# List of stock characters

A stock character is a dramatic or literary role representing a generic type in a conventional, simplified manner and recurring in many fictional works. The following list labels some of these stereotypes and provides examples. Some character archetypes, the more universal foundations of fictional characters, are also listed. Some characters that were first introduced as fully fleshed-out characters become subsequently used as stock characters in other works (e.g., the Ebenezer Scrooge character from A Christmas Carol, upon whom the miserly Scrooge type is based). Some stock characters incorporate more than one stock character; for example, a bard may also be a wisecracking jester. Some of the stock characters in this list may be considered offensive due to their use of racial stereotyping, homophobia, or other prejudice.
* A
* B
* C
* D
* E
* F
* G
* H
* I
* J
* K
* L
* M
* N
* O
* P
* Q
* R
* S
* T
* U
* V
* W
* Y
* Z
* See also
* References

## A

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Absent-minded professor | An eccentric scientific genius who is so focused on his or her work that he has shortfalls in other areas of life (remembering things, grooming). This is the benign version of the mad scientist. | Prof. Calculus in The Adventures of Tintin series by Hergé Dr Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future film series Julius F. Kelp/Sherman Klump in the film The Nutty Professor Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters film and television series Prof. Farnsworth in the animated television sitcom series Futurama |
| Action hero | A brave hero of a story which portrays action, adventure, and often violence. They are resourceful, courageous, and have strong commitment to their cause, and they are comfortable with the fast pace of events in the story. Often overlaps with "chosen one" and/or superhero. | See: List of action heroes. |
| Ace pilot | The advent of aviation spawned a genre of adventure stories in which the skilled pilot was the natural hero. Traits often attributed to the ace in war films are "boisterousness, camaraderie, stoicism and omnipotence". | Books and comics: Biggles, Hop Harrigan, and Carol Danvers Daredevil pilots fictionalised in Hollywood films of 20th century wars include: Flying Tigers and God Is My Co-Pilot; later Maverick in Top Gun |
| Angry black woman | An assertive, overbearing, opinionated, loud, and "sassy" Black woman with a sharp tongue, often depicted as nagging and emasculating a male character. | Sapphire in Amos 'n' Andy radio and television series, Wilhelmina Slater in Ugly Betty television series Aunt Esther, Florence Johnston, Mammy Two Shoes from Tom and Jerry series of short animated films Mary Lee Johnston from the film Precious |
| Angry white male | A reactionary, white man whose frustration with progressive policies and social changes escalates into rage and, in some cases, violence. In dramatic fiction, this usually leads to the character's downfall. In a running series, the angry white man may soften with time to become more sympathetic (see also curmudgeon). | Archie Bunker in the All in the Family television sitcom series William 'D-Fens' Foster in the film Falling Down Arthur Fleck / Joker (Joaquin Phoenix in Joker) Alf Garnett in the Till Death Us Do Part television sitcom series |
| Artificial intelligence (AI) | In science fiction stories, artificial intelligence (AI) are depicted as computational systems that are sophisticated enough to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. In contrast to mechanical robotic beings in fiction (some of which are depicted as having sophisticated AI capabilities), in fictional settings, AI does not usually have a metal or humanoid body and they are instead depicted as residing in some type of computer system or network. AIs are depicted with varying degrees of ability to cause actions in the real world, ranging from communicating via text or speech synthesis to triggering digitally-connected devices. AIs may be depicted in a variety of ways, ranging from benevolent to neutral to hostile. | *Wintermute is one half of a super-AI entity in the dystopian future cyberpunk novel Neuromancer (by William Gibson) HAL 9000 is a sentient artificial general intelligence computer that controls the systems of the Discovery One spacecraft and interacts with the ship's astronaut crew in 2001: A Space Odyssey |
| Annoying neighbor | A comic character known for pestering and hounding the protagonist. As they live next door to them, this creates a pretext for frequent unwanted or unplanned interactions. | Kimmy Gibler in the Full House television sitcom series Newman in the Seinfeld television sitcom series Tini in the Fibber McGee and Molly radio comedy series Ned Flanders in The Simpsons television sitcom series |
| Antihero | A protagonist lacking conventional heroic qualities, such as courage or idealism. An antihero has weaknesses and may engage in criminal acts at times, but lacks any sinister intentions and is usually, if begrudgingly and unconventionally, ethical. | Deadpool in the Marvel Comics Man with No Name in Sergio Leone's 1960s Spaghetti Western Dollars Trilogy Eddie Valiant in the 1981 book Who censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary K. Wolf Harley Quinn in the DC Comics Harry Flashman in the satirical The Flashman Papers book series by George MacDonald Fraser |
| Arab and Muslim stereotypes | Arab and Muslim characters in films are often portrayed in an ethnocentric or stereotyped way. Arab characters may be depicted as speaking in a heavy accent, being hostile and vicious, and being connected to terrorism. As well, American films and television shows may have stereotypical and pejorative depictions of Arabs and Muslims. The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee states that "Arabs in TV and movies are portrayed as either bombers, belly dancers, or [oil] billionaires". | Pejorative stereotypes of Arabs or Muslims are common in late 20th century Hollywood action films including: Iron Eagle (1986) Navy SEALs (1990) Patriot Games (1992) Executive Decision (1996) The Delta Force (1986) Death Before Dishonor (1987) True Lies (1994) Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987) Stereotypical characters include: Achmed The Dead Terrorist The Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri) |
| Archenemy / arch-foe / arch-villain | An antagonist appearing as a persistent, indefatigable, and undefeatable villain — equal to or better than the hero(es) in skill and power — who thwarts all attacks and sometimes even reappears even after being killed (particularly in comic books). The arch-enemy is sometimes referred to as arch-nemesis, but should not be confused with Nemesis. | Prof. Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes book series by Arthur Conan Doyle Omni-Man comic book character Sabretooth comic book character |
| Aristocratic twit | A wealthy, pampered person from a high or aristocratic social class who is affable, good-natured, and dim-witted. While their life of privilege may have given them a posh education and a smattering of pretentious foreign phrases and classical references, they have been so sheltered from everyday life by their retinue of servants and advisors that they often misjudge or misunderstand everyday situations when left to their own devices. | Lord Dundreary, the brainless aristocrat from an 1858 play from where his name gave rise to two eponyms – "Dundrearies" and "Dundrearyisms". Bertie Wooster, the quintessential idle, affable, and dim-witted upper class leading character in Jeeves and Wooster by P.G. Wodehouse The wealthy young gentleman Reggie Pepper, who does not do any work, having inherited a fortune from his uncle. Even though he went to Oxford, he has no ambitions and spends his days in the lounge of his private club. |
| Author surrogate | A character sharing the traits or appearance of its author or creator. The author surrogate may be disguised to some degree, or there may be little attempt to make them appear different (for example, they may have the same first name and job). | Jon Arbuckle in the Garfield cartoon strip series Stan Marsh in the South Park television sitcom series Kyle Broflovski in the South Park television sitcom series Ralphie Parker, a character in the family-comedies, which is a surrogate for author Jean Shepherd. Henry Chinaski in Barfly (surrogate for Charles Bukowski) |

## B

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Bad boy | A roguish, good-looking macho, often a womanizer. In his frequent sexual affairs, he shows signs of a constellation of traits dubbed the dark triad. Historically, he has been called a rake or cad. | Tony Stark / Iron Man (Marvel Cinematic Universe) Gregory House Danny Zuko |
| Bard | A lute-playing singer-songwriter in Medieval and Renaissance stories who sings about the events of the day to earn a living. The Bard may be a wandering troubador travelling from town to town, and playing at taverns (or busking when gigs are scarce), or they may have a steady job in a noble court, playing for royalty at feasts. The bard may overlap with the jester if they use their songs to speak blunt truths to a king or entertain the nobles with humour (also providing comic relief in the story). The bard may also be a wandering minstrel who voyages with the hero to chronicle the hero's exploits in song. | Cacofonix in the Asterix and Obelix series Cantus in Fraggle Rock Marillion in Game of Thrones Dandelion / Jaskier in The Witcher Gabrielle in Xena: Warrior Princess |
| Battle-axe | An old, domineering, brash, and brazen woman. This is a derogatory traditional stereotype describing a woman characterized as aggressive, overbearing and forceful. The term originated as a gender-independent descriptor in the early 20th century, but became primarily applied to women around the middle of the century. | Thelma Harper Agnes Skinner, domineering mother of Principal Skinner in the animated television sitcom series The Simpsons Marie Barone in the animated television sitcom series Everybody Loves Raymond |
| Beatnik | A hipster character, with a distinct counterculture style (usually wearing black or muted colors, turtlenecks, leotards for women, a beret, and sunglasses), loves jazz and avant-garde art and poetry, marijuana, bongo drums, and has a disdain for anything popular in mainstream culture. | Judy Funnie Maynard G. Krebs the cast of Off Beat Cinema Eddy Crane, the leader of a crime gang in The Beatniks (1960) |
| Bimbo | Associated with the dumb blonde stereotype, typically, though not always, a minor character who is a vacuous or empty-headed girl or woman and is totally reliant on her appearance to get on in life, normally supported by a sugar daddy. In romances, the character is often an initial source of sexual attention for a hero, and a side-track of the story, before he realises that another is the love of his life and is the real heroine. Unlike the ingénue character, who grows emotionally and more worldly-wise through the story eventually fulfilling a heroine role, typically a bimbo does not and remains ultimately inconsequential, even if the pointlessness of her life is pointed out to her. | Barbie Jennifer Johnson / G-Girl in My Super Ex-Girlfriend Shelley Darlington in The House Bunny |
| Bitter war veteran | Man who fought as a soldier during a war; he usually leaves home a naïve young man, experiences the horrors of war, and returns home embittered and deranged. He often has flashbacks and nightmares about the war. | Staff Sergeant Michael Vronsky played by Robert De Niro in The Deer Hunter John Rambo in the Rambo film series |
| Black best friend | In American films and television shows, a Black best friend is a secondary character, often female, who is used to "guide White characters out of challenging circumstances." The Black best friend "support[s] the heroine, often with sass, attitude and a keen insight into relationships and life." One criticism of the stock character is that little of their inner life is depicted. | Tracie Thoms plays the friend of Anne Hathaway's lead character in the film The Devil Wears Prada Aisha Tyler plays the friend of Jennifer Love Hewitt on The Ghost Whisperer Lisa Nicole Carson plays the friend of Calista Flockhart's lead character on Ally McBeal |
| Black knight | An evil fighter antagonist, whose identity is often concealed behind his visor. He displays no heraldry, in order to mask both his own identity and that of his liege. He may be associated with death. He battles the good knight-errant. | The Black Knight in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail Nathan Garrett in the Marvel Comics Darth Vader in the Star Wars film series |
| Blind seer | A prophet and mystic who is sightless or has poor vision — very common in assisting a hero in his quest in ancient myth — but uses spiritual or psychic powers to sense the events and sights around them. | The blind prophet Tiresias of Greek myth The three nymphs called Graeae, or Phoricdes, or the aged Grey Sisters of Greek myth who shared one eye and one tooth between them Phineus of Greek myth and character in the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts The blind Taoist monk "One Hundred Eyes" in Marco Polo |
| Blind warrior | Especially as a warrior-monk, a seemingly harmless sightless warrior who uses spiritual or psychic powers to sense the events and sights around them — a trope more common in the Far East. | Zatoichi (blind swordsman) Chirrut Imwe in Rogue One Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars Rebels (blind Jedi knight) |
| Bounty hunter | Bounty hunters are freelance fugitive trackers who take the risk of capturing criminals for the reward. They often operate in a legal grey zone, because while they may be permitted to capture the fugitives, and they may coordinate with law enforcement, they are not police officers. They are often lone wolves with a past in law enforcement, the military or crime. They range from honorable, noble former law enforcement officers who only take lawful bounties and who aim to bring criminals to justice to morally ambiguous characters with a mix of lawful and shady motivations to villainous ex-criminals who are only after profit, who take on illegal or shady bounties, and who use lawless tactics to capture or kill their prey. Bounty hunters are depicted in Westerns, Western-inspired science fiction set in lawless frontier planets, modern neo-Westerns, and in other modern day fiction. | Westerns: In For a Few Dollars More, a taciturn, loner gunfighter (Clint Eastwood) and former Colonel Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef) team up as bounty hunters. In The Wild Bunch (1969), a team of bounty hunters chase the eponymous group of outlaws to Mexico. In Django Unchained (2012), Django (played by Jamie Foxx) is a former slave who becomes a bounty hunter to find and free his wife. Science fiction: Boba Fett and Greedo in Star Wars Rick Deckard in Blade Runner Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop Other fiction: Domino Harvey (played by Keira Knightley) in Domino (2005) In The Hunter (1980), Ralph “Papa” Thorson (played by Steve McQueen) tracks down bail jumpers. In Midnight Run (1988), former police officer-turned bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) is searching for a mob accountant. |
| Boy next door | A nice, average guy who is reasonably good-looking | Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series Rodney Trotter in the television sitcom series Only Fools and Horses Marty McFly in the 1980s film series Back to the Future |
| Braggart | A character who speaks with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about their achievements, possessions, or abilities, typically to prove their superiority and create admiration or envy. Some braggarts may misrepresent or exaggerate their accomplishments. The classical archetypes are Alazon and Miles Gloriosus, with the latter being a boastful soldier. A later example from the Italian commedia dell'arte is Il Capitano. | Zapp Brannigan in the US animated television sitcom series Futurama Carlton Lassiter in the US comic detective television series Psych |
| Bug-eyed monster / alien | Staple evil aliens in science fiction of the 1930s onward were often described — or pictured on covers of pulp magazines — as grotesque creatures with huge, oversized or compound eyes and a lust for blood, women, or general destruction. | The Vogons satirised this stock character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series Formics in the book series Ender's Game The xenomorph creatures in the film series Alien though, to make it seem more scary, ironically these have no eyes at all |
| Bully | A villainous character often found in stories centered around youth, especially in school. They delight in tormenting the protagonist, often using emotional abuse and physical threats or assaults. | Harry Flashman in Tom Brown's School Days 1857 book by Thomas Hughes Henry Bowers from It Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling Scut Farkus in A Christmas Story Biff Tannen in the 1980s film series Back to the Future Roger Klotz in the US animated television sitcom series Doug Bulk and Skull |
| Byronic hero | Byronic heroes are dark, gloomy, and brooding where their passionate nature is often turned inward, as they ruminate on a private torment or a difficult secret from their past. They tend to be lonely and alienated, and have views or values that conflict with those of the wider community. The name refers to the Romantic poet Lord Byron, who was active in the 19th century. | Lord Ruthven in 1819 book The Vampyre by John Polidori Edmond Dantes in the 1844 book The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Heathcliff in the 1847 book Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Rochester in the 1847 book Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë |

