American Dirt: The 8 Necessary Character Roles in Fiction

You have the onerous task of creating a world, filling it with believable characters, and telling a damn good story. Hey, nobody said writing a story was easy.

I’ve written about Worldbuilding before, in 3 parts here, here, and here. Today, I want to introduce you to 8 necessary roles needed to flesh out your characters.

The 8 Necessary Character Roles:

Protagonist: Usually the main character. This is the character with a problem that

must be solved, but to do so must get past or through a series of obstacles.

Antagonist: This is the character working directly against your protagonist. Many times, the antagonist is just as able as your main character, and many times his or her exact opposite. For the antagonist to remain compelling, he or she must have as much care taken in creating a backstory, reasoning, and desires as the protagonist.

Mentor: Plays the “outside conscience” of your protagonist. His or her voice encapsulates the lesson of the story as well as the theme. While it may be tempting to make the mentor perfect, there is great drama available when the teacher/ moral compass is also flawed.

Tempter: This is the antagonist’s right hand. The tempter spends his or her time manipulating your protagonist away from the story goal or to go against the theme you’re presenting in the story. While this sounds like the job of the antagonist (and very well can be*), having another character who is part of your protagonist’s close group can prove just as exciting, and again, there is drama to be found here.

Sidekick: Throughout the course of your story, your protagonist should come against incredible odds. The sidekick can have several jobs. The main one is being an unwavering ally to your protagonist, through thick and thin. While the sidekick can (and should) become frustrated with your main character’s decisions at some point, he or she will never leave your protagonist’s side. Another job is to be the comedic relief. If your story is super serious, the sidekick can provide an injection of laughter, or give a ray of hope in bleak times. Yet another job the sidekick can provide is giving your protagonist access to a secondary set of skills. For example, your main character is a master thief? Maybe his or her sidekick has an in to high society, where your master thief can thrive.

Skeptic: This is the lone objector to the protagonist’s method(s). He or she does not believe in the theme of your story, nor the importance of your protagonist. In fact, unless there are previous or built-up loyalties to the protagonist, the skeptic may well go his or her own way. It’s even possible the skeptic wants your main character to succeed, but not at the cost of their own goal(s).

The Emotional: This is the character that reacts with his or her gut. This means being reactive and impulsive, sometimes succeeding in ways that a thinking character would never try. This also means they can find trouble by not thinking ahead.

The Logic: This character is a rational thinker who prefers to plan things out ahead of time. Answers with a matter-of-fact attitude, and usually knows more than he or she lets on. Has trouble considering things from an emotional angle.

A Little Extra That Helps Me:

Now you know the 8 main roles used in fiction. Keep in mind, there does not have to be a separate character for each role, but all 8 roles must be embodied somewhere. As for character creation itself, here is the template I use when beginning a new story: