List of stock characters
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Illustration: La Fleur du marécage (1885) by Odilon Redon
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A stock character is a dramatic or literary character 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).
| Character Type | Description | Examples | |
| A | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Absent-minded professor | An eccentric scientific genius who is so focused on his work that he has shortfalls in other areas of life (remembering things, grooming). This is the benign version of the mad scientist. | Professor Calculus, Emmett Brown, Sherman Klump | |
| 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, Wilhelmina Slater in Ugly Betty, Aunt Esther | |
| Antihero | A protagonist lacking conventional heroic qualities, such as morality, courage, or idealism. An antihero has flaws and may break the law, but has a good heart. | Deadpool, Man with No Name, Eddie Valiant | |
| Author surrogate | A character sharing the traits 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, it may have the same name and job). | Jon Arbuckle, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski | |
| B | |||
| Bad boy | A roguish, good-looking macho, often a womanizer. In his frequent affairs, he shows a "dark triad" of Machiavellian traits. In historical fiction, he is a rake or cad. | Tony Stark, 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. | Cantus in Fraggle Rock, Marillion in Game of Thrones, Dandelion/Jaskier in The Witcher, Gabrielle from Xena: Warrior Princess | |
| Battle-axe | An old, domineering, brash and brazen woman | Agnes Skinner, Thelma Harper, Marie Barone | |
| Beatnik | A hipster character, with a distinct style (usually wearing muted colors, a beret, and sunglasses) and a disdain for anything popular. | Judy Funnie, Maynard G. Krebs, the cast of Off Beat Cinema | |
| Black knight | An evil fighter antagonist, whose identify is often concealed behind his visor. He may be associated with death. He battles the good knight-errant. | Black Knight, Nathan Garrett, Darth Vader | |
| Blind seer | A mystic who is sightless, but uses spiritual or psychic powers to sense the events and sights around them. | Chirrut in Rogue One, "One Hundred Eyes" in Marco Polo, Zatoichi (blind swordsman) | |
| Boy next door | An nice, average guy who is reasonably good-looking | Marty McFly, Luke Skywalker, John Truitt | |
| Brains and Brawn | A dual set of characters with contrasting physical features, body types and personalities. The two are almost always together and usually inseparable. One being small, yet intelligent, while the other is physically big, while at the same time being naïve, unbright, or otherwise simply innocently dumb. The brains character can sometimes be silent while the brawn is very talkative and loud, but this can vary character to character. | Lennie Small & George Milton from Of Mice and Men, Wallace and Gromit, Pinky and the Brain, Toopy and Binoo, Astérix and Obélix, Spike and Whitey from Flushed Away | |
| Bug-eyed monster | A staple evil alien | Formics, Alien | |
| C | |||
| Cat lady | An eccentric, lonely woman, often living alone. She may be depicted as dotty and benevolent or as unhinged. | Crazy Cat Lady, Arabella Figg, Angela Martin | |
| Chosen one | A person destined by prophecy to save the world, frequently possessed of unusual skills or abilities. | Anakin Skywalker, Harry Potter | |
| Con artist | A person who tricks people out of money by gaining, and then betraying their confidence. | Del Boy, Artful Dodger, The King and the Duke | |
| Contender | A competitive, scrappy underdog who is driven to keep trying to win. | Rocky Balboa, Lightning McQueen, Daniel LaRusso | |
| Career criminal | Often a cunning thief. Has a strange gait, slouched posture and devious facial expression. | Flynn Rider, Bernie Rhodenbarr, Cash Register Thief | |
| Crone | A cruel, withered old woman, often occult or witch-like. See also Hag | Wicked Witch of the West, Maleficent, Gruntilda | |
| D | |||
| Damsel in distress | A noble, beautiful young Lady in need of rescue, traditionally from dragons. In early 1900s films, she is threatened by a robber or kidnapper. | Princess Peach, Princess Zelda, Daphne Blake | |
| Dandy | A good-looking, well-off young man more interested in fashion and leisure than business and politics. Prominent in Victorian writings. | Dorian Gray, Lord Byron | |
| Dark Lady | A dark, malicious or doomed woman | Lady Macbeth, Miss Trunchbull, Annie Wilkes | |
| Dark Lord | An evil, powerful sorcerer. The dark lord is often wounded, though still powerful enough to defile the land. He may be a Devil archetype. | Palpatine, Lord Voldemort, Thanos | |
| 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 a long mustache. They have over-the-top personalities. | Dick Dastardly, Simon Legree, Robbie Rotten | |
| Donor | A supernatural being who provides aid to the protagonist | Genie, Cosmo & Wanda | |
| Doppelgänger | 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, Mirror Universe | |
| 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 1800s. This ethnic stereotype may negatively depict women as promiscuous, deceptive femme fatales. | Wai Lin in Tomorrow Never Dies | |
