with the villain and beats the villain in the end. As props theory was based on finding from folk tales, the hero’s aim was to get the princess/prize

• however in horror, the hero is the victim we want them to survive and live at the end. The victim often undergo’s trying to fight a supernatural being,monster or force

For example in The Conjuring 2013 • The mother Carolyn was being possessed by a

supernatural force. Carolyn had to fight for her life before being completely taken over by the force. During this scene the audience are routing for Carolyn to beat the supernatural force and rid it forever.

The Villain • The villain struggles to triumph against the

hero. usually comes across as being dark • Mise-en-scene:disfigured face, messy

hair,dark clothing• Mise-en-scene is the key element to

juxtapose the hero and distinguish the differences between the two

• The personality and actions of the villain makes the audience route for the hero.

For example in The Conjuring 2013 • The dead witch that is trying to possess the

Carolyn is the villain

The Donor • The character that offers the hero help in

order to strengthens them. • The donor can also give them magical

objects or weapons to help win over the villain

For example in The Conjuring 2013 • The supernatural hunters Lorraine and Ed

offer help to the family to help stop the supernatural forces within the house

The Dispatcher • The character that makes the villains evil

known to the hero and sends them off.

For example in The Conjuring 2013 • The supernatural hunters Lorraine and Ed

offer help to the family to help stop the supernatural forces within the house. These characters find evidence from records of death and makes the family aware

The False Hero

• The character takes credit for hero’s achievements and actions.

This is rarely found in horror movies but can exist in some. Not all of the 8 main characters appear in the horror . Also all 8 are not needed to make the narrative move forward

The Helper

• This character helps the hero fight evil For example in The Conjuring 2013 In the conjuring, the characters that helps Carolyn defeat the witch that is possessing her. Ed helps to exorcise Carolyn as he recites the bible reference whilst the priest was absent.

The Princess/prize

• The character that needs to be rescued from the evil villain.

• For example in the conjuring, Carolyn could be considered the character that needed to be rescued from evil as she needed to be exorcised in order to be completely rescued.

Her Father • The character that gives the task to the

hero.Her father also makes sure that is daughter is married to the hero. Propp identified that her father and the princess are hard to functionally hard to identify.

• This character is harder to identify as not many horror films display this character and don't necessarily need this character to push the film forward.