## C

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Career criminal | Often a cunning thief. Has a strange gait, slouched posture and devious facial expression. | A.J. Raffles in E.W. Hornung's book series Bernie Rhodenbarr in Lawrence Block's Burglar book series Flynn Rider Cash Register Thief |
| Cat lady | An eccentric, lonely woman, often living alone. She may be depicted as dotty and benevolent or as unhinged. | Crazy Cat Lady in The Simpsons television series Arabella Figg in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling Angela Martin in the US version of The Office television series Susan Ashworth from the 2012 horror graphic adventure game The Cat Lady |
| Chosen one | A person destined by prophecy to save the world, frequently possessed of unusual skills or abilities. | Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars film series Harry Potter in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling Neo in The Matrix film series |
| Christ figure | Someone who dies a martyr only to rise from the dead to fight evil, as in the story of Jesus. The similarity may be intentional or not. | Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings book by J.R.R. Tolkien The Doctor in the Doctor Who television series Spock in the Star Trek television and film series Harry Potter in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling |
| Chuck Cunningham | The opposite of the Cousin Oliver: a minor character, usually a sibling of one of the main characters, who is quickly jettisoned when a breakout character emerges from a continuing series. From the point of the character's disappearance, the series treats the character as if they never existed. Named after the character in Happy Days, who disappeared after Gavan O'Herlihy left the series after one season. (This is distinct from the phenomenon of killing off a character or sending them away, in such cases the character always existed in the fictional universe but is no longer around.) | Harold Hamgravy in Thimble Theatre cartoon strip Shermy in Peanuts cartoon strip Judy Winslow (Jaimee Foxworth) in Family Matters television series Sparky in The Fairly OddParents television series |
| Competent man | A person who exhibits a very wide range of abilities and knowledge, making him a form of polymath. While not the first to use such a character type, the heroes and heroines of Robert A. Heinlein's fiction generally have a wide range of abilities. The competent man, more often than not, is written without explaining how he achieved his wide range of skills and abilities. May also be called a "Heinleinian hero". | Lazarus Long in books by Isaac Asimov Jubal Harshaw in books by Robert A. Heinlein |
| Con artist | A person who tricks people out of money by gaining, and then betraying, their confidence. | Artful Dodger in the book Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses television sitcom series The King and the Duke in Mark Twain's series of books of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn |
| Conscience | A character, often supernatural or fable-like, who provides moral guidance and advice to the protagonist. | Jiminy Cricket in the book Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi Angel Clarence in the 1947 film It's a Wonderful Life |
| Contender | A competitive, scrappy underdog who is driven to keep trying to win despite obstacles and poor odds. | Rocky Balboa in the Rocky film series Lightning McQueen in Pixar's Cars film series Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid film series |
| Corydon | A Corydon is a stock character for a herdsman in ancient Greek pastoral poems and fables and in much later European literature. The Corydon character may be portrayed as amorous or cowardly. | A Corydon character is in the fourth Idyll of the Syracusan poet Theocritus (c.300 – c.250 BCE) A goatherd character named Corydon who is in love with another man, Alexis, in the second of Virgil's Eclogues A Corydon character is in Ecologues by Calpurnius Siculus, who may be an author surrogate Daphnis, the goatherd protagonist of the 2nd century CE Greek pastoral romance novel Daphnis and Chloe by Longus A cowardly shepherd named Corydon, who is afraid to help Pastorell when she is being pursued by a tiger, in Book VI, Canto X of The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser |
| Cousin Oliver | A young child who joins the cast of an ongoing series (usually a sitcom) after the previous younger characters have grown older and can no longer provide the comic plot lines they used to as child actors. Named after a character added in the final episodes of The Brady Bunch, after the youngest Brady stepsiblings had grown into preteens. | Nicky and Alex Katsopolis in Full House television series Ricky Segall in The Partridge Family television series Scrappy-Doo in Scooby-Doo television series Dawn Summers, played by Michelle Trachtenberg, the younger sister of Buffy the Vampire Slayer created in 2000's, season 5 |
| Crone | A cruel, withered old woman, often occult or witch-like (see: Hag). | The Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by the Brothers Grimm Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault Wicked Witch of the West in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum Gruntilda in Banjo-Kazooie game series Stygian Witches in Clash of the Titans |
| Curmudgeon | A usually middle-aged or elderly character who outwardly is bitter, argumentative and politically incorrect. The curmudgeon usually has more sympathetic traits that are revealed over the course of a work of fiction. | Knemon in Dyskolos Alf Garnett in Till Death Us Do Part television series The Grinch by Dr Seuss Daisy Werthan in the film Driving Miss Daisy |
| Cyborg | A cyborg is a living organism that has restored function or enhanced abilities due to the integration of some artificial component or technology that relies on feedback such as: prostheses, artificial organs, implants or, in some cases, wearable technology. A cyborg has both organic and biomechatronic body parts which may give it enhanced abilities. | Tin Woodman in the L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader from the Star Wars series (1977) T-800 from the film The Terminator (1984) Alex Murphy / RoboCop from the RoboCop series Cyborg from DC Comics |

## D

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Damsel in distress | A noble, beautiful young Lady in need of rescue, traditionally from dragons. In early 20th century films, she is threatened by a robber or kidnapper. | Princess Peach in the Super Mario video-game series Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda video-game series Daphne Blake in the animated television sitcom series Scooby-Doo Andromeda from Clash of the Titans |
| Dandy | A good-looking, well-off, foppish young man more interested in fashion and leisure than business and politics. Prominent in Victorian writings. | Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde's titular book Sir Percival Blakeney in The Scarlet Pimpernel book series by Baroness Orczy |
| Dark Lady | A dark, malicious or doomed woman. Her darkness is either literally, in the sense she has a colored skin, or in a metaphorical sense (e.g., that she is a tragic, doomed figure). For the latin/Hispanic stock character of the same name, see Latin Lady (Lover). | Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare's tragic history play Macbeth Miss Trunchbull in the comic book Matilda by Roald Dahl Annie Wilkes in the book Misery by Stephen King |
| Dark Lord | An evil, powerful sorcerer. The dark lord is often wounded, though still powerful enough to defile the land. The character may just be a symbol of evil with little backstory or explanation of motivation except for solely wanting power and dominion over the world. He may be a Devil archetype. | Morgoth and Sauron first epitomised this character in the series of books of Middle-Earth by J.R.R. Tolkien The Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader Star Wars film series Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling Thanos in the Marvel Comics |
| Dastardly Whiplash | A classic villain archetype from the silent film era, who will tie a maiden to train tracks or burn down an orphanage as part of their schemes, all while twirling their long handlebar moustache. They have over-the-top personalities. | Simon Legree in the book Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe Dick Dastardly in the Wacky Races and the spin-off Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines Hanna-Barbera animated television series |
| Donor | A supernatural being in fairy tales and fantasy literature who helps the protagonist or tests them. The fairy godmother is a classic example in fairy tales. | The Genie in Aladdin pantomimes and films Cosmo & Wanda The Fairy Godmother in the Cinderella tale by Charles Perrault |
| Domestic (Black) | Black people in US books and films are often depicted as domestic servants, due to the extensive history of slavery. The common stereotypical depiction of these roles has little or no characterization or character development beyond the functionary role. The pejorative Mammy stereotype is a subcategory. | Beulah Gone with the Wind Driving Miss Daisy The Help book of 2009 by Kathryn Stockett and its 2011 film adaptation The Help worked to redress this stock character's role in fiction. |
| Doppelgänger | Usually a malevolent character that resembles but is not necessarily related to another benevolent character in the same fictional universe; may come from a parallel universe. Usually portrayed by the same actor in a dual role. | Bizarro in DC Comics Mirror Universe characters in the Star Trek television and film series Katherine Pierce in The Vampire Diaries television series |
| Dragon Lady | A stereotype of East Asian and occasionally South Asian and Southeast Asian women as strong, deceitful, domineering, or mysterious. The term's origin and usage arose in America during the late 19th century. This ethnic stereotype may negatively depict women as promiscuous, deceptive femme fatales. | Anna May Wong's role of the princess in the 1931 film Daughter of the Dragon Lucy Liu's roles in Charlie's Angels, Kill Bill, and Payback Wai Lin in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies |
| Drill Sergeant | The staff sergeant or gunnery sergeant in charge of instructing incoming military recruits in basic training. They are strict, demanding leaders who are either loved or hated; good drill sergeants earn respect of their recruits when the training and discipline they impart ends up saving lives, while bad or sadistic drill sergeants may be reviled or even fragged. | Sergeant Snorkel in the comic strip from the 1950s Beetle Bailey William Hartnell's role of the titular Sgt Grimshaw in the first of the 31 Carry On films, Carry on Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket Damon Wayans's titular role in the 1995 film Major Payne Herbert Sobel in the television series Band of Brothers |
| Dumb blonde | A variant of the bimbo stereotype, she is usually a very attractive, young, and nubile blonde-haired woman with little common sense and very little, if anything, to say — literally dumb. | Goldie Hawn's characters on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Chrissy Snow in the television sitcom series Three's Company Rose Nylund as an elderly version of the character in the television sitcom series The Golden Girls Leni Loud in the animated television sitcom series The Loud House Pola Debevoise from How to Marry a Millionaire Lorelei Lee from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953 film) The Girl from The Seven Year Itch |

## E

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| El bandido | This pejorative stereotype of a Mexican bandit was established early and common in silent era Western films. It depicted the characters as missing teeth, being poorly groomed (unshaven, unwashed hair), unintelligent, and as having a violent, treacherous, and emotionally impulsive disposition. | The villain in Bronco Billy and the Greaser (1914) El Guapo and his band of bandits in ¡Three Amigos! 1986 American Western comedy film |
| Elderly martial arts master | A wise old figure who mentors the young disciple in his ancient craft. | Yoda in the film series Star Wars Mr Miyagi in the film series The Karate Kid Splinter in the animated television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mr Lee in the film Sidekicks Kutang Pan in Kapitan Bomba Ra's al Ghul in the DC Comics |
| Everyman | An ordinary, humble individual, the Everyman may be a stand-in for the audience, narrator, or reader. | Homer Simpson in the animated television sitcom series The Simpsons Al Bundy from Married... with Children Dr Watson in the book, film, and television series of Sherlock Holmes Jonathan Harker in the 1897 book Dracula by Bram Stoker |
| Evil clown | Violent, malevolent beings that ironically resemble clowns. | Art the Clown in the film series Terrifier Jack "The Joker" Napier in the television and film series Batman Pennywise the Clown in Stephen King's book It |
| Evil twin | A malevolent character that resembles and is usually related to — most commonly a literal twin of — another, benevolent, character in the same universe; usually portrayed by the same actor in a dual role. | Adam Chandler in the television series All My Children Phoebe Buffet's twin sister Ursula, both played by Lisa Kudrow in the television sitcom series Friends Alex Drake in the television series Pretty Little Liars Cassandra Nova in the X-Men comic books |

