Character ArchtypesIntroduction In roleplaying, there are several types of characters - as many as exist in the real world, plus all of those in fiction. Additionally, every so often, a new concept comes into being, and like the theory of origin of species, those types which succeed thrive and become popular, while those incapable of coping tend to die off.
From a cultural point of view, as a civilization moves forward in time, and history expands, many character types become incongruent with civilization. For example, a defender of an empire that no longer exists also forfiets their purpose in existence ('ninja' for example). With the establishment of laws, or technology, occupations and ways of looking at the world can also come into being. A few enlightened beings have said it takes about a thousand life times to reach the level of awareness to where a person is ready for what some cultures call ascension, apotheosis, sainthood, or godhood.
In higher institutes of learning, there is a popular expression, - that literature is one of the methods of experiencing life from someone else's perspective. History books, biographies, and even fiction all fill this role. The more lengthy and detailed, or otherwise better written the material, the more potential the reader gains for learning what life was like for that person.
With literature, it is extremely important to be able to empathize with the characters in the text. If the author should fail in persuading the reader to empathize with the protagonist, then at least some secondary or antagonist character should fill that nitch, else, the text serves little interest, and if there is also a lack of factual or useful knowledge (such as how a culture or technology functioned) then the entertainment value plummets to such a degree that using the material for a paper weight or firewood may be healthy alternatives.
The two primary types of characters In any text, two character types provide conlfict and resolution which, like sex between two partners provides the peak interest between two central forces: Eros (love) and Thanatos (death). The first is most often where stories begin:
Protagonist The protagonist is usually the main character, or the hero. They are not necessarily either, however, authors use protagonists as the source of character empathy, in first person perspective. For those who don't know what first person is,
a break down from infoweb
1. First person is the person speaking:
I, we
me, us
my, mine, our, ours
2. Second person is the person spoken to:
you, your, yours
3. Third person is the person or thing spoken about:
he, she, it
his, her, hers, its
him, her, it
they, them, their, theirs
When a writer begins to compose a storyline, they make decisions such as how the text is written. History texts, such as research papers, are usually written from the third person omniscient perspective. In roleplaying, the prefix "omni" is used A LOT.
Omni means "all" and often connects to "infinity" in addition to "complete" or "total". Three words to pay attention to:
Omnipresent: "all present" or "everywhere", for example, gravity, or the universe. An excellent method of saying "without boundaries". Omnipresent, and other omni prefix words, do not need to be contextual to all worlds, galaxies, or dimensions; instead, they only need apply to the scenario, plot, or experiment. Inside a bottle, a master model maker's tools are omnipresent, even though outside the bottle his powers may be quite limited in range and influence.
Omnipotent: "all powerful", often used in references to God, gods, supernatural beings, or political groups and their representatives. Your employer can be omnipotent when it comes to your salary, while your landlord can be omnipotent in the area of property rights. Omnipotent power, as a rule of thumb, will always be sufficient to handle whatever the task at hand requires. Occassionally, in roleplaying, as in high fantasy or Science Fiction, something described as "beyond omnipotent" will come into play. This occurance can create confusion, but doesn't have to. If you recall the analogy to the model builder, their sphere of influence was limited beyond the bottle. When people begin to apply subjects such as world view, deep time, and dimensions to their understanding, the context of omnipotent also expands.
In the movie "the matrix" there is a Train man artificial intelligence program which the protagonist "Neo" - normally godlike in power, has no control over. He proudly eclaims to the hero "I'm God
here" this theme pervades storylines where realms of the imagination or supernatural forces apply. Writers, Directors, and Game Masters (discussed later) all possess this "omnipotence" within their "sphere of influence".
Omniscient: "all knowing" this can be interpreted a number of ways, including the ability to see/hear any location; to view the past, present, and/or future; to be able to read the thoughts of all things, to have an understanding of all sciences and knowledge, to have all wisdom, to know all events that ever did or will take place, and so forth.
Authors themselves are omniscient concerning their storylines, although they may write from a limited omniscient or even first person perspective. The more omniscient the writing style, the more difficult it becomes for the reader to empathize with the character, and the more dificult it becomes to have a mystery or discovery in the book or story.
AntagonistThe antagonist is also known as the rival or villain of the story. The term "arch" means starting point or founding act. Arche or Archi, is another prefix used frequently in writing and roleplaying. Archrival, for example would be the primary opponent of the subject. Magnesium rivals water, Batman rivals the Joker, Magneto Rivals Professor X.
ArchVillain, a term rarely found in dictionaries, is nevertheless a real word applying to storylines where more than one villain or antagonist exists. Antagonists are not necessarily bad people or villains, although Villains are almost always antagonists. In dark fiction, a common theme is the hero worship of a Villain, who becomes the protagonist. When the villain is the protagonist, it usually implies that the heroes are the antagonists. Very often, such stories contain a sense of Dark Humor, and can be particularly easy to empathize with if the heroes tend to repreesent fantatical or otherwise incompentant ideaology.
Opposite to Dark Humor (Dark Comedy) is Dark Horror, and a similar genre called "Noir". Noir is french for black, and Noir films usually have a darker edge where the "bad guys" win.
In darker storylines the author is more able to emphasize the importance of subtle moral values by the contrast effect. For example, a spotlight on a sunny day is a novelty at best, while a tiny candle sparked after hours lost in a cold cave can represent the turning moment between life and death. Through film Noir, and the Noir genre in general, the audience is able to arrive at the quintessence of certain elements, while distinctions between the subtle shades of grey become crystal clear. For example, is it more immoral to be a serial killer, a rapist, or lawyer? And of the three, which is worse than one who makes a Faustian pact? Of the four, which can be said to be worse than the Hypocrite? And of the five, compared to a single politician?
The AntiHero: when the worlds are especially dark, and hope is little more than a glimmer, authors can be compelled to use antiheroes in place of traditional moral pillars, using a certain sense of realism or cynicism. The antihero is the pessimistic hero that illustrates a practical path for the common man to empathize with, in a world where events and setting are otherwise too polarized toward the negative to have a chance as something more stated and obvious.
Typical antiheroes include detectives, vampires, hybrids of supernatural creatures such as vampires or demons, and renegade or ronin members of a group that was previously polarized extremely to the good or evil. Authors typically draw their source of "badasses" from the anti-hero pool of characters. From a practical sense, in a positive "golden age" comic book world, antiheroes tend to be little more than street vagrants and angry homeless types like sewer rats, with similar popularity for the masses.
In a Noir, Horror, or Dark Comedy setting, the AntiHero is nothing short of a demigod saint representing the cosmic "I told you so" with a stern determination and a very big
check book from the bank of
reality. The antihero typically trains in the school of hard knocks and has a knack of seeing through the BS or other deceptions of their world. In its early seasons, Lex Luthor was the Antihero of Smallville.
Next section: Character Archtypes... 
