The difference between a forgettable novel and a bestseller usually isn’t the plot, it’s the characters. Every story you love is built from a small set of recognizable character types, each pulling its own weight. Get the cast right, and the plot writes itself. Get it wrong, and even the best premise falls flat.
If you’re an avid reader, learning about the different types of characters you encounter in literature can help you understand the story better.
And if you’re taking the brave step of writing a novel yourself, knowing about different types of characters becomes even more important. After reading this guide, you’ll have the vocabulary to discern what types of fiction characters you like, what you don’t, and what you might want to incorporate into your work.
This guide breaks down the 23 types of characters every fiction writer should know, organized by role, archetype, and the change they undergo. Whether you’re outlining your first novel or diagnosing why your current draft feels off, knowing these labels will help you build a cast readers can’t put down.
TL;DR — the main types of characters in fiction
The main types of characters in fiction are: protagonist, antagonist, deuteragonist, tritagonist, love interest, confidant, foil, and tertiary characters (by role); the hero, mentor, warrior, jester, lover, herald, innocent, anti-hero, and trickster (by archetype); and dynamic, static, round, flat, stock, and symbolic (by the change they undergo). Most stories use 5–8 of these types together to build a balanced cast.
What is a character type?
A character type is a category that describes a character’s role in a story, their archetypal traits, or how much they change over the course of the narrative. Writers use character types as a shortcut to build balanced casts and avoid one-dimensional storytelling.
There are three ways to categorize the types of characters in fiction:
- By role — what job they do in the plot (protagonist, antagonist, foil, etc.)
- By archetype — the universal pattern they fit (hero, mentor, jester, lover, etc.)
- By change — how much they evolve over the story (dynamic, static, round, flat)
A single character usually fits more than one type. Hermione Granger, for example, is a tritagonist and a confidant and a dynamic round character. The categories aren’t mutually exclusive, they’re lenses you can stack to deepen your craft.
Types of characters by role
These are the types of characters classified by what literary job they perform in the story. If you’ve taken an English class or read an editorial review, these are the labels you’ve already encountered.
We often refer to the roster of characters in a novel as a ‘cast,’ and in any cast, there are bound to be different parts. Here’s what they’re called.
1. The Protagonist
The protagonist is the main character of a story. It’s the person whose goals, choices, and transformation drive the plot. Everything that happens has to impact them, and everything they do has to ripple back into the story.
You may have a story with multiple protagonists. Romance novels with dual POVs are an example. These multiple protagonists are usually given equal weight in the story, meaning equal amounts of time on the page.
Protagonists can be heroes, anti-heroes, or even villains. For a deeper breakdown, see our full guide on protagonist vs. antagonist.
Examples: Harry Potter, Katniss Everdeen, Elizabeth Bennet, Walter White (anti-hero protagonist).
2. The Antagonist
An antagonist is the biggest opposing force for the protagonist. They’re another typical type of character in a story and are the source of the main conflict. Their goals and character motivations are in direct opposition to the protagonists’, and this makes them enemies.
The antagonist doesn’t have to be evil, though. An antagonist must simply oppose the protagonist. If you have an evil protagonist, your antagonist might actually be a good guy trying to stop him.
Examples: Lord Voldemort, President Snow, Iago, Nurse Ratched.
3. The Deuteragonist
A deuteragonist is the second most important character in a story, after the protagonist. They get less time on the page than the protagonist, but their subplot ties directly into the main plot and themes.
Deuteragonists are often best friends, sidekicks, or romantic partners. They can also act as confidants. Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings is a classic example.
Examples: Samwise Gamgee, Dr. Watson, Ron Weasley, Mercutio.
4. The Tritagonist
The tritagonist is the third most important character in a story, after the protagonist and deuteragonist. They have their own arc, their own perspective, and often introduce the philosophical or emotional contrast that prevents a story from becoming one-dimensional.