## F

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Fall guy | An unaware scapegoat for a villain's larger plot. The term "fall guy" for one whom blame was directed upon to shield others had appeared in mass public culture in the U.S. at least by the 1920s. In 1925 it was the title of a Broadway play, The Fall Guy, by James Gleason and George Abbott. | Wilmer Cook in Dashiell Hammett's 1930 book The Maltese Falcon Biff in the 1941 film The Strawberry Blonde |
| Falstaff | Created by William Shakespeare, the comic character of Sir John Falstaff who is depicted as a fat, vain, and boastful knight who spends most of his time drinking and hanging about with petty criminals, living on borrowed, looted, or stolen money. He is ultimately repudiated by other major characters who eventually see him for the debauched, dissolute character he is. The word "Falstaffian" has entered the English language with a connotation of being corpulent, jolly and debauched. | Falstaff has appeared in other works, including: Operas by Giuseppe Verdi, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Otto Nicolai. In Orson Welles's 1966 film Chimes at Midnight. In Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho, the character of Bob Pigeon (William Richert) represents Falstaff. Volstagg the Voluminous, a Marvel Comics character and a companion to Thor, is based on Falstaff. |
| Farmer's daughter | A desirable, wholesome, and naive young woman, also described as being an "open-air type" and "public-spirited". | Elly May Clampett in the television sitcom series The Clampetts Bradley Sisters in the television sitcom series Petticoat Junction Mary Ann Summers in the television sitcom series Gilligan's Island Daisy Duke in the television series The Dukes of Hazard Daisy Mae Yokum in the comic strip Li'l Abner |
| Farmer's wife | The "long-suffering farmer's wife" is a foil against the leading characters, used as a contrast to the other female stock characters — the "hooker with a heart of gold" and the "schoolma'am" — and is common in Western films. John Steinbeck, in his 1937 book Of Mice and Men, has Curley's wife, who is never named, which shows that she is just a stock character to emphasize this point. | Mrs Hale in the 1916 play Trifles Grace Archer, Jill Archer, Peggy Woolley, and Clarrie Grundy in the BBC radio series The Archers running since 1950s |
| Female clown (Hispanic) | Also called a "Latin Spitfire" or "Mexican Spitfire", in this stereotype, a Hispanic woman's ditzy antics are used to make the audience laugh derisively at her. While she is alluring, her value as a full character is blunted by her comic treatment. This is the female version of the Male buffoon (Hispanic). | Carmen Miranda, noted for her extravagant head-wear. Lupe Vélez notably in the eight-film Mexican Spitfire series that gave its name to the stock character |
| Femme fatale | An almost obligatory character who is integral in Film Noir, she is an antagonist originally appearing as a beautiful and alluring woman who is also cunning, deceptive, and traitorous. She may originally appear as a damsel in distress, but the she draws men into a honey trap, and may be motivated by money, power, revenge, and/or status. | Salome, granddaughter of Herod the Great in the New Testament of the Bible Ruth Wonderly in the 1930 book The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Phyllis Dietrichson in the 1944 film Double Indemnity Catherine Tramell in the 1992 film Basic Instinct Bridget Gregory in the 1994 neo-noir genre film The Last Seduction Poison Ivy in DC Comics |
| Figaro | The French polymath playwright Pierre Beaumarchais created the comic character of Figaro who plays the role of a barber who has become a cunning, scheming, insubordinate gentleman's valet across a satirical tilogy of plays — Le Barbier de Séville of 1772, Le Mariage de Figaro of 1778, and L'Autre Tartuffe ou La Mère coupable (The Guilty Mother) of 1792. The character is inspired by the commedia dell'arte stock character of Brighella, and like his predecessor he is a clever liar; moral and yet unscrupulous; good humored, helpful and brave, though somewhat embittered and cynical. Though he is normally calm, collected and intelligent, he can be irrational when angered. Given that the Figaro character tries so protect his wife from the romantic advances of his aristocratic master, the Figaro character is viewed as a fighter for freedom from tyranny, and as a result, some governments censored works about Figaro. Beaumarchais, may have created the Figaro character as an author surrogate for The Barber of Seville, as the playwright served time in jail for insubordination to the nobility. | Beaumarchais's character appears in four opera adaptations of his plays: Giovanni Paisiello's The Barber of Seville of 1782 Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro of 1786 Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville of 1816 Darius Milhaud's La Mère coupable of 1966 |
| Final girl | A "last woman standing" from a group left in a horror (slasher) film after a serial killer or monster has eliminated her companions. | Mina Harker in the 1897 book Dracula by Bram Stoker Laurie Strode in the Halloween film series Sally Hardesty in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre film series Jess Bradford (Black Christmas) Kelli Presley (Black Christmas – 2006 remake) Sidney Prescott in the Scream film series Abby Mills from Harper's Island |
| Foil | A character, especially in a double act, who is in most respects the opposite of the protagonist or straight man. The contrast between a character and their foil allows each characters' traits to be highlighted. | Lou Costello in the Abbott and Costello film series Lucy Ricardo in the television sitcom series I love Lucy Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling |
| Folk hero | A character whose heroic acts are left behind in their people's consciousness, often centuries after their death. | See: List of folk heroes |
| Fool | A court jester who made the king and nobles laugh by telling rhyming jokes and riddles, and by doing physical feats like juggling. Jesters could criticize people at court and make fun of royal decisions, as long as the criticism was hidden amidst witty wordplay and riddles. Shakespeare used the fool as a main character so that he could have a character who could speak truthfully, even to a powerful king. | Simpleton fools include Ivan the Fool in Russian folklore Wise fools include the Wise Men of Gotham, who only pretend to be simple as a ruse. The Fool in the 1988 book Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett |
| Fop | A pejorative character in English literature and especially comic drama, as well as satirical prints, the fop is a foolish "man of fashion" who overdresses, aspires to wit, and puts on airs. He may also overdo being fashionably French by wearing French clothes and using French words. The fop may aspire to a higher social station than others think he has. He may be somewhat effeminate, although this rarely affects his pursuit of an heiress. | Sir Fopling Flutter in George Etherege's 1676 play The Man of Mode, Sir Fopling Flutter Sir Novelty Fashion in Colley Cibber's 1696 play Love's Last Shift Lord Foppington in John Vanbrugh's 1696 play The Relapse |
| Former / hiding Nazi | A character who is a former Nazi and is often very clearly German, may attempt poorly to conceal their past (often played comically). Former Nazi characters in places such as the USA will often be scientists or other educated professionals, characters in South America will usually be authority figures of the Third Reich who are hiding from the consequences of their actions during the Holocaust. | Dr Strangelove played by Peter Sellers in one of his many roles in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Franz Liebkind in the 1967 film The Producers and the 2005 remake musical Josef Mengele in 1970s book and film The Boys from Brazil Field Marshal Wilfried von Kluck played by Carl Reiner in his 1982 film Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid Kurt Dussander played by Ian McKellen in 1998 film Apt Pupil (film) |
| French maid | A stylized, over-sexualized, flirtatious domestic servant with a distinctive black uniform with white lace and apron. Her uniform may range from a conservative knee-length skirt in more realistic period pieces to a short skirt, stockings, and garters in more fantasy-oriented depictions. She may use a feather duster. She is a version of the cheeky, saucy soubrette character. | Magenta in the play and film musical of the mid-1970s The Rocky Horror Show Madamoiselle in the 1943 film Heaven Can Wait Young Moira O'Hara in the television series American Horror Story: Murder House |

## G

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Gangster's moll | In film noir movies about crime, the gangster's moll is usually an attractive, blonde — often a variant of the bimbo stereotype — who may be a former showgirl. The gangster often uses the moll as a "trophy" to boost his status. She may also be called a "gun moll". "Gun" was British slang for "thief", derived from Yiddish ganef and "moll" is also used as a euphemism for a woman prostitute. | The gangster's girlfriend in the 1931 film The Public Enemy the moll in the 1967 film The St Valentine's Day Massacre Hilda, the gun moll played by Joan Bennett in the 1939 film The Housekeeper's Daughter |
| Gay best friend | Beginning in the 1980s, screenwriters of romantic comedy films and TV shows set in high schools added the "gay best friend" stock character. This comedic character type has elicited controversy in the gay community, because while they have introduced "...queer storylines to mainstream audiences," they have also entrenched a stereotype that gay men's only "interests are makeovers, shopping and drama". In addition, "gay best friend" characters tend to be sidelined into the role of giving relationship and fashion advice, and their character rarely has depth or development. | Damian Leigh (Daniel Franzese in Mean Girls) G.B.F. (a 2013 comedy film) Kurt Hummel (Glee) William Clockwell (Invincible) |
| Geek | Originally, a nameless demented side-show freak, with depraved habits to draw in crowds, and who is usually tied to drug addiction, typically alcohol in Prohibition-era U.S. as shown in the 1947 Film Noir classic Nightmare Alley. Now, typically an eccentric or non-mainstream person who is an expert or enthusiast or boffin obsessed with an unusual hobby or intellectual pursuit, with a general pejorative meaning of a "peculiar person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual, unfashionable, boring, or socially awkward". The geek character now more overlaps with the nerd, but the geek may be still depicted in a more negative fashion. | Egon Spengler in the film series Ghostbusters Dr Emmett Brown in the film series Back to the Future The Geek in the film Sixteen Candles Sheldon Cooper in the television sitcom series The Big Bang Theory |
| Gentle giant | A folklore figure who, despite the huge size and enormous strength, has a good heart (see: Giant). | Fezzik Kronk Yukon Cornelius Shrek (DreamWorks Animation) Rubeus Hagrid (Harry Potter) |
| Gentleman thief | A sophisticated, well-mannered, and elegant thief. He typically tries to avoid violence by using deception, stealth and his wits to steal (rather than using violence or threats). They have impeccable manners, charm, and courteousness, and they steal not only to gain material wealth but also for the thrill of the act itself, which is often combined in fiction with correcting a moral wrong, selecting wealthy targets, or stealing only particularly rare or challenging objects. A female version may be called a "lady thief". | A.J. Raffles Kaito Kuroba Sly Cooper Neal Caffrey Arsène Lupin |
| Ghost | Ghost stories take as a premise the possibility of supernatural entity characters who are dead, but which can still communicate or characters' belief in these entities. The "ghost" may appear of its own accord or be summoned by magic or inciting events or triggers. Linked to the ghost is the idea of a "haunting", where a supernatural entity is tied to a place, object or person. Ghost stories are commonly examples of ghostlore and they appear in supernatural fiction, weird fiction, and horror stories. While some ghost characters are scary, others are funny or deliver a morality tales. Ghosts often appear in the narrative as sentinels or prophets of things to come. | Literature and theatre: Ghosts in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy Ghost characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet Ghosts in Richard III The shade of Hamlet's murdered father in Hamlet The ghost of the murdered Banquo in Macbeth. The ghosts of A Christmas Carol, which Ebenezer Scrooge is helped to see the error of his ways. The Headless Horseman ghost in Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820). Films and television shows: Elvira Condomine played by Kay Hammond in David Lean's 1945 film of Noël Coward's 1941 play Blithe Spirit and the 2020 film remake Capt. Daniel Gregg played by Rex Harrison in the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs Muir The 1963 film The Haunting based on the 1959 novel The Haunting of Hill House The 1980 film The Fog The film series Ghostbusters Freddy Krueger in the film series A Nightmare on Elm Street The 1989 film Field of Dreams based on W.P. Kinsella's 1982 book Shoeless Joe The 1990 film Ghost The 1998 Japanese film Ringu (remade in the US as The Ring in 2002) The 1999 film The Sixth Sense Casper the Friendly Ghost, originally popular in cartoon form in the 1950s and early 1960s, in the feature film Casper. |
| Girl next door | A sweet, innocent young woman with a wholesome demeanor who lives in the same neighborhood as the protagonist, so they know each other as childhood friends. While she is reasonably attractive, the key factor in her appeal is her wholesome character and the lifelong connection to a small town or rural area, which may be contrasted with the different allure of more glamorous, cosmopolitan female characters. | Rachel Green in the television sitcom series Friends Carrie Bradshaw in the television series Sex and the City Bridget Jones in Helen Fielding's 1996 novel Bridget Jones's Diary Leni Loud in the television sitcom series The Loud House |
| Golden child | In stories about a family or other settings with a "father figure" or "mother figure", a "golden child" is a child (including an adult child) or a subordinate member of the organization who is praised as the "perfect one" and protected from criticism, while their siblings (or other members of the organization) are unnoticed for their achievements and subject to significant criticism. While the "golden child" benefits from favoritism and positive attention, they are also under a lot of pressure to live up to the parent's (or parent figure's) expectations and they may become entitled. The child archetype is a Jungian archetype (e.g., the "divine child" archetype). The opposite character is the "scapegoat", who is seen as the person who cannot do anything right, who is blamed for the family's (or organization's) problems and who gets minimum attention and resources. | In The Golden Child (1986), a social worker is informed that he is "The Chosen One", who is destined to save the titular "Golden Child", a kidnapped Tibetan boy with mystical powers. In the film Little Buddha (1993), Tibetan Buddhist monks from a monastery in Bhutan are searching for a special child who is the rebirth of a great Buddhist teacher who they believe has been reborn as an American boy in Seattle. In Roman Holiday (1953), Audrey Hepburn plays the role of a young princess whose aristocratic family views her as their golden child, so she is put on a pedestal and she feels stifled by the pressure to be a perfect princess. In the Harry Potter fantasy series, the young Wizard Harry Potter lives with his aunt and uncle, the Dursley family, whose biological son Dudley is the golden child, while Harry Potter serves as the scapegoat. In the TV sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005), the titular character Ray is the golden child who is favored by his mother, while his older brother Robert is the ignored scapegoat of the family, who is jealous of the attention that Ray receives from their mother. |
| Gracioso | A stock character, popular in 16th-century Spanish literature, who is comically and shockingly vulgar. | Clarín, the clown in Life is a dream by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, is a gracioso. Examples of similar characters in Anglophone culture include: Bubbles in the television series Trailer Park Boys Wheeler Walker, Jr., the country musician alter ego of Benjamin Isaac Hoffman the stand-up persona of Bob Saget |
| Grande dame | A haughty, flamboyant, and elegant woman, prone to extravagant and eccentric fashion — from the French for "great lady". She is usually a stereotype of an elderly high society socialite. | Lady Bracknell in 1985 play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde Princess Dragomiroff in the Hercule Poirot crime novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie Lady Constance in Gosford Park by Julian Fellowes |
| Greaser | A caricature of working-class 1950s American urban youth. Usually seen wearing a leather jacket, white t-shirt (or black if not wearing a jacket), blue jeans, and a slick hairdo with generous amounts of pomade. Frequently has a thick Northeastern ethnic accent, a love of rock and roll, cigarette smoking, motorcycle or hot rod riding and customizing, and a "tough guy" or "cool" demeanor. The British equivalent is the rocker. | Bowzer Danny Zuko in the musical Grease Arthur Fonzarelli in the television sitcom series Happy Days Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker in the 1990 film Cry-Baby Billy Nolan from Carrie (1976 film) |
| Grotesque | A deformed or disabled person whose appearance scares strangers or inspires pity, and who may be mistreated. The grotesque is a tragic figure. | Quasimodo (Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) Grizabella Frankenstein's monster Ben "The Thing" Grimm |
| Gung ho American | American military character who is overly enthusiastic and unquestioningly convinced about the right-mindedness of the nation's war. | Gung-Ho (G.I. Joe) Peacemaker (DC Extended Universe) |
| Gypsy | A character who lives in traveling caravans, doing juggling or dancing, and having an irascible or passionate temper paired with an indomitable love of freedom. The "gypsy" stock character is very loosely based upon the Romani people, who were historically and pejoratively known as gypsies. Critics of how Romani people have been portrayed in popular culture point out similarities to portrayals of Jewish people, with both groups stereotyped negatively as wandering, spreading disease, abducting children, and violating and murdering others. They are often shown using mystical powers of fortune telling, and they may be associated with "sinister occult and criminal tendencies" and with "thievery and cunning", Romani women have been portrayed as provocative, sexually available, gaudy, exotic and mysterious. | Carmen by Prosper Mérimée and adapted by Georges Bizet Esmeralda (Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame) Miguel de Cervantes' La Gitanilla. |

