Unit 3: The Villain and His Schemes A Study of Character and Conflict

INTRODUCTION Why are villains important and necessary to a story? What are some things that villains have in common? How would an author or producer make it clear that a character is a villain?

Guiding Questions What makes a character a villain? Are villains a product of society, and therefore, worthy of sympathy; or are they purely evil? Could a villain simply be misunderstood

Character

Definition: An imagined person who inhabits a story Storm (George Stewart) - wind Watership Down (Richard Adams) - rabbit

Character A. Importance to story 1. protagonist - the main character around whom most of the work revolves 2. antagonist - this character is against the protagonist; often the villain, but could be a force of nature, set of circumstances, an animal 3. major character - main characters; dominate the story; usually only 1 or 2 4. minor character - helpers; their interaction with major characters reveal personality, situations and stories of the major characters

Motivation - sufficient reason for character to behave as he does Note & Notice: * When a character acts in an unexpected way, you should annotate that in your text. The author is trying to get your attention to justify a future action, to foreshadow an upcoming event, or signal a change in the character.

B. Depth of Personality - "characters may seem flat or round, depending on whether a writer sketches or sculpts them." 1. flat - a 1-dimensional character; thoughts, feeling, motivations are unknown; only one outstanding trait or feature Ex: Tiny Tim 2. round - portrayed in greater depth & in more generous detail; a 3-dimensional character; many facets of their personality are revealed

3. stereotypical/stock/archetype characters - this is the absent minded professor, the clueless blonde, the dumb jock, the smart Asian, the nerd *Like the author went to the character store and stocked up on characters for his story. 4. foils - Their job is to contrast with the major characters in one of two ways a. complete opposite of the major character so that the virtues and strengths of the major character are "brighter" in reflection (a mirror image) b. similar to the major character but not quite as virtuous and good so that major character's virtues and strengths seem stronger

C. Level of Growth 1. static - usually a flat character who stays the same throughout a story; minor characters are usually flat & static so as not to distract from the main characters 2. dynamic - a character who learns, becomes enlightened, matures, or deteriorates; a character who makes a permanent change in outlook or personality

Protagonists Anti-hero: ordinary guy who is graceless, inept, possibly dishonest; not someone you should hang out with Ex: Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye Tragic Hero: character who makes a error in judgment or has a fatal flaw that combined with fate/external forces brings about a tragedy Ex: Macbeth

Romantic Hero - the guys that causes girls to swoon over him Romantic Hero - the guys that causes girls to swoon over him James Bond Byronic Hero - Modern Hero - average guy who is put into extraordinary circumstances and rises to the challenge