| Dumb blonde | An attractive, young, blonde-haired woman with little common sense | Goldie Hawn's characters on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Rose Nylund, Chrissy Snow | |
| E | |||
| Elderly martial arts master | A wise old man mentoring a young disciple in his ancient craft. The old man often needs to be avenged. | Mr. Miyagi, Ra's al Ghul, Yoda, Splinter | |
| Everyman | An ordinary, humble individual, the Everyman may be a stand-in for the audience or reader. | Homer Simpson, Dr. Watson, Jonathan Harker | |
| Evil clown | Violent, malevolent beings who ironically resemble clowns | Joker, Killer Klowns, Pennywise | |
| 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, Alex Drake | |
| F | |||
| Fall guy | An unaware scapegoat for a villain's larger plot. | Wilmer Cook, Biff from The Strawberry Blonde | |
| Farmer's daughter | A desirable, wholesome, and naive young woman, also described as being an "open-air type" and "public-spirited" | Bradley Sisters; Mary Ann Summers in Gilligan's Island; Daisy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard; Elly May Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies; Daisy Mae in the comic strip Li'l Abner. | |
| Femme fatale | A beautiful, alluring, woman who is also traitorous, cunning and deceptive. She draws men into a honey trap. | Ruth Wonderly, Poison Ivy, Salome | |
| Final girl | A "last woman standing" left in a horror film after a killer or monster has eliminated her companions. | Mina Harker, Laurie Strode, Sally Hardesty | |
| G | |||
| Geek | An eccentric or non-mainstream person who is an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a 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 overlaps with the nerd, but the geek may be depicted in a more negative fashion. | Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory | |
| Gentle giant | A huge, strong man who, despite his fear-inspiring appearance, has a good heart. | Fezzick, Kronk, Yukon Cornelius | |
| Gentleman thief | A sophisticated, well-mannered, and elegant thief. He typically tries to avoid violence by using deception and his wits to steal. | Kaito Kuroba, Sly Cooper, Neal Caffrey from White Collar | |
| Girl next door | An average young woman, reasonably attractive, with a wholesome demeanor. | Rachel Green, Carrie Bradshaw, Bridget Jones | |
| Gracioso | A stock character, popular in 16th-century Spanish literature, who is comically and shockingly vulgar | ||
| Grande dame | French for "great lady"; a haughty, flamboyant and elegant woman, prone to extravagant and eccentric fashion. She is usually a stereotype of an elderly high society socialite | Constance in Gosford Park, Princess Dragomiroff in Murder on the Orient Express; Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest | |
| Grotesque | A deformed or disabled person whose appearance scares strangers or inspires pity, and who may be mistreated. He is a tragic figure. | Quasimodo, Grizabella | |
| H | |||
| Hag | A wizened, withered, and bitter old woman, often a malicious witch. | Baba Yaga, Wicked Queen, Gruntilda | |
| Hardboiled detective | A private investigator or police officer rendered bitter and cynical by violence and corruption. They are often hard-drinking antiheroes who use questionable tactics. Typically the protagonist in film noir crime movies and hardboiled novels and pulp fiction. | Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe, Perry Mason | |
| Harlequin | A clown or professional fool who pokes fun at others, even the elite. | Till Eulenspiegel, Krusty the Clown | |
| Hooker with a heart of gold | A prostitute who has a good moral compass and intrinsic morality. | Nancy, Fantine, Inara Serra, Sonya from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment | |
| Hopeless romantic | A loving, passionate character that often finds "love at first sight". He is obsessive over a romantic partner (or love interest), usually views life very optimistically. | ||
| Housewife | A busy mother of the protagonist family, she takes care of the children and does the housework. Her appearance ranges from homely to average. | Morticia Addams, Jane Jetson, Marge Simpson | |
| Hotshot | A reckless, impulsive macho character known for taking risks. | Martin Riggs, Agent J, Axel Foley | |
| I | |||
| Idiot savant | A person with extraordinary genius in a narrow area who has a social or developmental disability. | Forrest Gump, Raymond "Rain Man" Babbitt | |
| Immigrant | A character from a foreign land with bizarre quirks and traditions, often clashes humorously with Western culture | Balki Bartokomous, Luigi Basco, Fez, Latka Gravas, Borat | |
| Ingenue | An attractive young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. | Ariel, Snow White, Dorothy Gale | |
| J | |||
| 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, Auntie Nelda | |
| Jock (athlete) | A male athlete who is often muscular, but not very smart. He may also be a bully. | Flash Thompson, Nathan Scott, Brom Bones | |
| K | |||