## H

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Halfbreed harlot | This pejorative stereotype of a Mexican prostitute was common in Western films. She is the female counterpart to El bandido, a pejorative stereotype depicting a violent Mexican bandit. The "halfbreed harlot" is depicted as a lusty nymphomaniac with a hot temper. Filmmakers use the character to serve as a sex object and provide titillation to viewers. | Chihuahua, the girlfriend of Doc Holliday in My Darling Clementine (1946) |
| Hag | A wizened, withered, and bitter old woman, often a malicious witch. | Baba Yaga Wicked Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) Gruntilda (Banjo-Kazooie) |
| Hardboiled detective | Typically, a police officer or private investigator — often, a one-time officer unjustly cashiered from the force — rendered bitter and cynical by violence and corruption. They are often hard-drinking antiheroes who use questionable tactics. They are usually the protagonist of hardboiled novels and pulp fiction and of film noir crime movies. Derogatory slang terms for the stereotype are: Gumshoe Private eye or private dick Séamus or "shamus" — as very many US police forces recruited heavily from the immigrant Irish community in the late 19th and early 20th century 'Tec | Sam Spade of the private detective book series by Dashiell Hammett Philip Marlowe of the private detective book series by Raymond Chandler Perry Mason of the detective book series by Erle Stanley Gardner John Rebus of the Scottish detective book series by Sir Ian Rankin Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch strand of the Discworld book series by Sir Terry Pratchett Eddie Ginley portrayed by Albert Finney in the 1971 British black comedy film Gumshoe by Stephen Frears New York private detective, Shamus McCoy portrayed by Burt Reynolds in the 1973 film Shamus by Buzz Kulik Lt Vincent Hanna portrayed by Al Pacino in the 1995 film Heat by Michael Mann |
| Harlequin | A clown or professional fool who pokes fun at others, even the elite. He is a light-hearted, nimble, and astute servant, often acting to thwart the plans of his master, and pursuing his own love interest, Columbina, with wit and resourcefulness, often competing with the sterner and melancholic Pierrot. | Till Eulenspiegel Gregory Wolfe played by Robert Powell in the 1980 thriller film Harlequin Krusty the Clown in the US television animated sitcom series The Simpsons |
| Hawksian woman | This character archetype of the 1930s → 1950s of a tough-talking, self-possessed, and independent woman — a good film role with much screen-time and character development who sparked against and vied with the male lead role, often Gary Cooper or Cary Grant — and was popularized in the film noir thrillers and screwball comedy films of director Howard Hawks. The Hawksian woman is up-front and frank in speaking her mind, so keeping up with her male counterparts in quick talking and witty banter — well able to beat a man in verbal sparring — as well as taking action to get what she wants. The archetype was first identified by film critic Naomi Wise in 1971. This character is broadly related to or synonymous with the femme fatale. | Actresses who played Hawksian women include: Jean Arthur and Rita Hayworth in the 1939 film Only Angels Have Wings Lauren Bacall playing opposite Humphrey Bogart in To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep Joan Crawford in the 1933 film Today We Live Ann Dvorak Ava Gardner Katharine Hepburn in the 1938 film Bringing Up Baby Carole Lombard in the 1934 film Twentieth Century Rosalind Russell in the 1940 film His Girl Friday Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Ann Sheridan in the 1949 film I Was a Male War Bride Barbara Stanwyck in the 1941 film Ball of Fire |
| Hispanic Maid | A Hispanic female middle-aged maid who works for an American middle-class family. Usually, she cannot speak English well, if at all — though sometimes this can be played with, in her abilities being better than her employers' — and is portrayed as being religious and having superstitious beliefs. She sometimes becomes the first person to witness paranormal activities in the house and run away from it in horror movies. | Rosalita in the 1985 film The Goonies Rosario Salazar portrayed by Shelley Morrison in the US television sitcom series Will and Grace Consuela in the US television animated sitcom series Family Guy Martine in Paranormal Activity 2 |
| Holmesian detective | A masterful police detective or private investigator who is modelled on the fictional 19th-century detective Sherlock Holmes. These characters may emulate his perceptiveness, intelligence, and use of deductive reasoning. | Dr John Thorndyke in the early 20th-century detective novels of R. Austin Freeman, contemporaneous with Holmes Hercule Poirot in the early to mid-20th-century detective novels of Agatha Christie Detective Columbo as portrayed by Peter Falk in the eponymous 1970s television series Shinichi Kudo of the manga series Case Closed by Gosho Aoyama Benoit Blanc in the Knives Out Mysteries by Rian Johnson |
| Hooker with a heart of gold | A prostitute who lives on the fringes of the law, most often forced into this by need, but has a good moral compass and intrinsic morality. May also be known as a "tart with a heart". | Nancy in the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Marguerite Gautier in the 1848 novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas fils and as Violetta Valéry in the 1853 opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi Fantine in the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo Sonya in the 1866 novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky V in the 1994 romantic comedy film Milk Money Inara Serra in the television series Firefly by Joss Wheedon |
| Hopeless romantic | A loving, passionate character that expects to find "love at first sight", who is obsessive over, or the expectation of, a romantic partner / love interest — to the point where it is her or his dominant personality trait — and so is usually very optimistic in viewing life. | Zeppo Marx Tom Hansen in the 2009 film 500 Days of Summer Ted Mosby in the US television sitcom series How I Met Your Mother Raj Koothrappali in the US television sitcom series The Big Bang Theory |
| Housewife | A stereotypical busy mother of the protagonist family, with a pinned-down and homely appearance, who does the mundane work of running the family home, taking care of the children, and doing the housework. | Jane Jetson in the 1960s US animated television sitcom series The Jetsons Marge Simpson in the US animated television sitcom series The Simpsons Morticia Addams created by Charles Addams is an inverted version of the stereotype |
| Hotshot | An action/adventure hero with an impulsive maverick macho character, known for taking reckless risks, and very popular in the US. | Bret Maverick portrayed by James Garner in the US Western series Maverick James T. Kirk in the US television and film series Star Trek Axel Foley in the 1980s US film series Beverly Hills Cop Martin Riggs in the 1980s US film series Lethal Weapon Agent J in the 1990s-2000s US film series Men in Black |

## I

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Idiot savant | A person with extraordinary genius in a narrow area who has a social or developmental disability, often consistent with being somewhere on the autism spectrum. | Forrest Gump in the 1986 book Forrest Gump by Winston Groom Raymond Babbitt, played by Dustin Hoffman, in the 1988 film Rain Man Abed Nadir, played by Danny Pudi, in the US television sitcom series Community Shaun Murphy, played by Freddie Highmore, in the US television series The Good Doctor |
| Igor / Ygor | The protagonist or antagonist mad scientist's assistant, who often is afflicted with many physical problems, typically: a dragging walking pace, a pronounced hunched back, speaks in a halted speech pattern and/or a low monotone accent, and an obtuse demeanor — embodied in Peter Lorre's original interpretation of the role that has now become the trope. Though inspired by the assistant to Victor Frankenstein, in Mary Shelley's novel there was no such character, and this role originated instead in an early stage adaptation of the story who also was originally named Fritz. | Eyegor as portrayed by Marty Feldman in Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder's 1974 film Young Frankenstein Riff Raff as portrayed by Richard O'Brien in his 1973 musical The Rocky Horror Show Igor leading character in the 2008 animated film Igor Dr Nefario in the animated film series Despicable Me The race of Igors, who are all called Igor or Igorina, in the Discworld book series, where the stereotype is heavily lampooned by Sir Terry Pratchett |
| Immigrant | A character from a foreign land whose bizarre manners, quirky behavior, and unusual traditions often clash humorously with Western cultural norms. | Luigi Basco in the US radio sitcom series Life with Luigi Latka Gravas, played by Andy Kaufman, in the US television sitcom series Taxi Balki Bartokomous in the US television sitcom series Perfect Strangers Fez in the US television sitcom series That '70s Show Borat Sagdiyev, played by Sacha Baron Cohen, in the film Ali G Indahouse and Borat spin-off film series |
| Incompetent military officer | Usually from a wealthy background, the incompetent hidebound officer is usually senior to the hero — with whom he is often at cross-purposes — and an antagonist in military fiction. The incompetence is depicted either as stemming from a blinkered viewpoint, blind innocence, or fundamental stupidity. | Gen. Amos T. Halftrack in the US cartoon strip Beetle Bailey from 1950 by Mort Walker Col. Wainright Purdy III in the 1951 novel Teahouse of the August Moon by Vern Sneider Cpt. Cooney played by Eddie Albert in the 1956 film Attack Gen. Paul Mireau played by George Macready in the 1957 film Paths of Glory Lord Cardigan played by Trevor Howard in the 1968 film The Charge of the Light Brigade 1964 satirical film Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is fully populated by variants on this trope with: Gp Cpt. Lionel Mandrake, the effete British RAF exchange officer played by Peter Sellers Gen. Buck Turgidson, the libidinous US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, obsessed with reliving his war experiences, played by George C. Scott Brig. Gen. Jack D. Ripper, the insanely paranoid commander of Burpelson US Air Force Base, obsessed with the purity of "precious bodily fluids", played by Sterling Hayden Maj. T.J. "King" Kong, a US B-52 bomber's commander and pilot, obsessed with being a gun-toting Wild West hero, played by Slim Pickens Lt Steven Hauk, played by Bruno Kirby in the 1987 US war comedy film Good Morning, Vietnam |
| Ingénue | An attractive young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome who is the romantic object of desire for the hero. | The Disney Princesses Dorothy Gale in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum Sandy Dumbrowski / Olsson in the 1971 musical Grease |
| Innocent | A character, often a child (or a child-like adult) who shows moral purity, kindness, and goodness. They may be naive, vulnerable, and afraid of abandonment. Despite having almost all positive traits, they do have some issues; with their sunny outlook, they may be blind to risks or unaware of the ploys of deceitful characters. | Tiny Tim in the 1843 book A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Lennie Small in the 1937 book Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Buddy the Elf in the 2003 Christmas film Elf Peter Pan in the eponymous 1904 play and 1911 book by J.M. Barrie |
| Irish person | During the vaudeville era, the Irish stereotype was developed where it was called "stage Irish". It was an "exaggerated caricature of supposedly Irish characteristics in speech and behavior, which depicted Irish people as "garrulous, boastful, unreliable, hard-drinking, belligerent (though cowardly), and chronically impecunious". In 1920s-era films, Irish characters were "fighters, gangsters, rebels, or priests". In the 1950s, Hollywood films depicted Irish women as an "Irish colleen" with a "feisty independent spirit." In the 1990s and 2000s, a new stereotype emerged: the "Irish male as a romantic ideal", with a soft, "soulful and poetic" demeanor. During that same era, another Irish male stereotype emerged: the balaclava-wearing IRA bomb-maker or fighter, sometimes with an "indecipherable, tongue-twister accent". | All the forms of the exaggerated caricature / stereotype are heavily lampooned and deconstructed in the 1990s television sitcom series Father Ted. Paddy Tanniger in the US television animated sitcom series Family Guy |
| Italian-American person | Italian-American stereotypes depict men with "over-the-top gaudy couture", an "insatiable libido that will sooner or later lead to infidelity", "temper problems", a lifestyle of "vanity and violence", "tough", "uneducated", involved in "illegal activities, like bribery", and having "connections to the Mafia". Italian-American women are depicted as "vain, hot-tempered, [and] power-hungry." | Characters in US mafia films and series: The Godfather Goodfellas Casino The Sopranos Loretta Castorini and her mother, Rose, played by non–Italian Americans Cher and Olympia Dukakis in the 1987 film Moonstruck portray non-stereotypical characters amongst others that do conform. Jersey Shore The Real Housewives of New Jersey |

