Vladimir Propp - Character Theory

Hey everyone!
Recently within Media we learned more about theorist ideas and how the theorists came about. The theory that we learnt about what 'Character Theory' which was created by Vladimir Propp. He stated that there are eight characters within every film but mainly focused on fantasy stories. He gathered his research from reading my fairy-tale stories and then came to the conclusion that there are only a couple of characters in each narrative. The film chosen here is Shrek as the narrative and the film in general fall under Vladimir Propp's character theory. Within the narrative there is:

Character Type	Definition	Example
The Hero	v  Leads the narrative; story being told by the hero v  Usually looking for something – quest, solving mysteries etc v  As an audience, we want the hero to succeed	Shrek
The Villain	v  Struggles against the Hero and is morally bad v  Turns audience against him and drives them to support the hero v  Lack of morals v  Serves to highlight the goodness of the Hero	Lord Farquaad
The Donor	v  Gives the hero something special e.g a magical weapon, particular wisdom, a clue or special power v  The gift enables the Hero to complete their quest v  May be combined with that of a Helper	Dragon
The Helper	v  Supports the Hero at critical moments to provide a helping hand v  May be a support role throughout v  They may have limitations which highlight the Hero’s defining characteristics	Donkey
The Princess	v  Deliberately sought after by the Hero or she could be the reward v  May be seen very little in the story or may even be seen as an important character	Princess Fiona
The Princess’ Father	v  Gives the task to the Hero and is a key figure for the Hero to persuade as the Father is protective v  May be in competition with the Hero for the Princess’ affection	The King
The Dispatcher	v  Sends the Hero on his mission, this can be a family member like the Princess’ Father v  Gives the Hero a set of quests to be completed before the Hero can claim his award	Lord Farquaad
The False Horror	v  Appears to act heroically but may be initially mistaken for the real Hero. v  Will try to steal the real Hero’s thunder and will grab the credit	Prince Charming

I do believe that Propp's Character Theory is well used throughout today however I do not believe it is necessarily used within the horror genre anymore. Females are becoming more dominant and there does not necessarily have to be a false hero or a father to the so called 'Princess'. This theory can be called useful as it avoids treating characters as if they are individuals and reminds us that they are merely constructs.

What have I learnt?
I learnt why Propp's theory has become so well known and why it is used throughout the industry for conducting fairy-tale stories. Additionally, critics argue that Propp's strict order of characters and events is restrictive as we should rather apply functions and events randomly as we meet a new narrative.