The tritagonist is one of the most-overlooked character types in modern writing, and one of the most powerful. In a duo, conflict can stalemate. A tritagonist breaks the deadlock, forces new choices, and gives the cast its center of gravity.
Examples: Hermione Granger, Han Solo (in the original Star Wars trilogy), Rue (The Hunger Games), Laurie (Little Women).
5. The Love Interest
A love interest is the character with whom the protagonist falls in love. There can be more than one, especially if the story uses the protagonist’s love life to make a thematic point.
Love interests can also pull double duty as deuteragonists, confidants, character foils, or even antagonists (the enemies-to-lovers trope is built on exactly that overlap). If you’re writing in a genre where romance drives the plot, our romance writing guide breaks down exactly how to build a love interest who works.
Examples: Mr. Darcy, Daisy Buchanan, Rhett Butler, Peeta Mellark.
6. The Confidant
The confidant is the protagonist’s closest ally. Their right hand, their sounding board, the person they tell the truth to. Confidants often go on the hero’s journey alongside the protagonist, advising them, challenging them, and helping the reader understand the protagonist’s inner world through dialogue.
A confidant can also be a foil. That conflicting dynamic creates richer friendships and more interesting conversation on the page.
Examples: Hermione Granger (to Harry), Horatio (to Hamlet), Sancho Panza (to Don Quixote).
7. Character Foil
A foil is a character whose traits contrast sharply with the protagonist’s, highlighting the protagonist’s qualities by comparison. Foils don’t have to be enemies, they can be best friends, love interests, or rivals. The point is the contrast.
Example: if your protagonist grew up poor and worked for everything she has, her foil might be someone born into wealth and handed every opportunity. Their differences sharpen each other.
For a deeper dive, see our full guide on what a foil character is.
Examples: Draco Malfoy (foil to Harry Potter), Sherlock Holmes vs. Dr. Watson, Gale vs. Peeta.
8. The Tertiary Character
Tertiary characters are minor characters who flit in and out of the story to add realism, atmosphere, or texture. They might appear in one or two scenes, deliver a key piece of information, and disappear.
Tertiary characters aren’t main players, but they make the world feel real. The barista in chapter three. The nosy neighbor. The cab driver who drops a quotable line and is never seen again. Without them, your fictional world feels empty.
Examples: Madame Rosmerta (Harry Potter), Tom Bombadil (Lord of the Rings), the bus driver in countless coming-of-age novels.
Types of characters by archetypes
An archetype is a universally recognized pattern. If you eat a chocolate cake that meets every expectation of what a chocolate cake should be, you might call it the “archetypal” chocolate cake. The same logic applies to characters.
Character archetypes combine the role a character plays with the personality traits they tend to have. Most modern archetype lists trace back to psychologist Carl Jung, who identified 12 archetypes that recur across cultures, eras, and genres. You’ll see versions of each archetype shape-shift depending on the genre. “The Mentor” in high fantasy might be a wizard, in sci-fi a scientist, in a sports drama an aging coach.
9. The Hero
The hero is the character who rises to meet a challenge – saving the world, defeating evil, or simply doing the right thing at great personal cost. They’re courageous, selfless, and morally aligned with good. In fantasy and sci-fi, heroes often master a magical ability or undergo physical training to earn their power.
The hero is usually the protagonist, because they’re the one who answers the call to adventure. But not always. Fiction lets you break that rule whenever you want.
Examples: Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Katniss Everdeen, King Arthur.
10. The Anti-Hero
The anti-hero is a protagonist who lacks traditional heroic qualities (courage, idealism, or moral clarity) but still drives the story forward. Modern audiences love anti-heroes because they feel real. Real people are complicated. Real people make compromises.
Don’t confuse the anti-hero with the antagonist. The anti-hero is the protagonist. They’re just not the kind of protagonist your grandmother would approve of.
Examples: Walter White (Breaking Bad), Jay Gatsby, Holden Caulfield, Lisbeth Salander.