## J

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Japanese person | From 1945 through the 1960s, Hollywood cinema propagated a racist stereotype depicting Japanese men as a "pint-sized man wearing black-framed spectacles, with protuberant incisors", like the "klutzy photographer Mr Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's" whereas Japanese women are depicted with the traits of the geisha: "feminine, subservient, eager and willing to please males". White actors in make-up to try to make them appear as Far East Asian — in what has come to be known as "yellow-facing" — were typically cast in Asian roles until the 1960s. By the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese people started being portrayed as a "fusion of tradition and high tech", with the historical references being to ninja and samurai, which are both "part of the 'mysterious East'" (e.g. Gung Ho (1986)). Depictions of Japanese people also link them to sumo wrestling, kabuki, or eating sushi. | Sakini played by Marlon Brando in the 1956 film The Teahouse of the August Moon Mr Yunioshi played by Mickey Rooney in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's The 1986 US comedy film Gung Ho The 1989 US neo-noir thriller film Black Rain |
| Jews | Stereotypes of Jews in literature have changed over the centuries. While there are some sympathetic Jewish characters in fiction, there have been recurrent pejorative and racist anti-Semitic Jewish stereotypes in literature from the Medieval era until the 20th century. The first generation of Jewish-American authors presented "realistic portrayals" of Jewish immigrants presenting a sympathetic rendering of Jewish characters with proto-Zionist and Kaballistic ideas. | Anti-Semitic portrayals: The Faust legend version from 1587 has Faust borrow money from a Jew, who demands one of Faust's legs as security for the debt. Barabas, the merchant in the 1590 play The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe Shylock the moneylender in the play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. The greedy banker and art collector character in the book series La Comédie humaine by Honoré de Balzac Fagin, the leader of a den in the 1838 book Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Svengali, the hypnotist and manipulator in the 1894 novel Trilby by George du Maurier Veitel Itzig, the greedy and immoral Jewish businessman antagonist in the 1855 novel Debit and Credit by Gustav Freytag Jewish characters are portrayed sympathetically: Riah as a paragon of virtue in 1865 book Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens Anton Trendelssohn in the 1867 novel Nina Balatka by Anthony Trollope Daniel Deronda in the eponymous 1876 novel of George Eliot. |
| Jewish American Princess | A pejorative stereotype of well-off young women at Jewish "summer camps, Hebrew schools, [and] the suburbs of New Jersey" with a focus on grooming (flat-ironed hair), trendiness, "upmarket loungewear", luxury brands (Neiman Marcus, Filene's, etc.) "entitled dispositions toward luxury", and a liking for ease and comfort. They often engage in "manipulation and acquisitiveness" and they may act spoiled or engage in "pouting, complaining, [and] cajoling." | Marjorie Morningstar in the eponymous 1955 novel by Herman Wouk Philip Roth's 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus Cher Horowitz played by Alicia Silverstone in the 1995 film Clueless The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel |
| Jewish mother | A nagging, loud, highly-talkative, overprotective, smothering, and overbearing mother, who persists in interfering in her children's lives long after they have become adults and is excellent at making her children feel guilty for actions that may have caused her to suffer. | Molly Goldberg in the US radio series The Goldbergs Auntie Nelda in the US television and film series of Ernest P. Worrell Sheila Broflovski in the US television animated sitcom series South Park Mrs Wolowitz in the US television sitcom series The Big Bang Theory |
| Jock | A popular US high school or college athlete stereotype who is heavily interested in sports and hook ups with cheerleaders. Also likely, he may be a bully and the boyfriend of the school diva. | Brom Bones in the 1820 book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving Flash Thompson in the Spider-Man comic books Nathan Scott in the US television series One Tree Hill |
| Judas | These characters, named after the Biblical character Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus, are traitors or turncoats who sell out their comrades to the enemy for profit or advancement, or out of spite. | Lando Calrissian in the 1980 Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back, (betrays rebel leaders Han Solo, and Princess Leia to Darth Vader) Cypher in the 1999 film The Matrix betrays Morpheus, Trinity, and Neo to the enemy "machines" Carter Burke, the representative of the biotechnology company in the 1986 film Aliens betrays Ripley and the space marines sent on the rescue mission |
| Jungle boy | A man who is separated from his parents as a very young boy and raised in the wild by animals. Despite isolation from civilization and lack of grasp of language, the jungle boy has an innate sense of civilization and morality and is usually portrayed heroically. | Mowgli in the 1894 collection of short stories The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling Tarzan in the eponymous early 20th century book series by Edgar Rice Burroughs Bomba, the Jungle Boy series of books The US television animated sitcom series George of the Jungle |
| Jungle girl | An adult woman archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer, superhero, or even a damsel in distress living in a jungle or rainforest setting. A prehistoric depiction is a cave girl. | Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Wonder Woman Atalanta |

## K

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Keystone Cop | A bumbling, incompetent American police officer or squad, named after the Keystone Cops comic silent film series inspired in good part by the Los Angeles police of the early 20th century, which did not have professional training of recruits until 1916. They show a great deal of action as they pursue a criminal, but they are uncoordinated and the attempt ends in chaos. Modern types may be depicted as lazy, overweight, and with a predilection for donuts. If set in the southern United States, the character is usually also portrayed as racist, corrupt and lacking regard for the rights of whom he is accusing. | Barney Fife in the US television The Andy Griffith Show sitcom series Officer Charlie Dibble in the US television animated sitcom series Top Cat Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the US television action-comedy series The Dukes of Hazzard Chief Clancy Wiggum in the US television animated sitcom series The Simpsons |
| Knight-errant | A noble knight on a quest for his Lady or who is seeking some object of significant, such as the Holy Grail. He expresses his courtly love for his beloved from afar. (See also: Youxia) | Sir Lancelot du Lac in the King Arthur legends Aragorn in the 1954 book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Bronn in the saga of A Song of Fire and Ice book series by George R.R. Martin Jack Reacher, as a modern version as the protagonist of the series of crime thriller novels by Lee Child |
| Kuudere | A Japanese manga and anime character, who is known for displaying a withdrawn or unemotional demeanor concealing a warmer side to their personality, in contrast to tsundere and yandere characters. | Rei Ayanami in the Neon Genesis Evangelion series Battle Angel Alita a.k.a. Gunnm in the 1990s Business Jump manga magazines KOS-MOS in the video game Xenosaga 2B android in the 2017 video game Nier: Automata |

## L

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Latin Lady (Lover) | This Hispanic or Latin stock character, also called a "Dark Lady", is a beautiful and aristocratic woman whose mysterious and inscrutable personality makes her seem alluring. Scholars have called this and the male equivalent below the only two positive Hispanic stock characters. | Dolores Del Rio played various stereotyped roles in films such as Flying Down to Rio (1933) and In Caliente (1936) |
| Latin lover | A handsome, sharply-dressed man who seduces women with his suave, confident demeanor and his elegant courtship and tango dancing skills. Paradoxically, he shows both tenderness and "sexual danger". He draws the woman into a passionate romance that is doomed due to the pair being enmeshed in an intrigue. The Latin lover may be Italian, Spanish, Latin American, Romanian (from the inspirations with vampire) or French. | Rudolph Valentino (actor) Ricardo Montalbán (actor) Gilbert Roland (actor) Gambit (Marvel Comics). |
| Legacy hero | A character thrust, often unwillingly, into the role of a hero through nepotism, sometimes having been previously unaware of their family's legacy. | Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series Frodo Baggins in the 1954 book The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien Silk Spectre / Laurie Juspeczyk in the Watchmen comic book series |
| LGBTQ characters | In many forms of popular entertainment, gay men are portrayed stereotypically as promiscuous, flashy, flamboyant, and bold, while the reverse is often true of how lesbians are portrayed. Similar to race-, religion-, and class-based caricatures, these stereotypical stock character representations vilify or make light of marginalized and misunderstood groups. In U.S. television and other media, gay or lesbian characters tend to die or meet an unhappy ending, such as becoming insane, more often than other characters. | See: Gay characters in fiction and Media portrayal of LGBT people |
| Little Green Men | Small humanoid extraterrestrials with often scaly, green skin and sometimes with antennae on their heads. These characters are often associated with bug-eyed monsters / aliens. In science fiction fandom, they are also known familiarly as "LGM". | The Great Gazoo in the US television animated sitcom series The Flintstones Aliens / Little Green Men in the Toy Story film series The Martians in the 1996 comic sci. fi. film Mars Attacks! by Tim Burton |
| Loathly lady | A woman disguised as an ugly hag (often cursed), reveals her true beauty when the curse is lifted. The order may also be reversed. Male counterparts also exist such as the Beast from Beauty and the Beast. | The Wife of Bath's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer Princess Melusine in the 15th century poem The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle The Frog Prince in Grimms' Fairy Tales of 1812 |
| Lolita | A young and attractive teenage girl who is getting into a sexual relationship with a middle-aged man. The teenage girl may be portrayed as "precociously seductive." It originates from Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita, which portrays the male narrator's sexual obsession with and victimization of Dolores, a 12-year-old girl whom he privately calls "Lolita." | Dolores in the 1955 novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Ivy and Lily in the Poison Ivy film series |
| Loner | An isolated, alienated person who struggles to connect with people. Their personality may range from benign and withdrawn to embittered and angry, but they tend to seek out solitude. A variant is to depict the person as able to have inconsequential social interaction, but incapable of feeling love or caring (e.g., Meursault in The Outsider). | Frank Castle ("The Punisher") Holden Caulfield Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee The reserved, restrained butler Stevens in The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro The Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss Meursault in The Outsider by Albert Camus |
| Lovable loser | A woebegone, yet sympathetic and usually determined, character for whom nothing goes right. | Charlie Brown, (Peanuts) Ziggy Sad Sack Milo Murphy, (Milo Murphy's Law) Meg Griffin, (Family Guy) |
| Lovers | Main characters who deeply fall in love, despite the blocking effect of other characters or events; often star-crossed lovers that are strongly fraternizing with the "enemy". This pair of stock characters dates back to the Innamorati in the theatre style known as commedia dell'arte, who appeared in 16th-century Italy. In the plays, everything revolved around the lovers in some regard. While commedia dell'arte lovers typically overcome all obstacles and are united happily at the end, later dramatic and literary works may have the young lovers face a tragic end. | Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, (Romeo & Juliet) Tony and Maria, (West Side Story) Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, (Titanic) |

