Captain America: the First Avenger Propp’s Character Theory

Vladimir Propp’s theory Propp came up with a conclusion that characters in movies are to be divided into 8 character functions: Hero, villain, helper, mentor, donor, dispatcher, prize and false hero. This helps to clarify the roles of each character and make the story more clear.

Hero Steve Rogers aka captain America wants to volunteer and enter the army for the world war. However he doesn’t get noticed due to his figure. Then he gets a chance and agrees to go for an experiment which will change his figure.

Villain Red skull is the villain which stole the prize and used it to form a movement called HYDRA in order to defeat all and become strongest leader, he has to face captain America who tries to retrieve the prize back.

Helpers Peggy carter helps and trains the soldiers. She helped captain America through his process of becoming stronger and more powerful. This is Steve rogers friend, Bucky. He was already in the army and tried helping Steve get into the army. Then later when Steve became stronger he saved him from war.

Mentor This is the professor who gives Steve the chance to try the experiment which will make him more powerful. Steve tries his best to protect him when a man invaded the experiment lab but unfortunately he gets shot and killed.

Donor This is Howard Stark and he operates the machines for the experiment. He made sure everything was set correctly and nothing goes wrong during Steve's experiment.

Dispatcher This is captain Chester Phillips. He leads and orders part of the army and he is in charge of making decisions about where and when to operate or act. Steve goes against his will on saving his friend Bucky after the Captain disagreed to form a search group to look for him.

False hero This is Gilmore Hodge, an army guy which the captain thought he was perfect to choose for the army. However it gets revealed that Steve is more courageous and protective than Hodge when a fake bomb gets thrown and Steve tries protecting them all.

Prize This is the cosmic cube (prize) which red skull stole to enable his powerful weapon to defeat all. Steve attempts to return it to its origins and get it back to its right place.