11. The Mentor
The mentor is the wise older character who guides the protagonist through the early stages of their journey. Fantasy and sci-fi lean on mentors heavily, but you’ll find them in nearly every genre. They tend to be older, often have some mystic or transcendental quality, and rarely undergo much of an arc themselves.
In fantasy, mentors are often immortal wizard types. In contemporary fiction, they might be a teacher, a coach, a grandparent, or a 12-step sponsor.
Examples: Gandalf, Dumbledore, Haymitch Abernathy, Mr. Miyagi, Jiminy Cricket.
12. The Warrior
The warrior is motivated, determined, and battle-ready. They set goals, overcome obstacles, and lead with a generally positive attitude. Warriors make great coaches and natural leaders, though they don’t always end up in those roles.
Their distinguishing trait is also often their fatal flaw: being on constant high-alert means they can see threats where there are none, and they tend to think in black-and-white terms.
Examples: Arya Stark, Achilles, Conan the Barbarian, Brienne of Tarth.
13. The Professor (The Sage)
The Professor, sometimes called the Sage, is a scholar whose intellect and laser-focus on facts and reason can make them resistant to change. They often come off as cold or unfeeling, and conflict arises when their feelings inevitably collide with their logic.
These characters are often deuteragonists – part of the protagonist’s group, acting as the voice of reason.
Examples: Professor McGonagall, Dr. Watson, O’Brien (1984), Hermione Granger.
11. The Innocent
The Innocent is an optimist to their core. They see the good in people, keep their promises, and choose virtue even when it costs them. These characters are often children or childlike adults who haven’t yet faced the hardness of the world. Their arc is often about how they retain (or lose) their innocence as the plot pushes them.
Examples: Lucy Pevensie, Scout Finch, Dorothy Gale, young Pip.
15. The Lover
The Lover is driven by emotion and the pursuit of meaningful connection. They prize beauty (physical, spiritual, emotional) and they’re often idealists. They fear being alone, sometimes to the point of clinging to risky people or relationships.
The Lover shares optimism with the Innocent, but they’re typically adults. Love interests are often Lovers, used to develop the protagonist’s emotional side.
Examples: Romeo and Juliet, Heathcliff, Elizabeth Bennet, Tristan and Isolde.
16. The Jester
The Jester is the wise-cracking sidekick. The one who tags along and lightens the mood. They balance brooding protagonists, give the reader breathing room between heavy scenes, and often deliver the truest insight in the cast (because no one expects it from them).
Jesters are funny, grounded, and feel like everyday people compared to the larger-than-life hero.
Examples: The Fool (King Lear), Merry and Pippin, Tyrion Lannister, the Cat in the Hat.
17. The Herald
The Herald exists to signal change. They show up to tell the protagonist (and the reader) that something is about to happen – the inciting incident is imminent, and ordinary life is about to end.
The Herald isn’t always a person. Sometimes it’s a letter, a phone call, a prophecy, a death. When you think Herald, think call to adventure.
Examples: Hagrid (delivering Harry’s Hogwarts letter), the White Rabbit, Effie Trinket at the Reaping, the dream that wakes the protagonist in chapter one.
18. The Trickster
The Trickster bends the rules, sometimes for fun, sometimes for survival, sometimes to expose hypocrisy in the system. They’re shape-shifters, rule-breakers, and chaotic neutrals. Tricksters often serve as agents of transformation, forcing the protagonist (and the world) to change against their will.
Examples: Loki, Tyler Durden, the Cheshire Cat, Captain Jack Sparrow.
Types of characters by the change they undergo
We’re not done yet!
Different types of characters in a story can also be classified by what sort of change, if any, they undergo throughout the book or series.
This doesn’t necessarily have to correspond to a certain archetype or role, although characters with prominent roles often have to undergo change for a story to be interesting, making many main characters dynamic.