## M

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Machiavellian | An amoral politician who is obsessed with power and willing to commit criminal acts to secure or enhance their position. The Machiavellian character typically follows the principles set out by Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, a guidebook for 16th century rulers. The Machiavellian as a villain devises ruthless plots to eliminate rivals and their families and is willing to do anything, including betrayal of allies or murdering noncombatants, to win more power. | Richard of Gloucester in Richard III and both Edmund and Cornwall in King Lear by William Shakespeare. Francis Urquhart in Michael Dobbs's 1989 novel House of Cards and the television adaptations, renamed as Frank Underwood in the U.S. |
| Mad scientist | An eccentric or insane scientist, who is often amoral and the villain of the piece or else driven to insanity by their experiments. Not all mad scientists are evil, with single-minded obsession with their field of study being mistakenly equated with mania — q.v. boffin. Some intend to be benevolent, but think little of the wider repercussions of their work in society or unintentionally cause an accident due to their hubristic attempt to play God in the laboratory. This character trope may well work alone or just have a single stereotyped hunchbacked assistant, often called Igor. | Victor Frankenstein in the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Dr Henry Jekyll in the 1886 novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson Dr Moreau in the 1896 novel The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells Sidney Stratton, the eponymous hero of the 1951 film, The Man in the White Suit |
| Magical Negro | An American stereotype of a black person with special insight or mystical powers, who ends up coming to the aid of the white protagonist. | Uncle Remus, narrator of the 1881 US folk tales of Joel Chandler Harris John Coffey in the 1996 novel The Green Mile by Stephen King Bagger Vance in the 2000 film The Legend of Bagger Vance |
| Magical Native American | A US stereotype of a person of First Nations origin, with shamanistic powers, who typically comes to help a family troubled by disturbed supernatural and/or evil forces. | Taylor in the 1986 film Poltergeist II: The Other Side Thunderbird (John Proudstar) in the Marvel comic books Warpath in the X-Men comic books |
| Malcontent / Misanthrope | A character type that often appeared in early modern drama, who is usually an unhappy outsider, but always dissatisfied. They observe and comment on the action, and are sometimes metafictionally aware that they are in a play. | Hamlet in the 1600 eponymous play by William Shakespeare Malevole in the 1603 play The Malcontent by John Marston Vindice in the 1606 play The Revenger's Tragedy by Thomas Middleton (disputed) Bosola in the 1612 play The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster Alceste, the eponymous protagonist in the 1666 comedy of manners The Misanthrope by Molière |
| Male buffoon (Hispanic) | This stereotype is used for comic relief. The characters' struggle to learn English or control their hot-blooded temper is used as a source of humor. | Pancho in The Return of the Cisco Kid Sgt Garcia in Walt Disney's Zorro Ricky Ricardo in I Love Lucy |
| Mammy archetype | An American stereotype of a rotund, homely, and matronly black woman who has a sunny demeanor and she is devoted to her role as a cook and caregiver. This archetype originated during the era of slavery, and it is considered to be a pejorative racial stereotype. | Aunt Jemima brand of US pancake mix Mammy Two Shoes in the Tom and Jerry series of animated short films Calpurnia in the 1960 book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee |
| Man alone | A solitary, rootless nonconformist" or antihero whose extreme moral beliefs have led them to be friendless. Associated with Literature of New Zealand. | Johnson in the New Zealand novel Man alone; the strictly moral comic book character Rorschach (Walter Kovacs) Sasuke Uchiha from the manga, Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto |
| Manic Pixie Dream Girl | Usually static young female characters who have eccentric personality quirks and are unabashedly girlish, dreamy, and attractive. They often exist only to serve as a source of inspiration to the male character, and as such, little of their inner life is depicted. | Zelda Spellman, Bo Peep, Debora from Baby Driver |
| Masked villain | A masked villain is a stock character in genre fiction that was developed and popularized in movie serials, beginning with The Hooded Terror in The House of Hate, (1918) the first fully-costumed mystery villain of the movies, and frequently used in the adventure stories of pulp magazines and sound-era movie serials in the early twentieth century, as well as postmodern horror films. | "The Clutching Hand" in The Exploits of Elaine "The Hooded Terror" in The House of Hate Fur-coated Mystery Man in The Phantom Foe "Monsieur X" in The Trail of the Octopus "The Gargoyle" in The Spider Returns.$^{:133}$ "The Crimson Ghost" in The Crimson Ghost "The Wasp" in Mandrake the Magician "Captain Mephisto" in Manhunt of Mystery Island.$^{:129}$ "The Rattler" in Mystery Mountain$^{:129}$ "The Wizard" in Batman and Robin.$^{:133}$ "The Master Key" in The Master Key. The Colonel from The Man in the Brown Suit. A from Pretty Little Liars Anokata from Detective Conan. The Octopus from The Spirit. Tobi from Naruto. Gideon G. Graves from Scott Pilgrim. "All For One" from Boku no Hero Academia The Masked Osodashi from Jankenman. |
| Matchmaker | A matchmaker or "marriage broker" is a character who helps single people find a compatible pairing for marriage. In some cultures, the role of the matchmaker is professionalized, so the matchmaker may be compensated with a fee. In other cases, the matchmaker may be a family member, family friend, or member of the clergy. The matchmaker in a story may be altruistic and benevolent, and have noble goals, such helping to find a good love pairing or ensure long-term financial security for someone. On the other hand, some matchmaker characters may have more cunning political or strategic goals, such as securing business influence or affecting the balance of power between aristocratic families. Some matchmakers may be portrayed negatively, as manipulators or meddlers. In some romantic comedies, the matchmaker's planned love pairing for a couple may not work, but the matchmaker may themselves fall in love. A subtype in stories set in Jewish communities is the marriage broker, shadchan. | Mrs Bennet, an inept and meddling amateur matchmaker for her daughters in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Emma Woodhouse, the titular character of the Emma by Jane Austen Raina plays matchmaker and to set up potential partners from the Indian community in The Matchmaker's List by Sonya Lalli Jewish matchmaker characters appear in: Sara Glikman helping match couples in the book The Matchmaker’s Gift by Lynda Cohen Loigman Meant to be mine by Hannah Orenstein Mr Perfect on Paper by Jean Meltzer |
| Medium | A psychic person who helps the main protagonist(s). Mediums may be depicted using spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija. | Madame Arcati in the 1941 comic play Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward Tangina Barrons in the 1982 film Poltergeist Whoopi Goldberg's fake medium, Oda Mae Brown, in the 1990 film Ghost Agatha Lively in Steven Spielberg's 2002 film Minority Report adapted from the 1956 short story by Philip K. Dick Cassandra Anderson in the 2012 dystopian film Dredd |
| Mean girl | Also known as the "school diva" or "queen bee" who is an attractive and popular high school girl who uses her status to bully others, primarily the protagonist. She is often the girlfriend of the school's popular jock. | Lucy van Pelt in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Shultz Chloé Bourgeois in the French television animated series Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir Nina Harper in the Canadian-Chinese television animated series Braceface Regina George played by Rachel McAdams in the 2004 film Mean Girls |
| Middle child | In a family setting, usually the second of three children, who is often neglected and/or disrespected due to their parents (and the overall story) paying more attention to the youngest and oldest siblings. | Jan Brady Stephanie Tanner Malcolm as the titular lead inverts this trope in the US sitcom series Malcolm in the Middle Chris Griffin |
| Miles Gloriosus | A boastful soldier whose cowardice belies his claims of a valour-filled past. His boasts may also extend to his purported feats in the bedroom. Originally from the comic theatre of ancient Rome, this stock character was often from a low class and he was typically engaged in sexual dalliances, excess drinking and thievery. In commedia dell'arte, the boastful Il Capitano was one of the four core stock characters. He brags about dubious tales of military or sexual prowess to hide his cowardly nature. | Falstaff, Baron Munchausen, Buzz Lightyear, the British mercenary Spence (who is revealed to be a coward) |
| Milkman | A delivery person roped into a sexual affair with a married customer. Common in pornographic films; the delivery person need not be delivering milk, though this specific type was a common joke when milk delivery was a common profession. | Ernie Price |
| Miltonic hero | A romanticized type of antihero who is both charismatic and wicked. The Miltonic hero resists the instructions of authority figures and feels that moral rules do not apply to them. The name refers to poet John Milton. | Milton's Satan character in Paradise Lost, Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, Melmoth in Melmoth the Wanderer (the title character sells his soul to the Devil) |
| Miser | This stock character is based on Harpagon in The Miser and on Ebenezer Scrooge, main character from A Christmas Carol. An old, miserly and wealthy boss who refuses to spend money and prefers to hoard it. "Miser" characters range from excessively thrifty, but otherwise benign types, to avaricious, cold-hearted types who are willing to harm others. | J. Paul Getty as portrayed in All the Money in the World Randolph and Mortimer Duke in Trading Places Mr. Potter Jack Benny |
| Mother's boy | An awkward man who is excessively attached to his mother. Often he continues to act in a childish, submissive fashion even into adulthood. | Private Pike Howard Wolowitz Eddie Kaspbrak (Stephen King's It) Norman Bates Kes from Mother's Boys |
| Mother-in-law | A stereotypical portrayal of a character's spouse's mother; frequently a battle-axe and always disapproving of her daughter/son-in-law. | Pearl SlaghoopleViola Fields, Jane Fonda in the film Monster-in-Law, Marie Barone (Doris Roberts) in the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, who is extremely meddlesome and incessantly makes conceited remarks to her daughter-in-law Debra, Adele Delfino (Celia Weston) on the television series Desperate Housewives |
| Mutant | In comic books and science fiction, a mutant is a being with new phenotypes that go far beyond what is typically seen in actual biological mutants and often result in the mutated life form exhibiting enhanced or even superhuman abilities. In the Marvel Comics Universe, they are a persecuted minority who many people fear and hate. | In the Marvel Comics Universe's X-Men series, they include a range of terrestrial and alien races, as well as robots, including Ariel, Danger, and Warlock; in Foundation and Empire (1952) by Isaac Asimov, a "mutant" named The Mule possesses the ability to sense and manipulate the emotions of others; in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, mutants are creatures with the genetic traits of two different animals. |
| Mythological king | A ruler in myth and/or legend, usually a heroic one. | King Arthur |

## N

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Napoleonic villain | Named after the common (but false) myth regarding ruler and military commander Napoleon Bonaparte's short height. This is usually comical villain whose short stature drives them to seek world domination. | Lord Farquaad Plankton The Brain Boris Badenov |
| Nazi zombies | Dead Nazi soldiers or officers reanimated as undead monsters. These characters appear in horror-themed films and video games. | Appear in: Call of Duty: World at War Dead Snow King of the Zombies |
| Nemesis | See: Archenemy | |
| Nerd | A socially-awkward, obsessive, or overly-intellectual person. They are often interested in doing well in school (academically and in terms of behavior). They tend to dress in unfashionable clothes. The "geek" character is similar, but may be depicted in more negative manner. | Will McKenzie Steve Urkel (Family Matters) George McFly (Back to the Future) Napoleon Dynamite (Napoleon Dynamite) Max Caulfield (Life Is Strange) |
| Nice guy | A male character of wholesome morals, agreeable personality and usually modest means. In romantic fiction, he usually struggles with finding women willing to date him (since, as the phrase goes, "nice guys finish last"); in ideal happy endings, he finds a woman more appropriate for him (possibly a Manic Pixie Dream Girl) than those who rejected him. | Marty Piletti Granville in the television sitcom series Open All Hours Tim Canterbury in the television sitcom series The Office Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling |
| Nightclub act | Performers who specialize in vaudeville performances in nightclubs. In fiction, nightclub acts are usually portrayed as bottom-of-the-barrel entertainers with limited talent. | Rogers and Clarke (Ishtar) Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, the Martin and Lewis impersonators from Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla Velma Kelly (Chicago) |
| Ninja | A ninja (also known as "shinobi") is depicted as mysterious, black-masked Japanese fighter with advanced martial arts and ninjutsu skills in infiltration, assassination and deception. Ninjas may be depicted as having supernatural abilities such as invisibility, walking on water, and control over natural elements. There are many myths and legends about ninjas in popular culture. | Sarutobi Sasuke Kōga Ninpōchō Enter the Ninja Revenge of the Ninja Ninja Assassin Akakage The Master Ninja Warrior Shinobi Ninja Gaiden Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Noble adversary | A villain who poses a legitimate threat but operates with honor and reason. The battle between the protagonist and the noble adversary is driven by different interpretations of justice rather than a clear demarcation of good and evil, and there may be enough common ground between the two for them to collaborate against threats greater than both. | Magneto, (X-Men) Chuck McGill, (Better Call Saul) Killmonger, (Marvel Comics) |
| Noble savage | An idealized Indigenous person or otherwise "wild" outsider who is uncorrupted by civilization. | Chingachgook Mowgli Tarzan |

## O

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Occult detective | A detective who uses traditional techniques to solve supernatural mysteries. The occult detective may have few or no supernatural powers of their own (or, if possessing such powers, little understanding of how to harness them) and instead rely on someone who does, such as a psychic or medium, as a sidekick. | Carl Kolchak, Fred Jones, Melinda Gordon, Dale Cooper, Reigen Arataka |
| Outlaw | A bandit depicted in a romanticized way, often charismatic and appealing, despite their lawless conduct. | Robin Hood, Billy the Kid, Jesse James |

## P

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Pantomime dame | A pantomime portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. | Widow Twankey, Mary Sunshine |
| Paul Lynde-type | An easily irritated villain with a distinctive, whiny and slightly effeminate voice. Named after character actor Paul Lynde, who played numerous characters of this style during the prime of his career in the 1960s and 1970s, and adopted by numerous others after Lynde's death in 1982. | Norman Normanmeyer, Roger the Alien |
| Petrushka | A Russian kind of Pulcinella-type jester. He is presented as mischievous, self-serving, gluttonous, aggressive, and cowardly.$^{:62}$ He is usually at the center of conflict in the Petrushka carnival plays, often getting himself out of trouble by killing the other puppets on stage with a swing of his club. | |
| Pierrot | French pantomime, a sad clown in a distinctive all-white attire and makeup, often pining for the love of Columbina, who usually breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin. | Canio, (Pagliacci) Puddles the Clown, (Puddles Pity Party) The Tramp, (Charlie Chaplin character) |
| Pirate | A romanticized stereotype of high seas pirates of the 18th century. Features may include a black tricorn hat with skull and crossbones, unkempt facial hair, missing body parts (e.g. eyepatch, peg leg, hook for a hand), adventurous but surly demeanor, and a distinctive accent. Variants on the theme include air pirates and space pirates. | Captain Hook, Long John Silver, Captain Blood (novel) Patchy the Pirate (SpongeBob SquarePants) |
| Preppy | In 1980s TV shows and films (or in works set in this era), preppies are students or alumnus of Ivy League schools who have American upper class speech, vocabulary, dress, mannerisms and etiquette. Like the related yuppie stock character of the 1980s, preppies range from benign (albeit materialistic and pretentious), to arrogant or even immoral. | Jake in Sixteen Candles, Steff McKee and Blane McDonough in Pretty in Pink |
| Prince Charming | A handsome, courageous fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. Often charming and romantic, these characters are essentially interchangeable, serving as a foil to the heroine; in many variants, they can be viewed as a metaphor for a reward the heroine achieves for the decisions she makes. | This stock character type suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, including "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Cinderella", even if in the original story they were given another name, or no name at all. |
| Princesse lointaine | A romantic love interest and beloved sweetheart and girlfriend for a Knight-errant. She was usually a woman of much higher noble birth, often far distant from the knight, and usually wealthier than he was, beautiful, and of admirable character. Some knights had, indeed, fallen in love with the princess owing to hearing descriptions of her, without seeing her due to her beauty and virtue. | Dulcinea, Guinevere |
| Prodigal son | A wayward adult child who has become estranged from their family and gone into exile, where they squander their inheritance on a debauched lifestyle, while their older sibling works hard in their career. Then the estranged adult child suffers a reversal of fortune, and ends up doing a low-paid job to make ends meet, which leads them to repenting, and they return home, where the kind, loving father forgives the adult child and welcomes them home with a celebration. The name of the stock character comes from the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32), in which the young son who has lost his way symbolizes the sinners and tax collectors (see Luke 15:1), the hardworking elder brother symbolizes the self-righteous Pharisees, and the kind father symbolizes God. Novels, films and other stories that use the prodigal son stock character may depict a son or a daughter who returns, and rather than have the person who returns be from a family, they may be a member of a school, team, or organization who returns after going through a reversal of fortune. The benevolent father figure may be a mentor, elder, or leader. | In Godspell, at the end of Act 1, Jesus is a drill sergeant leading his soldiers, who act out the Parable of the Prodigal Son; in Death of a Salesman, which is about a father who is a traveling salesman who has two adult sons: Happy, who works in business like his father, is ignored by the dad, and Biff, who moves away and becomes a ranch hand, is the prodigal son that the dad had high ambitions for him; in the play Long Day's Journey into Night, an actor in his mid-60s has two sons. One, Jamie, the prodigal son, is a ne'er-do-well actor who puts more effort into drinking and having liaisons with prostitutes than acting. The other son is a poet who caught tuberculosis while traveling in the Merchant Marine; the novel Prodigal Son by Danielle Steel; in The Return of the Prodigal Son (1976), the younger son of a prominent rural family returns after being gone for 12 years. During his absence, the family was under the tyranny of the older brother. The family had hoped the young brother would become a successful in Cairo, but he ended up jailed after a building collapsed; in The Magician King by Lev Grossman, Dean Fogg greets the former student Quentin when he comes back to the magical school by saying "the prodigal has returned." |
| Psycho-biddy | An embittered, usually psychotic, faded ex-celebrity, typically an old woman. | Baby Jane Hudson, Norma Desmond, Joan Crawford as portrayed in Mommie Dearest |