| Keystone Kop | A bumbling police officer, named after the Keystone Kops comic silent film series. May have 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. | Chief Wiggum, Barney Fife, Rosco P. Coltrane, Charlie Dibble | |
| Knight-errant | A noble Knight on a quest for his Lady or who is seeking some Holy Grail. He expresses his courtly love for his beloved from afar. | Lancelot, Aragorn, Bronn, Jack Reacher | |
| L | |||
| Little Green Men | Small humanoid extraterrestrials with green skin and antennae on their heads;
known familiarly in science fiction fandom as LGM || The Great Gazoo, Little Green Men from Toy Story | ||
| Loathly lady | A woman who appears to be hideous, often cursed; her beauty is revealed when the curse is lifted. (Male characters with the same characteristics also exist, such as the Beast in Beauty and the Beast.) | The Wife of Bath's Tale | |
| Loner | An isolated person who struggles to connect with people. | James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause | |
| Lovers | Main characters who deeply fall in love, despite the blocking effect of other characters or events; often moonstruck, star-crossed lovers that are strongly fraternizing with the "enemy". They may face a tragic end. | Romeo & Juliet | |
| M | |||
| Mad scientist | An insane or eccentric scientist or professor, often villainous or amoral. Not all mad scientists are evil; some intend to be benevolent, but unintentionally cause an accident due to their hubristic attempt to play God in the lab. May have an Igor, a hunchbacked assistant. | Victor Frankenstein, Dr. Henry Jekyll, Dr. Moreau | |
| Magical Negro | A black man with special insight or mystical powers, who ends up coming to the aid of the white protagonist. | Uncle Remus, Uncle Tom, John Coffey, Bagger Vance | |
| Mammy archetype | A rotund, homely, and matronly black woman. She has a sunny demeanor. | Aunt Jemima, Mammy Two Shoes, Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird | |
| Manic Pixie Dream Girl | Usually static young female characters who have eccentric personality quirks and are unabashedly girlish and dreamy. | Zelda Spellman, Bo Peep, Debora from Baby Driver | |
| Mean Popular Girl | An attractive teenage girl who has high status at her school, but is often mean to less popular and less good-looking or lower-status girls. | Chloé Bourgeois in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Nina Harper in Braceface, Regina George in Mean Girls | |
| Miles Gloriosus | A boastful soldier (originally from the comic theatre of ancient Rome) | Falstaff, Baron Munchausen, Buzz Lightyear | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| Mother-in-law | A stereotypical portrayal of a character's spouse's mother; frequently a battle-axe and always disapproving of her son-in-law. | Pearl Slaghoople | |
| N | |||
| 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, George McFly | |
| Nice guy | A male character of wholesome morals, agreeable personality and usually modest means who may struggle 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 in Marty, Stanley Moon in Bedazzled, Sonny Malone in Xanadu | |
| Noble savage | An idealized Indigenous person or otherwise "wild" outsider who is uncorrupted by civilization. | Chingachgook, Mowgli, Tarzan | |
| O | |||
| Outlaw | A bandit depicted in a romanticized way, often charismatic and appealing, despite their lawless conduct. | Robin Hood, Billy the Kid, Jesse James | |
| P | |||
| Pantomime dame | A pantomime portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. | Widow Twankey, Mary Sunshine | |
| Petrushka | A Russian kind of jester. | ||
| Pierrot | French pantomime, a sad clown | Pagliacci, Puddles Pity Party | |
| 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 | |
| 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 | Rescuer of the damsel in distress | ||
| Princesse lointaine | A romantic love interest and beloved sweetheart and girlfriend for a Knight-errant. | Dulcinea, Guinevere | |
| 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 | |
| R | |||
| Rebel | A maverick who refuses to follow society's rules and conventions. He may simultaneously be a loner or hotshot. | John Bender | |
| 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 in Star Wars, Goombas in Super Mario | |
| 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, Neo | |
| 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, King Arthur, Pastoria, King Richard | |
| S | |||
| Sad sack | A woebegone character for whom nothing goes right. If the character is sympathetic, the stock character may also be known as a "lovable loser." | Charlie Brown, Pvt. Sad Sack, Milo Murphy | |
| Schoolma'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. | ||
| Scrooge | A old, wealthy boss who refuses to spend money and prefers to hoard it. The character is based on the miserly, penny-pinching, and mean-spirited old Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. Scrooge characters range from excessively thrifty, but otherwise benign types, to avaricious, cold-hearted types who are willing to allow harm to come to others. | J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World , Randolph and Mortimer Duke in Trading Places, Mister Potter from It's a Wonderful Life, J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man Trilogy | |