19. The Dynamic Character
A dynamic character undergoes significant internal change by the end of the story as a direct result of the plot. They might begin weak and end strong, start cynical and end hopeful, or begin selfish and end self-sacrificing.
Dynamic characters are usually protagonists or deuteragonists, because it’s hard to put a character through the gauntlet of a plot without it changing them. Almost every memorable character arc belongs to a dynamic character.
Examples: Ebenezer Scrooge, Sansa Stark, Walter White, Elizabeth Bennet.
20. The Static Character
A static character does not change in any meaningful way over the course of the story. They might get a new outfit or a new gadget, but their internal world stays consistent.
Static characters often serve a stabilizing role for the protagonist – mentors, certain antagonists, and series leads in episodic fiction. James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot are all famous static protagonists. Our full guide on static characters breaks down how to write them without making them boring.
Examples: Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Atticus Finch, Miss Havisham.
21. The Round Character
A round character is three-dimensional, complicated, and nuanced – the way real people are. They have desires, flaws, fears, and ambitions that sometimes conflict with each other, and that internal tension makes them feel alive on the page.
Readers form deep attachments to round characters because they recognize them. Round characters are usually dynamic. Part of the joy of reading them is watching them grow.
Examples: Hamlet, Jay Gatsby, Hermione Granger, Atticus Finch.
22. The Flat Character
A flat character has one role in the story. And their personality feels one-dimensional, with any traits seeming to exist solely to fill that role.
The evil stepmother. The nagging neighbor. The grumpy boss.
Flat doesn’t mean badly written. In a tightly plotted mystery, the detective herself might be flat, and it works, because the story is about the puzzle, not the puzzle-solver. The trick is making sure your flat characters feel intentional, not lazy. Static characters sometimes overlap with flat characters, but the two aren’t the same. See our static vs. dynamic characters guide for the distinction.
23. The Stock Character
A stock character is a character meant to fill an understood role in a given genre. The wisecracking sidekick, the loyal servant, the mean boss, the femme fatale. Stock characters require almost no development from the writer. They show up, the reader recognizes them instantly, and they do their job.
Stock characters are most useful for background casts. In a disaster movie, the nameless people the protagonist must rescue are stock characters. In a romance novel, the meddling best friend who pushes the protagonist toward their love interest is a stock character.
The risk with stock characters is sliding into cliché. Use them with intention, give them one unexpected detail, and they’ll do their work without dragging the story down.
Examples: The wisecracking best friend, the nosy neighbor, the noble lone gunslinger.
Bonus: the symbolic character
Some character lists include a 24th type, the symbolic character, who exists primarily to represent an idea, theme, or moral. They function less as a person and more as a walking metaphor.
Examples: Boo Radley (innocence and prejudice), the green light in The Great Gatsby (a non-human symbol but functioning the same way), Aslan (Christ figure in The Chronicles of Narnia).
How to build a balanced cast (and not just a checklist)
Knowing the types of characters in fiction is step one. Building a cast that uses them well is step two. Here’s the working principle most bestselling novelists follow:
Most novels need 5–8 character types working together, not all 23. A cast that tries to include every type at once becomes crowded and shallow. A tight cast where each character pulls double-duty (the love interest who is also a foil, the mentor who is also a tritagonist) feels rich and intentional.
A few practical guidelines:
- Every story needs a protagonist and an antagonistic force. Everything else is optional.
- Most full-length novels work best with one deuteragonist and one tritagonist. More than three primary characters and the reader starts losing track.
- Use static, flat, and stock characters to populate your story world without distracting from your main cast.
- A single character can, and usually should, fit multiple types. Hermione is a tritagonist, a confidant, a foil, the Sage archetype, and a round, dynamic character.
If you’re outlining a novel and want a structured way to develop each character, our 200-question character bio template is a free download that walks you through building a complete cast.
Common mistakes writers make with character types
Most weak fiction comes down to a handful of recurring character mistakes. The bestsellers avoid them; first drafts almost always commit them.