## Q

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Quincy punk | An "establishment showbiz" version of punks, which were dubbed "Quincy punks" after a 1982 episode of the TV series Quincy, M.E., about a crime-solving medical examiner. The episode "Next Stop, Nowhere" depicted punks as nihilistic "spiky-haired teenagers and flippant young adults" who are "cartoonishly naive and short-sighted" and full of "punk rage", and who think with "rigid ideology and relentless hopelessness". The punks are shown with "torn clothes, spiked hair, bizarre makeup, and (for some reason) bandanas." Maclean's calls it a "fake Hollywood-ized version of a punk." | Several punks in the opening of Terminator are vandalizing an observatory and then attempt to rob the titular humanoid robot, the rebellious teen Abby 1982 episode of the TV series Quincy, M.E., entitled "Next Stop, Nowhere" (played by Melora Hardin) |

## R

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Rake | A seductive man who habitually behaves immorally, and is especially, a womanizer. | Don Juan Glenn Quagmire, (Family Guy) Barney Stinson, (How I Met Your Mother) |
| Raw recruit | Young, naive and impressionable, the raw recruit has to learn how to live with military discipline and understand the reasons behind the way the military works. He often ends up in a position of leadership (as an Idealistic Lieutenant) by the end of the story. They may have a "tragic" death towards the end of the movie, particularly if they show the protagonist a picture of a fiancée or wife they "have back home". | Juan Rico of Starship Troopers; a parody of this character is "Dead Meat" from the comedy Hot Shots!, whose obviously impending doom is played for laughs; "Soap" MacTavish from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare also fits this category, becoming a captain in the sequel. |
| Rebel | A maverick who refuses to follow society's rules and conventions. He may simultaneously be a loner or hotshot. | John Bender, Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (played by James Dean), Dirty Harry franchise, Bart Simpson (the Simpsons) |
| Redneck | In the 1970s, B movie "hixploitation" films depicted rednecks as Appalachian or Southern "good old boys" involved in illicit moonshine operations. Other redneck subtypes include crooked Southern sheriffs, "back-road racers", and truckers. | Bo and Luke Duke, (The Dukes of Hazzard) Buddy Thunderstruck, (Buddy Thunderstruck) Bubba J, (Jeff Dunham character) |
| Redshirt | A minor, expendable character who is killed soon after being introduced. This refers to characters from the original Star Trek television series, often from the security or engineering departments of the starship, who wore the red Starfleet uniform. They are cannon fodder. | Stormtroopers (Star Wars) Goomba (Super Mario) Jenkins (Mass Effect) |
| Reluctant hero | A character who is thrust against their will into a heroic role; overlaps with the everyman and the antihero | Shaun Riley, John McClane, Harry Potter, Neo |
| Ride-or-die chick | A woman who is willing to support her partner and their risky lifestyle despite how this might endanger or harm her. She may even take an active role as an accomplice | Letty Ortiz (Fast & Furious franchise) |
| Rightful king | A usurped, just ruler whose return or triumph restores peace. The rightful king may be a reluctant hero who is reticent to take the throne. | Simba, Aragorn, King Arthur, Pastoria, King Richard, Duke Senior (As You Like It) |
| Robots and related artificial beings | Science fiction or futuristic stories may include artificial mechanical beings including robots and more humanlike robotic beings with flesh-like bodies such as androids and fembots. In fiction, robots are typically autonomous programmable machines which may have human form or a stark functionality, such as an industrial robot. In fiction, the robotic beings have varying levels of artificial intelligence (AI) or independent thought, ranging from beings with a narrow range of programmed actions to beings constrained by strict rules, to having a human-like artificial intelligence beings with free will. Robotic beings may be depicted with a range of characters, ranging from benevolent, neutral, or aggressive (Maximilian in The Black Hole (1979 film). See also Artificial intelligence and Cyborg. | Ava is an attractive, charismatic fembot in Ex Machina; Marvin the Paranoid Android is a neurotic artificial being in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) by Douglas Adams |
| "Runyonesque" characters | Characters appearing in short stories by US sports writer and author Damon Runyon, which depict Prohibition era underworld New Yorkers from Brooklyn or Midtown Manhattan. "Runyonesque" refers to the type of situations and dialog that Runyon depicted, populated by gamblers, bookies, boxers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, few of whom go by "square" names, preferring creative nicknames. His characters use colorful street slang. | Characters have colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit", "Benny Southstreet", "Big Jule", "Harry the Horse", "Good Time Charley", "Dave the Dude", or "The Seldom Seen Kid". |

## S

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| School ma'am | A pretty young woman schoolteacher in a frontier town or settlement. Her wholesome, virginal demeanor, modest dress, and education distinguish her from the other Western female stereotype (whores at the brothel or saloon). Schoolmarms represent civilization. Pretty, young teachers may be a love interest for the hero. Old teachers tend to be spinsters who are strict disciplinarians. | My Darling Clementine, Helen Crump Taylor, Miss Turlock |
| Senex amans | This stock character in medieval romances and classical comedies is an old, ugly man who is married to a pretty young woman. The senex amans, which is Latin for "ancient lover", is depicted as having wrinkles, greying hair, and struggling with impotence. He is often cuckolded by a good-looking young man who charms the young wife. | Chaucer's "Miller's Tale" and "The Merchant's Tale," Marie de France's "Guigemar" and "Laustic" and Tristan and Iseult. In Aphra Behn's Oroonoko, the old king of Ghana is a senex amans, as he is trying to seduce the young woman Imoinda. |
| Senex iratus | A father figure and comic archetype who belongs to the alazon or impostor group in theater, manifesting himself through his rages and threats, his obsessions and his gullibility | Pantalone Arthur Spooner Grampa Simpson (The Simpsons) |
| Sexy mother | An attractive middle-aged woman who has an open and active sex life, mostly with younger men (see: MILF or cougar). A similar term for elderly-aged women is known as "Sexy grandma" or "GILF". | Mona Robinson Blanche Devereaux Sue Ann Nivens Jeanine Stifler aka Stifler's Mom (Jennifer Coolidge in American Pie) Mamako Oosuki |
| Sexy dad | Male counterpart of "Sexy mother" -– sometimes also called "Hot dad" (see: DILF or sugar daddy). A charismatic and attractive middle-aged man who is dating and having sex with younger women. | |
| Shonen manga hero | A simple-minded yet spirited and friendly hero eager to face any challenge and prove his/her strength. | Goku, Monkey D. Luffy, Naruto Uzumaki Ash Ketchum, Sora, Pit, Finn the Human |
| Shonen manga rival | A stoic loner who serves as a foil to the hero. | Vegeta, Sasuke Uchiha, Char Aznable, Shadow the Hedgehog, Zuko |
| Shrew | A woman given to violent, scolding, particularly nagging treatment of men. | Lois Griffin, Wilma Flintstone, Debra Barone |
| Sidekick | A loyal companion to the protagonist (or antagonist) who may also be the best friend, love interest or partner in crime. | Jim (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn) Samwise Gamgee (The Lord of the Rings) Robin (DC Comics) Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger (Harry Potter) Luigi (Super Mario) Tails (Sonic the Hedgehog) |
| Sinnekins | Pairs of devilish, impish characters who exert their perfidious influence on the main character. | Flotsam and Jetsam (The Little Mermaid) Pain and Panic (Hercules) Thing 1 and Thing 2 (The Cat in the Hat) Winged monkeys (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) |
| Sissy | In the 1930s, the "sissy" or "pansy" was a pejorative stereotype used as one of the earliest gay stock characters in Hollywood films. "Sissy" characters had an "...extremely effeminate boulevardier type sporting lipstick, rouge, a trim mustache and hairstyle, and an equally trim suit, incomplete without a boutonniere." Filmmakers used the characters to elicit a "quick laugh", and they never had any character depth. These roles "...cemented the gross stereotypes of gay men that are still seen today." | Blaine Edwards and Antoine Meriwether, Mr. Ernest in Our Betters, Lindy in Car Wash |
| Sleazy lawyer | A corrupt attorney who uses technicalities to get obviously guilty, but wealthy and well-paying, clients acquitted. Sleazy lawyers are driven by a mixture of desiring wealth and a ruthless, competitive desire to win at all costs. They are masters at manipulating witnesses, D.A.s and judges to ensure they win. They range from lawyers who work within the law, by gaming the system or finding loopholes, to those who break the law by destroying evidence or intimidating witnesses. | Billy Flynn, Saul Goodman, Lionel Hutz |
| Sleazy politician | An elected official who is embroiled in corruption and scandals such as taking bribes, using secret slush funds, embezzling money, or engaging in affairs with staff (or other sexual misconduct). They may be hypocrites, who speak out against crime, while using illegal drugs and hanging out in brothels. | Frank Underwood, Willie Stark, Boss Hogg |
| Slow burn | A character who begins as calm and collected but increasingly becomes more angry and exasperated as the childish antics of those around them escalate | Squidward Tentacles, Theodore J. Mooney, Emil Sitka in the works of The Three Stooges |
| Smurfette | Named after the comic character Smurfette from The Smurfs. A female character in an otherwise all-male cast. Often portrays exaggerated feminine traits. Her male counterpart is known as a Lincoln Loud, named after the cartoon character from The Loud House | Elaine Benes Wonder Woman (within the realm of the Justice League) Miss Piggy (The Muppet Show) Beverly Marsh (Stephen King's It) |
| Soubrette | A female character who is vain, girlish, mischievous, lighthearted, coquettish, and gossipy. The role of the soubrette is often to help two young lovers overcome the blocking agents (e.g. chaperones or parents) that stand in the way of their blossoming romance. | Violet Gray Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro) Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert in Mean Girls) Poison Ivy (DC Comics) |
| Southern belle | An elegant, beautiful young woman of the American Old South's upper class. She speaks with a Southern accent and is flirtatious. There is a good, wholesome variant and a vain, darker version. | Scarlett O'Hara, Blanche Dubois, Elsie Stoneman, Rogue (Marvel Comics). |
| Space marine | A type of military soldier or marine who operates in outer space and on extraterrestrial planets. | Doomguy, Master Chief, Space Marine (Warhammer 40,000), Johnny Rico from Starship Troopers |
| Spear carrier | A minor character who appears in several scenes, but mostly in the background roles. The term is a reference to minor characters in old plays set in Roman eras who would literally carry a spear as they played guard characters. | Imperial Royal Guards (Star Wars) |
| Starving artist | An impoverished painter, jazz musician, screenwriter, or novelist who is so dedicated to their artistic vision, that they refuse to sell out and do commercial art (or pop music, or mainstream feature films, etc.). They live in an attic or couch surf, dress shabbily, and struggle to put food on the table. The depiction ranges from a romanticized, rose-tinted glasses portrait of libertine, Absinthe-sipping bohemians to a gritty social realist examination of the artist's impoverished existence. A starving artist may also be a troubled artist. | The depiction of Jerry Mulligan in An American in Paris, both male leads in Withnail & I, Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard, the painter and playwright in Design for Living, various bohemians working as actors, artists, and writers in Moulin Rouge!, Llewyn Davis in Inside Llewyn Davis, Mark Cohen (Rent) |
| Straight man | Not confused with heterosexual man. A sidekick to a funny person who makes his partner look all the more ridiculous by being completely serious. | Oliver Hardy, Bud Abbott, Moe Howard, Burton Guster |
| Succubus | A demon that appears in the form of a female lover. The male version of a demon-lover is an incubus. | Chaucer's Wife of Bath, Coleridge's "Kubla Khan", Bo; in Jennifer's Body (2009) Megan Fox portrays a teenage cheerleader-turned-succubus who kills the boys in her town |
| Superhero | A noble, brave being with extraordinary powers who dedicates their life to defending the general public. Many superhero figures are a secret alter-ego personality of a "normal" person, e.g. Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman | See: List of superhero teams and groups |
| Superfluous man | In Russian 19th century literature, a dashing young aristocrat who is bored from his privileged life, and who distracts himself from his sense of ennui by engaging in intrigues, casual affairs, duels, gambling, and drinking. He is selfish and manipulative, and cares little about others or broader issues in society. | Eugene Onegin |
| Supersoldier | A soldier who operates beyond human limits or abilities. The enhanced abilities may come from extensive training, cybor-type implants, or superpowers. | Captain America (Marvel Comics) Master Chief (Halo) Bloodshot Universal Soldier |
| Supervillain | The nemesis to the Superhero, the supervillain is a sinister being and plots crimes against society. Their origin story, which explains why they turned evil, is often important to their character. | See: Lists of villains |
| Surfer | Spaced out, marijuana-loving Californian surfer who wisecracks their way through life and uses youthful slang. Despite their lack of a job or fixed address, they have a happy-go-lucky demeanor. | Jeff Spicoli, Tommy Chong |
| Swashbuckler | A joyful, noisy, and boastful Renaissance era or Cavalier era swordsman or pirate. He is chivalrous, courageous, and skilled in sword fighting and acrobatics as he seeks vengeance on a corrupt villain. In films, the story may be set in the Golden Age of Piracy. | D'Artagnan, Zorro, Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), Space Adventure Cobra, Ezio Auditore |

