Well, your story would be pretty boring without characters. All you would have is a description of a place. If you were really talented, you might be able to make a story out of that, but in the beginning, my advice is to stick with creating characters.
In this chapter, we will discuss the main character, protagonist, antagonist, supporting characters, side characters, background characters, narrators, and the Mary Sue/Gary Stu. We’ll discuss static characters, dynamic characters, and character motivations later on in Chapter 11. Note that deuteragonists are typically discussed in traditional drama, so for the purposes of genre fiction, I have simplified the list and will not go over that term in this guide.
9a: Main Characters:
Simply put, your main character interacts with the story, interacts with other characters, and is usually changed by the story’s events. Your readers get their point of view through the main character’s eyes, but remember that your main character is not a narrator. We’ll get to narration later in this chapter. Your main character is often, but does not have to be, the protagonist.
Here are some examples of main characters:
Urstolla is a young acolyte who must fast for a month in order to complete her training as a full-fledged cleric. During the first week of her fasting, she must take the perstol juice in order to see visions, and then she must contemplate those visions for the next three weeks (Urstolla is the main character and the protagonist. The story is told through her eyes and is solely about her journey toward becoming a cleric).
Jesse is best friends with Beth, her crazy friend, and she helps Beth through several high school hijinks in a series of strange occurrences (Jesse is the main character because the story is from her point of view, but Beth is the protagonist who moves the plot along).
Jerry is a soldier hunkered down in a trench with the rest of his squad. They are preparing to take ground in this story about World War I (Jerry is the main character because the story is told from his perspective, but he’s also the protagonist. The story is centered around him, and he moves the plot along. His squadmates are his supporting and side characters).
9b: Protagonist:
The protagonist is the character who makes the decisions that move the plot along. The protagonist has a direct effect on the events that occur in the story and is often opposed by an antagonist.
9b1: Hero or Heroine:
The hero or heroine protagonist is the most commonly used type of protagonist. This type of protagonist is the easiest to identify with because they move the story forward in a positive way.
Here are a couple of examples of a hero or heroine protagonist:
Marcus stands up for Sheila after Damien pushes her down on the playground. Damien is much bigger than Marcus, and Marcus doesn’t know how to fight. Marcus has to go to the nurse after getting hit multiple times, but Damien gets in serious trouble (Marcus is the hero. He makes the decision to fight Damien even though he knows he can’t win).
Janya must seek the aid of the dwarves in order to travel into the Underearth. There, she must travel into the Black Shadow Winding, an incredibly dangerous rift filled with goblins and other dark denizens. She must return the stolen piece of the Mural of Fate to its rightful place before her people’s history unwinds (Janya is the heroine. She is willing to travel into a dangerous place in order to save her own people).
9b2: Villain or Villainess:
The villain or villainess protagonist is uncommon but not unheard of. These characters move the story forward in a negative way and can be difficult for the reader to identify with. In these types of stories, your antagonist will most likely be a hero.
Here are a couple of examples of a villain or villainess protagonist:
Hallie hates Vanessa because Vanessa is sweet, kind, and generous. Hallie sets out to steal Vanessa’s boyfriend and ruin the young woman’s reputation (Hallie is the protagonist, but her motivations are far from noble, making her a villainess).
Orsch, a bandit wanted for murder, leads his group of thugs on a raid of a nearby village instead of merely robbing travelers as a highwayman (Orsch is the protagonist, but his plan to pillage the village makes him a villain).
9b3: The Antihero or Antiheroine:
The antihero/antiheroine protagonist is not one of the good guys, but is not one of the bad guys either. The antihero/antiheroine typically has selfish motivations that do not align with those of a typical hero/heroine, but this type of protagonist moves the plot along because they are “caught up” in the events of the plot.
Here are a couple of examples of the antihero/antiheroine:
Wayne is an outlaw-turned-gambler who wins a gambling contest on a train. The train is robbed, and all valuables, including money, are taken by the bandits. The train conductor’s young daughter is taken hostage as insurance. Wayne agrees to go after the bandits with the help of the young woman’s fiancé before the bandits can get away (Wayne’s motivation is to retrieve his winnings. He’ll rescue the train conductor’s daughter because it’s convenient, not because it’s the right thing to do).
Charity is far from charitable. As a rough-around-the-edges senior in high school, all she wants to do is be left alone, build bikes, and ride her own motorcycle. James is a sophomore nerd who is constantly being bullied. Charity agrees to be James’s bodyguard if James helps her graduate (Charity doesn’t really care about other people’s problems. She agrees to help James because it’s in her best interest).
9b4: The Tragic Hero/Heroine:
This type of protagonist is most often seen in tragedies such as William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The tragic hero/heroine is destined for misfortune and tragedy.