- Making the protagonist passive. The protagonist must act on the plot, not just react to it. A passive protagonist will sink your story no matter how interesting your premise is.
- Writing a one-dimensional antagonist. “Evil because evil” is the most common cause of a flat third act. Give your antagonist a real motivation — they should believe they’re right.
- Skipping the tritagonist. A protagonist + deuteragonist duo can feel like a vacuum. Adding a third major character creates triangulation, conflict, and depth.
- Confusing static with flat. A static character can still be richly developed (Atticus Finch). A flat character is intentionally simple. Don’t conflate the two.
- Overusing stock characters as main characters. Stock characters are great for background. They’re disastrous as protagonists.
- Making every character dynamic. Too much change across too many characters makes a story feel chaotic. Pick the 1–3 characters whose transformation you actually want to track.
For more on weaving character development into a strong story structure, see our full guide on how to write a novel and the role of story arc in shaping character growth.
Frequently asked questions about types of characters
What are the main types of characters in a story?
The main types of characters in a story are the protagonist (main character), antagonist (main opposing force), deuteragonist (second most important), tritagonist (third most important), love interest, confidant, foil, and tertiary characters. Most novels use 5–8 of these working together, with each character often filling more than one role.
What is the difference between a protagonist and a hero?
A protagonist is the main character of a story; a hero is a protagonist who has noble or admirable qualities. All heroes are protagonists, but not all protagonists are heroes. Walter White is a protagonist but an anti-hero. Lord Voldemort is a hero only in his own internal story. In the Harry Potter series, he’s the antagonist.
What is a tritagonist?
A tritagonist is the third most important character in a narrative, after the protagonist and the deuteragonist. The term comes from Ancient Greek drama, where Sophocles introduced a third actor to revolutionize storytelling. Famous tritagonists include Hermione Granger, Han Solo (in the original Star Wars trilogy), and Rue in The Hunger Games.
What is the difference between a flat and a static character?
A flat character is one-dimensional, defined by a single trait or function. A static character does not change over the course of the story but can still be fully developed. James Bond is static but not flat. He has a complete personality, he just doesn’t transform. Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice is flat. His entire personality is “pompous and obsequious.”
What is the difference between a character archetype and a stock character?
A character archetype is a universal pattern of behavior that resonates across cultures (the Hero, the Mentor, the Trickster). A stock character is a genre-specific placeholder that fills a familiar role (the wisecracking sidekick, the femme fatale). Archetypes are deep and ancient; stock characters are shallow and useful.
How many character types should a novel have?
Most novels work best with 5–8 character types. Typically they includde a protagonist, an antagonist, a deuteragonist, a tritagonist or foil, a love interest (in genres that call for one), a confidant, and a few static or stock supporting characters. Trying to include all 23 types in one book usually creates a cluttered, shallow cast.
Can a character be more than one type at once?
Yes. Most well-written characters fit multiple types. A love interest can also be a foil, a confidant, and a dynamic round character. In fact, characters who fit only one type tend to feel flat. Stacking types is what makes a character feel real.
Ready to build characters readers can’t forget?
The 23 types of characters above are the building blocks. The hard work is making them feel like real people – giving them backstories, contradictions, motivations, and arcs that compel readers to keep turning pages.
That’s where most first-time novelists get stuck. You can read every guide on the internet, but turning theory into a finished, polished, publishable novel requires structure, accountability, and expert feedback.
That’s exactly what we do at selfpublishing.com. Our Fundamentals of Fiction & Story program walks you step-by-step from a blank page to a published novel, with 1-on-1 coaching from a bestselling fiction author, professional editing, custom cover design, and a launch plan built to drive real sales. We’ve helped 7,000+ authors publish their books, and we’d love to help you build the cast that brings your story to life.
Schedule a free strategy call with our team and let’s talk about turning your characters, and your novel, into a finished book readers can’t put down.