## T

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Thug | A henchman or gang member who commits violent crimes | Bill Sikes, Francis Begbie, Biff Tannen |
| Thug (Black) | In American films and TV shows, Black men are depicted "...playing drug dealers, pimps, con-artists and other ... criminals". A criticism of this stock character is that the "...disproportionate amount of Black people playing criminals in Hollywood fuels the racial stereotype that Black men are dangerous and drawn to illicit activities." | The Wire, Denzel Washington in Training Day, the gun runner character Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) in Jackie Brown |
| Tiger mom | A stereotype of East Asian mothers who relentlessly push their children to achieve success. Tiger moms set the highest standards and insist that their children strive for top marks so they can get into the best schools. In US TV and movies, this ethnic stereotype depicts East Asians as a "model minority". | Bi Sheng Nan, (Tiger Mom) Ming Lee, (Turning Red) Evelyn Quan Wang, (Everything Everywhere All at Once) |
| Token black character | A character with no distinguishing characteristics whose sole purpose is to provide nominal diversity to the cast. In 1980s TV shows, screenwriters introduced the "African-American workplace pal" stock character as a way to add a Black character in a secondary role. | Tolkien Black (South Park) Franklin (Peanuts) Isaiah |
| Tomboy | A girl or young woman with boyish and/or manly behavior. Sometimes wears clothes associated with men. | Mérida (Brave) Mulan (Walt Disney Pictures) Rainbow Dash Princess Daisy (Super Mario) George (The Famous Five) |
| Tortured artist | A painter, sculptor, or other creator frustrated with their artistic challenges, or with being misunderstood. They may have mental health issues or addiction, and they are hard to be around due to their narcissism and frustration. | Brian Topp, Vincent van Gogh |
| Town drunk | A male in a small town who is intoxicated more often than sober. They often have a good heart and may end up helping the protagonist. He can also be a street hobo. | Barney Gumble, Otis Campbell, Uncle Billy |
| Tragic hero | A hero with a flaw, mistake, or misconception (hamartia) that leads to their eventual death and downfall. Historically, they were the main character in a Greek or Roman tragedy. The flaw often arises due to the character's hubris. Despite the character's flaw, the audience usually finds them to be admirable or appealing at a broader level, which increases the dramatic impact of their downfall. | Michael Corleone, Jay Gatsby, Randle McMurphy Tupac Shakur |
| Tragic mulatto | A mulatto who is sad or suicidal because they fail to fit in with white or black people. The tragic mestizo has a similar clash with whites and Native Americans. | "Half Breed" -– a popular 1973 song by American singer Cher Eliza Harris, Cassy and Emmeline (Uncle Tom's Cabin) Peola Johnson (Imitation of Life) |
| Trickster | In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise disobey normal rules and defy conventional behavior. Tricksters, as archetypal characters, appear in the myths of many different cultures. They are "boundary-crossers" who break physical and societal rules, "playfully disrupting normal life and then re-establishing it on a new basis." Often, this bending and breaking of rules takes the form of cunning deception and thievery. | Shakespeare's Puck; Loki in Norse mythology; Bugs Bunny; the Cheshire Cat from Lewis Caroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Jerry from Tom and Jerry; Joker from the Batman series; and Pippi Longstocking. As well, there are many tricksters in folktale and mythology |
| Tricky slave | A cunning individual, of a lower social class than the heroes (originally bound in slavery), who facilitates the story's completion in exchange for improvement of his lot. | Puss in Boots in the fairy tale by Giovanni Francesco Straparola Figaro in the 18th-century trilogy of plays starting with The Barber of Seville by Pierre Beaumarchais Jeeves in the eponymous series of books by P.G. Wodehouse Baldrick in the 1983 television sitcom series The Black Adder |
| Tsundere | In Japanese anime and manga, a character who is initially harsh (and sometimes even hostile; tsuntsun in Japanese) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side (deredere) over time. Similar in temperament to the curmudgeon, but usually young and female. | Asuka Langley Soryu Sayaka Yumi Tsuyukusa (Amatsuki) Rin Tohsaka Lucy Van Pelt Helga G. Pataki |
| Tumblr Sexyman | A character who typically combines characteristics of the "theatre kid" and the "bad boy", developing a highly vocal following on social media as a result. | The Once-ler (The Lorax (film)) Alastor (Hazbin Hotel) Robbie Rotten |

## U

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Übermensch | A (often only seemingly) perfect human being | Superman, Hercules, Don Pedro |
| Unseen character | A character who is frequently referenced in the script of a production but never seen. In stage, film and television, they may be indirectly present through hearing their voice offscreen (such as Carlton the Doorman), or from a first-person perspective as the cameraman, answering questions addressed to them by bobbing the camera up and down to nod or left and right to say no (as with Vern in the Ernest P. Worrell series). Unseen characters may become seen near the end of a series. | Billy (Black Christmas) Vera on Cheers Elizabeth Mainwairing (Dad's Army) Maris Crane on Frasier |

## V

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Valley girl | A teenage girl from the San Fernando Valley with a distinctive accent and emphasis on superficial traits. She is typically a materialistic upper-middle-class young woman. The term in later years became more broadly applied to any female in the United States who embodied ditziness, airheadedness, or greater interest in conspicuous consumption than intellectual or personal accomplishment. | Moon Zappa's character in "Valley Girl," Cher Horowitz in Clueless |
| Vamp | A woman with dark hair, usually seen wearing jet black dresses, and having a macabre sense of humor. A goth variant of the femme fatale. | Morticia Addams, Vampira, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Natasha Fatale |
| Vampire | A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. Vampires are depicted as gaunt, pale immortal individuals with fangs, an aversion to sunlight, and a suave, charismatic elegance that makes them attractive to women. Female vampires are depicted as seductive Femme fatales. | *Lord Ruthven in John Polidori's "The Vampyre" (1819) Varney the Vampire (1847) Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897) Count Orlock in Murnau's Nosferatu (1922) Sheridan Le Fanu's lesbian vampire in Carmilla (1871) Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles (1976–2003), Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (2005–2008). Count Dracula in popular culture, notably in Dracula (1931), starring Béla Lugosi as the Count. An African Count in 1972's Blacula Spike and Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show and its spin-off Angel The Hunger Interview with the Vampire (1994) Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) by Francis Ford Coppola Death dealers in Underworld (2003) |
| Vecchio | This is a category of aged, male characters from Italian commedia dell'arte theatre. They are overwhelmingly the ill-tempered antagonists, opposing the blossoming romance of the young noble lovers, the innamorati. The comic ending is produced when the Zanni (servants) manage to overcome the Veccio's blocking and unite the lovers. | Pantalone, a wealthy, decadent old merchant Il Dottore, a learned old professor or doctor |
| Vice | An allegorical evil part in medieval morality plays. The Vice can be an allegoric representation of one of the Seven Vices or a more general portrayal of evil as the tempter of man. Vice often takes the audience into complicity by revealing its evil plans, often through soliloquies or monologues. Its enacting is frequently comic or absurd. | Richard III in Shakespeare's drama of the same name; Iago (who plays up the more villainous aspects of the Vice) from Othello; and Sir John Falstaff (who plays up the more comic aspects of the vice) from Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2 and The Merry Wives of Windsor. |
| Vietnam veteran | A man who served in the Vietnam War and is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or other psychological problems. Because of what he witnessed and what he went through during the war, and the disrespect he received from domestic anti-war protesters, his mental state was portrayed as fragile and unstable, and therefore this character has marital problems with his unhappy wife (or girlfriend) and his son. He still can't adjust to his post-war civil and daily life. This character can be seen in most American action and drama movies, and he is generally portrayed by an American action star. | Travis Bickle, John Rambo and Jacob "Professor" Singer from Jacob's Ladder (1990 film). |
| Village idiot | A person known locally for ignorance or stupidity; this character often turns out to be brave and sweet, and is sometimes underestimated (see Wise fool). | Michelangelo, Bertie Wooster, Patrick Star |
| Villain | An evil, "cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel; or a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot". The antonym of a villain is a hero. The villain's structural purpose is to serve as the opposition of the hero character and their motives or evil actions drive a plot along. In contrast to the hero, who is defined by feats of ingenuity and bravery and the pursuit of justice and the greater good, a villain is often defined by their acts of selfishness, evilness, arrogance, cruelty, and cunning, displaying immoral behavior that can oppose or pervert justice. | See: Lists of villains. |

## W

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Wealthy Southern aristocrat | A usually male character who is well-dressed, well-educated, wealthy, arrogant, and haughty yet still has a healthy sense of humor. | Rhett Butler (Gone with the Wind) Beauregard Claghorn (The Fred Allen Show) Bill Bluff (Doug) |
| Whisky priest | A priest or ordained minister who shows clear signs of moral weakness, either due to alcohol use, having a mistress, or doing other forbidden activities, while at the same time teaching a higher standard and showing courage and moral resolve on a broader level. The stock character name was coined by Graham Greene to describe the renegade priest in The Power and the Glory (1940). | Father Callahan Harry Powell 'Hot Priest' from Fleabag Reverend Swanson |
| White friend | In fiction centered around a group and/or family of Blacks or other people of color, the white friend is an exaggerated parody of stereotypes of white Americans, including awkwardness around people of color, inability to dance, and being an all-around "square". | Chelsea Daniels in That's So Raven Tom Willis in The Jeffersons Zoey Howzer in The Proud Family |
| White savior | A usually white/western, often male person, who saves an indigenous population from an external threat. | T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Jake Sully in Avatar |
| White hunter | Khaki-clad, pith-helmeted Caucasian big-game hunters or safari leaders in Africa, used to illustrate the Imperial mindset of the colonial era. | Allan Quatermain Kraven the Hunter Redvers Fenn-Cooper |
| Wimp | Weak-willed, mild-mannered, ineffectual, not well-liked and easily manipulated | Wallace Wimple Caspar Milquetoast Arthur Carlson |
| Wise fool | A person who seems like an idiot or simpleton, who may speak inarticulate nonsense in one moment, only to later show wisdom later on. The fool's mocking humour shows his ability to understand events or speak blunt truths to a leader. | Puck (A Midsummer Night's Dream) Goofy (The Walt Disney Company) Pumbaa (The Lion King) Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump) |
| Wise old man | An elderly and wise man who serves as mentor (or father figure) to the protagonist. In fantasy, he may also be a wizard. | Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars) Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings) Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter) Merlin |

## Y

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Yokel | An unsophisticated country person whose rural accent, lack of formal education and coarse manners are used for comic relief. See also "village idiot". | Trevor Philips, Cletus Spuckler, Dale Gribble, Ernest P. Worrell |
| Youngest child | The underestimated youngest child in a family of many children, usually all of the same gender. Often portrayed as the most childlike of the children due to their youth; in a plot twist, this character may be portrayed as comically sinister. In a continuing live-action series, they may be effectively succeeded by the even younger "Cousin Oliver." | Stewie Griffin, Maggie Simpson, Bobut on Aliens in the Family |
| Youxia | A Chinese type of the Knight-errant. They are type of ancient Chinese warrior folk hero celebrated in classical Chinese poetry and fictional literature. It literally means "wandering vigilante", but is commonly translated as "knight-errant" or less commonly as "cavalier", "adventurer", "soldier of fortune" or "underworld stalwart". | Fong Sai-yuk |
| Yuppie | In 1980s and early 1990s films and TV (or works set in that era), a young, urban professional who is driven by their goals of career success and achieving wealth. Typically a lawyer, financial executive, or businessperson, they love their luxury car (a Saab or BMW), their house in a trendy downtown neighborhood, dressing in designer clothes, and eating at hip restaurants. May be depicted as benign for satirical purposes, or depicted as immoral, villainous profiteers. | Wall Street investment banker Patrick Bateman, Jordan Belfort as portrayed in The Wolf of Wall Street, Benjamin Coffin III |

## Z

| Character type | Description | Examples |
| Zanni | Servant characters in commedia dell'arte. Zanni was of two distinct types: one is an astute, cunning servant and the other is a silly, stupid servant. They were called First Zanni and Second Zanni. Mezzetino and Brighella are examples of the First Zanni; Arlecchino and Pulcinella are examples of the Second Zanni. The Second Zanni provides comic relief. The Zanni also help the young lovers to overcome the blocking efforts of the Veccio, or elderly male characters. | Arlecchino (or Harlequin), Brighella, and Pulcinello Papageno, the flute-playing, bird-charming baritone servant of the Prince Tamino, in the 1791 opera Die Zauberflöte / The Magic Flute by Emanuel Schikaneder and W.A. Mozart |
| Zombie | A type of undead creature that appears across various media, typically appearing as a mindless destructive horde. It is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magical practices in religions like Vodou. In modern popular culture, zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. Modern media depictions of the reanimation of the dead often do not involve magic but rather science fictional methods such as carriers, fungi, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, pathogens, parasites, scientific accidents, etc. | The zombie first-person narrating character known only as "R" in the 2010 book Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion Necromorph Simon William Garth Solomon Grundy |