| 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 | |
| Shrew | A woman given to violent, scolding, particularly nagging treatment of men. | Lois Griffin, Wilma Flintstone | |
| Sinnekins | Pairs of devilish, impish characters who exert their perfidious influence on the main character. | Flotsam and Jetsam, Pain and Panic, Thing Number 1 and Thing Number 2, Winged monkeys | |
| 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 | |
| Soubrette | A female character who is vain, girlish, mischievous, lighthearted, coquettish, and gossipy. | Violet Gray, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls, Poison Ivy | |
| 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 | |
| Space Nazis | Antagonists in science fiction works who show totalitarian, militaristic, and genocidal traits reminiscent of Nazis | Patterns of Force, The First Order | |
| 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 from 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 | |
| Straight 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 | |
| Superhero | A Noble, brave person with supernatural powers who is dedicated to protecting the public. | Thor, Shazam, Sonic the Hedgehog | |
| 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 | Captain America, Master Chief, Bloodshot, Universal Soldier | |
| Supervillain | The nemesis to the Superhero, the supervillain is morally corrupt. | Lex Luthor, The Joker, Dr. Evil | |
| Swashbuckler | A joyful, noisy, and boastful Renaissance era swordsman or pirate. He is chivalrous, courageous, and skilled in swordfighting and acrobatics as he seeks vengeance on a corrupt villain. | D'Artagnan, Zorro, Jack Sparrow | |
| T | |||
| Thug | A henchman or gang member who commits violent crimes | Bill Sikes, Francis Begbie, Biff Tannen | |
| 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 in Tiger Mom | |
| Token black character | A character with no distinguishing characteristics whose sole purpose is to provide nominal diversity to the cast | Token Black, Franklin, Isaiah | |
| Tomboy | A girl or young woman with boyish and/or manly behavior. | Merida, Mulan, Rainbow Dash, Princess Daisy | |
| 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. | Barney Gumble, Otis Campbell, Uncle Billy | |
| Tragic hero | A hero with a flaw that leads to their eventual death and downfall. | Michael Corleone, Jay Gatsby, Prince Hamlet | |
| Tragic mulatto | A mulatto who is sad or suicidal because they fail to fit in with white or black people. | Judy Kovacs in the episode Are You Now or Have You Ever Been in the television series Angel, Eliza, Cassy, and Emmeline in Uncle Tom's Cabin, Peola Johnson in Imitation of Life | |
| 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 | Jeeves, Puss in Boots | |
| Tsundere | In Japanese anime and manga, a character who is initially cold (and sometimes even hostile) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time. | Asuka Langley Soryu, Tsuyukusa from Amatsuki | |
| U | |||
| Übermensch | A (often only seemingly) perfect human being | Superman, Hercules, Don Pedro | |
| V | |||
| Vice | An allegorical evil part in medieval morality plays. | ||
| Village idiot | A person known locally for ignorance or stupidity; this character often turns out to be brave and good, and is sometimes underestimated (see Wise fool). | Michelangelo, Bertie Wooster, Patrick Star | |
| Villain | An evil character in a story. | Shere Khan, Professor Moriarty, Count Dracula | |
| W | |||
| Template:Anchor Whisky priest | A priest or ordained minister who shows clear signs of moral weakness, while at the same time teaching a higher standard. | Father Callahan, Father Jack, Harry Powell | |
| White hunter | Khaki-clad, pith-helmeted Caucasian big-game hunters or safari leaders in Africa, used to illustrate the Imperial or racist mindset of the colonial era. | Allan Quatermain, Kraven the Hunter, Redvers Fenn-Cooper | |
| Wimp | Weak-willed, mild-mannered, ineffectual and easily manipulated | Wallace Wimple, J. Wellington Wimpy, Alan Harper | |
| 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, Goofy, Pumbaa | |
| Wise old man | An elderly, learned character who provides mentoring and wisdom to the protagonist. In fantasy, he may also be a wizard. | Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Albus Dumbledore, Merlin | |
| Y | |||
| Yokel | An unsophisticated country person whose rural accent and coarse manners are used for comic relief. | Ernest P. Worrell, Cletus Spuckler, Dale Gribble | |
| Youxia | A Chinese type of the Knight-errant | 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 neighbourhood, dressing in designer clothes, and eating at hip restaurants. May be depicted as benign for satirical purposes, or depicted as immoral, villainous profiteers. | Louis Winthorpe III in Trading Places, Executive Mitch Robbins in City Slickers, Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, Patrick Bateman in American Psycho | |
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See also
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "List of stock characters" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
