The Royal Tenenbaums. — *The Royal Tenenbaums*.

Almost every story demands characters, correct? Well, screenplays require more than just having people be talking heads. The majority of characters have to serve a purpose. They become the cogs in the machine of the ever moving narrative. So, we’re going to look at the different responsibilities that characters can serve. First, because we understand what characters can do, let’s have a quick look at what our options for characters even are. Here are some of the major roles that characters can serve. Keep in mind that some characters can fall under multiple roles.

Protagonist

Right off the bat, you need a protagonist. This doesn’t have to be a clear cut hero; that’s a misconception with beginner writers. This is simply the person that the story is surrounding. You can have a multi-plotted story with multiple protagonists (Magnolia or Short Cuts are good examples), but you usually have one main for a single main storyline; even films with multiple leads deep down have one protagonist usually (for example: I’d argue Mr. White is the protagonist of Reservoir Dogs, despite Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink and Mr. Blonde having similarly large roles).

The story is through the perspective of the protagonist, and thus this affects how other characters relate to said protagonist. Does the main character serve a purpose for others, or do they serve purposes for the main character? In The Little Mermaid, we follow Ariel’s quest for a sense of belonging, not Ursula’s mission to abuse said opportunity, or Prince Eric’s own dreams (his role plays into Ariel).

Naturally, you can also have an antihero here, in case we’re following the evil person within a story. I wouldn’t consider Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver to be a clear cut hero in any way, especially given his problematic thoughts. He’s simply the protagonist, and we’re following his perspective regardless. He’s labeled an antihero, so we are aware that he isn’t really the “saviour” of any story (even though, in his mind, he is, and in ways, he tried to save the day).

Antagonist

In short, the antagonist is the direct opposition to the protagonist. Usually, this means a villain, including someone as clear cut as Darth Vader or the Wicked Witch of the West. Their role is to go against the protagonist directly, as the major force against the character we are following. In a story where we follow an antihero, an antagonist can also prove to be a morally superior person; it’s just that we aren’t following this person, but rather the antihero. In The Social Network, we may side with the WInklevoss twins because of their stolen idea, but we’re following Mark Zuckerberg’s story. Therefore, the Winklevoss twins are still the antagonists, for being pitted against Zuckerberg as the most direct opposition.

The Silence of the Lambs. — *The Silence of the Lambs*.

Deuteragonist

This is where primary characters begin to get a bit more complicated. Most stories don’t have just a protagonist and an antagonist. There are other characters, possibly referred to as “side” characters, if you will. They can be in a positive way (loved ones or friends of the protagonist) in their simplest forms. They can also be more neutral or negative. A unique example is Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. If you haven’t seen the film, it may seem like he is the antagonist who thwarts Clarice Starling. In reality, Buffalo Bill is the antagonist (the serial killer Starling is trying to find and stop), and Lecter acts as a bridge between the protagonist and the antagonist. He’s arguably as important as Starling in the film, yet we see him less, and his character serves hers.

Oftentimes, tritagonists or quad-tagonists (and et cetera) are heavily featured but are clearly not as focused on as the protagonist (and occasionally antagonist). In Seven Samurai, Kambei is the first samurai approached, and it is he who goes scouting for the other samurai to protect a suffering village. I’d consider the other six samurai deuteragonists of varying importances. They’re as important as Kambei is, but they play a role in his story of saving the village.

Call Me By Your Name. — *Call Me By Your Name*.

Romantic Interest

A romantic interest is usually a deuteragonist of some degree that functions a little differently to the protagonist. For better or for worse, this character becomes a major part of the protagonist’s storyline in a way that opens up different avenues for storylines. Usually, romantic interests also introduce a new side of the protagonist, and these also create more opportunities. In a film like Blue Valentine, the connection between two married people is the bulk of the story. Otherwise, in a film like Drive, the nameless driver’s romantic connection becomes tangled in his own solo story, because this is now an exposed vulnerable side of the character that the antagonist can threaten.

Foil

A foil is almost an umbrella term for what a character can do. Otherwise, it’s usually a type of deuteragonist (or a possible antagonist) that contrasts the protagonist in a pretty distinctive way. We learn more about both characters, seeing them both react to each other almost chemically. For instance, Stathis in The Fly seems like he is solely an antagonist of sorts to Seth Brundle, but really he serves as a foil to Brundle, and their different relationships with the romantic partner Ronnie Quaife. A more direct example would be Teddy from Memento who is much more vibrant and outgoing than Leonard, and their personalities are constantly crashing into each other. Basically, any character that is different enough than the protagonist to cause some sort of noticeable response is a foil.

