Ever not know how to give your characters depth without going too far or not far enough? I’ve made a list of fifty character tropes, some you hopefully haven’t seen before, to try and help. Adding them to any character would immediately spice up how the reader sees them and is sure to make your characters more interesting. So here we go!
- “The Whole Plot Happens to Them by Accident so they Learn on the Way”
- “The Predestined Hero”
- “The Unwilling but Wanting to Do Good”
- “Retired Hero Back in Action”
- “The Volunteer for the Big Journey”
- “The Average Kid Turned Protagonist”
- “The Sarcastic Best Friend”
- “The Willful ‘Little Sibling’” (Note: does not actually have to be a little sibling)
- “The So-Selfless-They’re-Reckless Type”
- “The Wants-Recovery-But-Doesn’t-Know-How-to-Get-It”
- “The Learned-From-Bad-Experiences Mentor”
- “Stays-Strong-for-Others-Not-Self Type”
- “Takes Out Conflicts on Others Type”
- “Takes Out Conflicts on Others Type, but they feel guilty later”
- “Unsuccessful Artist”
- “The Unnatural Leader”
- “The ‘It’s Never Enough’ Perfectionist”
- “The Calculator”
- “Expresses Emotions with Actions Type”
- “The Trying-To-Keep-Up Type” (Note: Usually used when a character has self-doubts about abilities while in a talented group of people)
- “The (usually not listened to) Voice of Reason”
- “The Expositionist”
- “The More-Than-Meets-the-Eye Type” (Note: Usually used with a character thought to be superficial)
- “The New-to-the-World Type”
- “The Philosophical Thinker”
- “The Worried Caregiver”
- “The Overbearing Guardian Figure”
- “The Tyrannical Zealot”
- “Connects More with Nature/Machines Type”
- “The Connections Maker” (Note: Usually used in large city settings with black market/illegal dealings)
- “The Storyteller”
- “The Calming Presense”
- “The Influencer”
- “21st Century Tech-Savvy Mogul”
- “The Narcissistic Anti-Villain”
- “The Arms Dealer”
- “The Traveler” (Note: Usually used with characters who make big impacts in peoples’ lives but only for a brief time before leaving) 36!!!
- “The On-Top-of-Everything Assistant”
- “The ‘At the Top but is Miserable’ Type”
- “The Moralistic Murderer/Assassin/Warrior”
- “The Angry Parent” (Note: Usually used in a positive way with parents who would fight to the death for their kids)
- “The All-Bark-No-Bite Type”
- “The Sassy ‘You need me, I don’t need you’ Type” (Note: Usually used with a character the protagonist comes to for help)
- “The Bullied Genius”
- “The Questionable Scientist”
- “The Doomed-from-the-Start Type”
- “The Survivalist”
- “The Conspiracy Theorist”
- “The International Person-of-Interest”
- “The Pop Culture Know-it-All”
- “The Smiles-in-the-Face-of-Death Type”
Aaaaand, we’re done! Those were fifty character archetypes you might not have thought of before to liven up your characters! Be sure to mix and match or use some traditionally protagonist types for your villain, as well. Good luck, and happy writing!