Creating Compelling Characters: Character Roles from Dramatica

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens in lots of weird genres like, fantasy (Blood of Kings trilogy), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website.

Today we are going to look at character interactions. Using Dramatica's eight archetypal characters, I am able to think through the role of minor characters in my plot and make sure that each has a place in regard to my protagonist. It also helps me determine whether I have any characters filling the same role in the story.

Dramatica Theory’s Eight Archetypal Characters
Dramatica is a computer program that helps you build a story to their model. I've not done their program, but I read about their eight archetypal characters online and found it to be a helpful concept. These eight character archetypes, and how they are paired, help me see how different character motivations will clash and create conflict in my stories before I start writing.

Here are the definitions of Dramatica's eight archetypal characters. If you'd like to learn more about this product, click here.

Protagonist: This person drives the story and, through his choices, forces the action of the story onward.

Antagonist: This person is directly opposed to the protagonist. He is a representation of the problem that the protagonist is seeking to solve in the story.

Guardian: This is a teacher, mentor, or helper who gives aid to the protagonist while he is on his story journey. The guardian is a moral compass to the protagonist.

Contagonist: This person hinders and/or misleads the protagonist in his goal. This person might also tempt the protagonist to take the wrong path. (Click here to read an article on the difference between an antagonist and a contagonist.)

Reason: This person makes decisions based on logic. He does not allow feelings to distract him from rational choices.

Emotion: This person makes decisions based on feelings, without thinking first and without regard for practicalities. He reacts emotionally, whether that be in a positive or negative way.

Sidekick: This person behaves with unfailing loyalty and support to the protagonist.

Skeptic: This person doubts everything—and says so. Often.

Here are some examples of each character type:

Prince Trevyn's Character Interactions
Now let's examine the characters that will interact with Prince Trevyn in my book. There are more characters than these in my story, but I was able to choose one person for each of the seven character archetypes (with Trevyn filling the role of protagonist). And, as Dramatica teaches, each of the archetypes has a partner with which it is in conflict. Everyone knows that the protagonist and the antagonist will be in conflict with each other. But Dramatica teaches that the actions of the guardian and the contagonist will conflict with each other—whether or not they ever share a scene in the book. As the prtagonist interacts with each of them, their actions and words will be conflicting to the protagonist. The same is true of the reason and emotion pair and the sidekick and skeptic pair. These little conflicts between the character pairings create extra conflict for the protagonist.

So, here is Prince Trevyn's breakdown:

Protagonist: Prince Trevyn   -PAIRS WITH-   Antagonist: Prince Janek (Trevyn's brother)

Guardian: Father Tomek (Trevyn's teacher)   -PAIRS WITH-   Contagonist: Queen Thalla (Trevyn’s mother)

Reason: Prince Willek (Trevyn's eldest brother)   -PAIRS WITH-   Emotion: Miss Mielle (romantic interest)

Sidekick: Cadoc (Trevyn's shield)   -PAIRS WITH-   Skeptic: Hinck (Trevyn's backman and friend)

When I fill out my character worksheets on minor characters, I choose characters who will fill these roles for that character. For example, Hinck might be a skeptic to Prince Trevyn, but when I look at Hinck as a protagonist, Prince Trevyn fills the role of contagonist in Hinck's life. So this can be something fun to play with.

Have you ever used Dramatica? Can you name the seven character archetypes to your protagonist?