Tertiary

The most arbitrary types of characters with noticeable screen time or speaking parts are tertiary, and they serve no purpose outside of adding to the story’s atmosphere, or to a character’s life. These are passersby that may say something in movement, or a waiter asking for an order, or even someone who barely interacts with the protagonist at all. If your main characters are as flat as these, your story has some problems. However, not every single character needs a tome of a backstory, especially if they’re meant for world building purposes. Remember that stranger that pelts John Malkovich in the head with a beer can during a drive-by in Being John Malkovich? That is a tertiary character.

Quick Example

Pulp Fiction famously has three main storylines, and they do function as their own stories, despite their connections to one another. A great way of getting used to each role is analyzing this film and the use of characters in each story (excluding preludes and interludes). Pulp Fiction spoilers ahead. Reader discretion is advised.

Story one is "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife”.
-Vincent Vega is the protagonist, who is taking out his bosses’ wife Mia Wallace out to dinner. He has to make sure she has a good time.
-Mia Wallace is a deuteragonist, with hints of being a romantic interest to Vincent Vega. They interact together, and she is as important as he is to the story, despite him being the focal point.
-Lance is also a deuteragonist, and so is his wife Jody. They interact with Vincent much less than Mia does, but they still serve big enough means to his story.
-Jody’s friend Trudi is a tertiary character, who only serves as the punchline for an earlier joke, and a running gag during the story’s climax.
-I would claim that there is no clear antagonist here as a character. Bad luck, time, and circumstance are what pose as problems to Vincent, despite the fact that he is worried about how his boss will react (Marsellus isn’t a direct connection to Vincent).

Story two is “The Gold Watch.”
-Butch Coolidge is the protagonist, who is on the run after failing to take a dive in a boxing match.
-Marsellus Wallace is seemingly the antagonist at first: the direct opposition of Butch, in response to Butch’s reneging of the deal.
-Fabienne is Butch’s romantic interest: a well established deuteragonist that shows a nicer side of Butch, compared to the deceiver that other characters might see.
-Esmerelda Villalobos is a foil who appears in one scene, and acts as Butch’s inner conscience about what had just happened.
-Mia Wallace is completely a tertiary character now, who only talks to Vincent Vega briefly at one moment.
-Vincent Vega is a borderline tertiary character who has almost zero lines, and is only an extra obstacle for Butch to clear through; he has lost all of the power he had in the first story as the protaognist.
-Maynard and Zed end up being the antagonists for Butch and Marsellus (if we were to follow his storyline), since they become the direct villains for both when they kidnap them.
-Luckily, the “Gimp” is strictly tertiary; I don’t think I could handle a film where he served a bigger purpose.

Story three is “The Bonnie Situation”.
-Jules Winnfield, who has served as a side character for most of the film, is most certainly the protagonist here (this is why I avoided preludes: the scene before story one has Jules as the arguable protagonist as well). We follow Jules on his spiritual quest of enlightenment after hears as a hitman, and the predicaments he finds himself in.
-Vincent Vega is a deuteragonist to Jules, and is important but not as important as Jules in Jules’ quest.
-All of the clients that get killed, excluding poor Marvin, are tertiary characters; they function as Jules’ awakening, when he is stunned that he wasn’t hit by any bullets from the surprise attack.
-Marvin is arguably a foil, since it’s his unfortunate death that leads to the next chapter of Jules’ story (plus, his silence and disregard to the topic is why Vincent turns around in the first place and, well, you know…)
-Jimmie is a deuteragonist who can be considered a foil to Jules only in the sense that he gives Jules extra pressure, given that his wife is going to show up at any second, and he is panicking.
-The “Wolf” is a deuteragonist character known as a confidante: a problem solver that the protagonist can turn to for help at any time (hence Jules’ enthusiasm).
-Finally, both Ringo and Yolanda are antagonists to Jules. After everything we have been through, they threaten his life the most in the diner, and can risk his existence despite the spiritual cleansing he has had the last few hours.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.

Screenwriting Tips: Character Roles