Vladimir Propp was a Russian folklorist whose work Morphology of the Folktale examined the makeup of Russian folktales. In addition to the thirty-one functions within the plots of folktales, Propp also identified recurring characters that he defined by function (Kolesnikof 450).
| Archetype | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Villain | struggles with the hero |
| Donor | prepares and/or provides hero with magical agent |
| Helper | assists, rescues, solves and/or transfigures the hero |
| Princess | a sought_for person (and/or her father) who exists as goal and often recognizes and marries hero and/or punishes villain |
| Dispatcher | sends the hero off |
| Hero | departs on a search (seeker-hero) reacts to the donor and weds at end |
| False Hero | claims to be the hero, often seeking and reacting like a real hero |
What is particularly valuable about Propp's functional characters is that, since the focus is on the functional nature of the character, the traits can be applied to aspects other than actual characters. For instance, anything that functions in opposition to the main character can be the functional villain. In novels that focus on the conflict between humanity and nature, nature can function as Propp's villain. Anything that functions as the desired goal could be the "princess": success, fame, fortune, and so on. Similar applications can be made with the other functional characters.