Here is an example of the tragic hero/heroine:
Elias inherits his family’s fortune, but he also inherits his family’s curse. His life begins to unravel the moment his niece dies in a horseback-riding accident, and then his wife falls ill from tuberculosis. He scrambles to find a reason for all of this, but his grief turns to madness, and he settles on taking revenge against the inhabitants of his small town (Elias’s life falls apart little by little until he goes completely insane. This type of story usually culminates with everyone dying or being ruined).
9b5: The False Protagonist:
This type of protagonist isn’t actually the protagonist. This is the fake “setup” protagonist meant to draw attention away from the real protagonist. Though the fake protagonist is not often seen, it does work well when you want a story filled with plot twists and turns.
Here is an example of a false protagonist:
Megan is best friends with Amanda. Megan finds an old book that belonged to her late grandmother. Megan reads from the book and is stalked by an unknown force. She is eventually killed by the evil entity. Now it’s up to Amanda to seal the evil entity back inside the book and somehow dispose of it (The first part of this story is from Megan’s POV and is clearly about her, with Amanda simply being a supporting character. After Megan is killed, the POV switches to Amanda, and Amanda becomes both the main character and the protagonist).
9b6: The Supporting Protagonist:
The term supporting protagonist is actually a misnomer. A supporting protagonist is actually a main character who is not the protagonist and is also not a narrator.
Here is an example of a supporting protagonist:
Joco, a young apprentice, travels with his master, Balnithor, the Great Wizard of the Amber Tower. Joco goes on a grand adventure with Balnithor as the old wizard travels to ancient sites to renew the stones of power that keep magic flowing (Joco is the main character, and the story is from his point of view, but Balnithor the wizard is the protagonist who moves the plot forward. Joco interacts with events and experiences the story through his own eyes, making him different from a narrator).
9c: Antagonist:
The antagonist is the primary or secondary force that works against the protagonist in your story. A simple way to think of the antagonist is to think of the antagonist as your protagonist’s rival.
9c1: The Primary Antagonist:
This is the jerk who is constantly in your hero or heroine’s way, messing with their plans, and doing things like tying the hero’s true love to the train tracks or trying to steal the heroine’s boyfriend. The primary antagonist has it out for your protagonist throughout your entire story or series.
Here is an example of a primary antagonist:
Gabriella comes from a poor family, but she was awarded a scholarship to a private school through a government program. Miss Keenes, the headmistress of the school, does not want Gabriella to succeed because of the young woman’s poor upbringing (Miss Keenes devises plots to get rid of Gabriella in a legal fashion that won’t look bad for the school so that no repercussions will fall upon her or her academy).
9c2: The Recurring Antagonist:
The recurring antagonist is not the primary antagonist, but this antagonist causes trouble for the protagonist whenever they appear. They are what’s considered a side rival.
Here is an example of a recurring antagonist:
Mira and her friends continuously pick on Gabriella because she comes from a poor family. They do not want her attending “their” private school, and they sometimes work with Miss Keenes to harass the poor student (Mira and her friends show up several times in the story to pick on Gabriella, but they are not the main antagonist who wants Gabriella to drop out of school).
9c3: The Temporary Antagonist:
The temporary antagonist only shows up once, either loses or wins, and is never seen again. Sometimes you may bring back a temporary antagonist for one more go-round, but this doesn’t make them a recurring antagonist unless you plan to bring them back more often.
Here is an example of a temporary antagonist:
Gabriella needs a specific book on etiquette from the library, but the librarian, Mrs. Macher, does not want Gabriella to “soil” any library books because of Gabriella’s “low breeding” (Gabriella only deals with Mrs. Macher one time. Mrs. Macher does not really serve as an antagonist for the rest of the story).
9d: Supporting Characters:
Supporting characters support your main character, protagonist, or both throughout the plot. Supporting characters are often friends or friendly rivals of the main character/protagonist.
Supporting characters are different from side characters because they have fully developed personalities, motivations, and backgrounds.
Here are some examples of supporting characters:
Malon goes on a journey with three other boys from his village. His three friends are Hest, Gorph, and Durren. Malon urges his friends to travel to the collapsed ruins west of the village to find an ancient entrance that a crazy old elder, Pormo, mentioned (Malon is the main character and protagonist who urges his friends to come with him. Hest, Gorph, and Durren are supporting characters who each have their own personalities, motivations, and backgrounds. They interact with the plot, but they do not move it forward like Malon does).
Wendy and Gale take a trip across Europe. Gale finds love along the way, but Wendy is jealous until Gale urges her best friend to look for love, too (Wendy is the protagonist and main character. Gale is her supporting character who wants to help Wendy. The plot is not about Gale but about Wendy, and ultimately, Wendy moves the plot along. Gale may push her in a direction, but Wendy ends up finding the right love interest on her own).
9e: Side Characters:
Side characters have a name, description, and some detail, but they do not move the plot along and are not essential to the story. They are not fully developed like supporting characters.
Here are some examples of side characters:
Tony occasionally steals to support his delinquent lifestyle, but when he meets Angela, his attitude changes, and he starts walking the straight and narrow. Joey is a fence, a dealer in stolen goods, who occasionally buys things from Tony (Angela is a supporting character because she’s Tony’s love interest. However, Joey is a side character. Tony may interact with him a couple of times to sell stolen goods, but Joey doesn’t have any other effect on the plot, and he doesn’t help move the story along).
Jacob goes on a class trip to the ocean to learn how to sail with his classmates. His best friends are Alex and Samantha. Their teacher is Mr. Barnes. The captain of the ship is Captain Goodall, but they never really interact with him (Jacob is the main character and protagonist. Alex and Samantha are his supporting characters. Mr. Barnes, their teacher, may or may not be a supporting character depending upon how much interaction the kids have with him. Captain Goodall is definitely a side character. Although he is there on the ship and in charge of it, the kids don’t really interact with him much, and he does not affect the plot or the other characters very much).
9f: Background Characters:
Background characters are either just there in the background, or they don’t have much in the way of detail, description, or consequence to the plot. If Enemy Soldier #143’s only job in the story is to be gunned down by the main character, then Enemy Soldier #143 doesn’t need a detailed backstory or character motivation.
Here are a couple of examples of background characters:
Baxter tells Mindy that he’s breaking up with her. Mindy stands up in the middle of the restaurant and makes a scene. Baxter feels embarrassed because the other restaurant patrons are staring at them (The restaurant patrons are the background characters. We don’t know who they are, what their lives are like, or even why they decided to eat at this particular restaurant. Their only purpose is to make Baxter feel embarrassed because of the scene Mindy is causing).
Jocelyn fights off four orcs and ultimately kills all four of them with her superior spear-wielding skills. She then joins Roderan to help him fight and kill the ogre he is locked in battle with (The orcs and the ogre are background characters. They are simply there as temporary antagonists that Jocelyn and Roderan must defeat).
9g: Narrators:
A narrator gives detailed information apart from the main character of the story. Though other literary guides may define the narrator as the character telling the story, we will use a different definition for writing genre fiction. In simple terms, a narrator is a literary device meant to give information to the reader apart from what the characters relay.
Here is an example of a narrator:
“In the year 2053, the Earth has been devastated by plagues, climate change, and the indisputable greed of man. The nations of the world have suffered complete governmental collapse, rich and powerful people control whatever scarce resources are left, and day-to-day life is a brutal struggle for survival for those not fortunate enough to live in protected compounds.”
The narrator in the example above lays out the exposition and gist of what is going on with this world, and this tells the reader how the story will begin. Narration is useful when you need to impart information that you want your readers to know beforehand.
As I’ve mentioned before, other guides will define narrators as the “point-of-view maker,” or the character who is telling the story. They’ll go on to define first-person narration, third-person limited narration, etc., but we’ve already covered point of view. For your own practical purposes as a genre fiction writer, just think of the narrator as a literary device to use when your readers need further explanation.
9h: The Mary Sue/Gary Stu:
The Mary Sue/Gary Stu is a character who is the best at everything. Our young Mary Sue, for example, is the best cheerleader, the most popular girl in school, the best player on the softball team, the future valedictorian, and has the moral motivations of a saint. She even rescued a group of orphans from a burning orphanage all by herself. The Mary Sue/Gary Stu character can already do everything and has very little room for character development.
Personally, I have never been fond of the Mary Sue/Gary Stu, but to be fair, there are whole fan bases dedicated to this specialized type of character, so if you really want to write about one, then don’t let anyone stop you. Just remember that this type of character is not usually popular with the general public.
The Mary Sue/Gary Stu is ultimately a static character who does not grow or change because of the plot, and if they do, that growth is minor, insubstantial, or inconsequential. However, the Mary Sue/Gary Stu character works great with satire if satire is what you’re shooting for.
9i: In Closing:
Characters are the people, creatures, and personalities your readers follow through the story. Some characters move the plot forward, some work against the protagonist, some support the main character, and some are simply there to make the story world feel alive.
The important thing is to understand what purpose each character serves. Your main character, protagonist, antagonist, supporting characters, side characters, background characters, and narrator should all have a reason for being in the story. Not every character needs a detailed backstory, but every character should serve the story in some way.
Once you understand the roles your characters play, it becomes easier to decide how much attention each character deserves. Give your important characters the depth they need, keep your minor characters useful, and don’t waste time building an elaborate life story for Enemy Soldier #143 unless Enemy Soldier #143 has something more important to do than get shot.
The Quick and Easy Guide to Writing Genre Fiction Copyright 1st ed. © 2022 Matthew L. Marlott
TQ&EGtWGF: Chapter 9…Characters Copyright © 2026 bloodytwine.com Matthew L. Marlott
The image for Chapter 9 of TQ&EGtWGF was generated by artificial intelligence courtesy of OpenAI.
