When you're creating a character, the most important step is to figure out what they are like: their purpose, personality, quirks, and voice. The list can go on and on.

So, where do you start? Many professional authors suggest starting with character archetypes because they give characters their purpose in the story, and they are also a really basic element of storytelling.

What is a character archetype?

An archetype is basically a typical example of a type of person. They appear over and over again in books and movies. Nearly every character in a fairy tale is an example of an archetype: the hero, the villain, the princess, the orphan, etc.

Here's the thing about character archetypes, though: everybody's got their own take. There is nothing wrong with running with all of them. The fact that archetypes are both universally applicable and yet endlessly varying provides authors with both structure and flexibility.

Character archetypes present important guidelines for creating a well-rounded cast that can provide the best help for advancing your hero's journey. But, depending on which approach you take, they can also be either frustratingly vague or claustrophobically limiting.

There are eight common character archetypes according to "Dramatica" by Melanie Anne Phillips and Chris Huntley: Protagonist, Antagonist, Sidekick, Skeptic, Guardian, Contagonist, Reason, and Emotion.

While there is quite a bit of overlap between them, there are also some key differences. In this part, I'll focus on these eight and a half character archetypes.

1. Protagonist

Your Protagonist is the most important person in your story. The story belongs to him or her. This is your main character, the one who moves the plot forward. Your readers will get to know this character the best. Examples of the Hero/Protagonist are Tris from "Divergent," Harry Potter from "Harry Potter," and Katniss from "The Hunger Games."

The Protagonist is:

• The main actor.
• The person most greatly affected by the Antagonist.
• The person whose reactions and actions drive the majority of the plot.
• The person with whom the readers will identify most strongly.
• The person whose inner journey, as influenced by the outer conflict, will be the most obvious manifestation of your story's theme.

2. Antagonist

The Antagonist will probably be a character in his/her own right or may be an antagonistic force (e.g., weather, disease, the government). They are most commonly known as the villain. The Antagonist helps to drive the conflict in the story. Obvious examples include Voldemort in "Harry Potter" and the Joker in "The Dark Knight."

The point of the Antagonist is:

• The main obstacle to your character's achievement of his/her main plot goal.
• Directly opposed to your Protagonist (rather than incidentally).
• The person who shares important similarities, whether good or bad, with your Protagonist, in order to highlight and advance areas of Protagonist growth.

3. Sidekick

Sidekicks come in many different forms, everything from a best friend or accomplice to an employee or family. This character stands by the Protagonist; they help them overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. However, an Antagonist might have a sidekick too. An example of the sidekick is Ron and Hermione from "Harry Potter" or Christina from "Divergent."

What important is that the Sidekick is:

• Loyal to and supportive of the Protagonist.
• Aligned with the Protagonist's goals.
• Someone who differs from the Protagonist in important ways, whether good or bad, in order to highlight areas of Protagonist growth.

4. Skeptic

According to Dramatica's model, the most popular model authors follow, every character has his/her opposite, which allows the author to draw important contrasts and plumb the depths of his/her theme.

Just like the Antagonist is the opposite of the Protagonist, the Skeptic is the opposite of the Sidekick. The Skeptic points out all the places the Protagonist might fail. Examples include Caleb from "Divergent" and Gale from "The Hunger Games."

The Skeptic is:

• Skeptical and critical.
• Someone who doubts everything, particularly the Protagonist's choices.
• Someone who is mostly on the Protagonist's 'side,' but who is pessimistic about the Protagonist's choices, rather than optimistic.
• A voice of caution (sometimes to the Protagonist's advantage), more likely to provide reasons why something won't work than why it will.

5. Guardian

Also popularly known as the Mentor, the Guardian is a classic archetype (think Obi-Wan from "Star Wars," the fairy godmother from "Cinderella," and the three ghosts in "A Christmas Carol").

The Guardian is often visualized as a gray-bearded old man (think Dumbledore from "Harry Potter"), but he can take many forms, everything from a child to an animal to a seeming fool. This is the guide character; they might give your Protagonist advice or gifts that they need to succeed in reaching their goal. They might teach the Protagonist something they need to know, or even serve as the character's conscience. In most cases, the Mentor will help motivate and guide the protagonist.

The Guardian is:

• A teacher or helper.
• Someone who guards the Protagonist during his/her quest.
• Someone who guides (or sometimes just attempts to guide) the Protagonist down the right path.
• A moral standard against which the Protagonist (and the Antagonist) will be measured.
• Someone who alternately supports or opposes the Protagonist's ideas, depending upon the Protagonist's shifting alignment with the story's moral standard.

6. Contagonist

This is a term unique to Dramatica's list of archetypes, but it is a useful character type. The Contagonist "hinders and deludes the Protagonist, tempting him/her to take the wrong course or approach."

This character delays the Protagonist from reaching his/her goal. They might even be the Protagonist's friend, but they're the annoying friend who keeps getting in the way. Or they could be the character that does all the bad guy's dirty work, like Draco Malfoy in "Harry Potter." In a young adult novel, parents/teachers/adults might be considered Contagonists.

The Contagonist is:

• Contrasted with the Guardian because he/she, wittingly or unwittingly, seeks to ultimately hinder rather than help the Protagonist.
• Different from the Antagonist because he/she is not directly opposed to the Protagonist's plot goal.
• Someone who may be on the Protagonist's side in the overall conflict, but who gets in the Protagonist's way and causes him/her to consider backing out of the battle against the Antagonist or taking the wrong path to reach his/her end goal.

Another example of a Contagonist is Col. Phillips in "Captain America: The First Avenger."

7. Reason

Just as this title suggests, the Reason character is present in the story to provide a voice of logic. Examples include C-3PO in "Star Wars," Hamm in "Toy Story," and Inspector Gordon in "Batman Begins."

Reason is:

• Someone who is fundamentally logical.
• Someone who makes decisions based on logic, not emotions.
• Someone who acts in logical ways independent of the Protagonist.
• Someone whose logic influences the Protagonist's choices, for better or worse.

8. Emotion

The Emotion character is pretty much the opposite of the Reason character. Examples include Mr. Ping in "Kung Fu Panda," Cathy in "Wuthering Heights," and Melanie in "Gone With the Wind."

The Emotion character is:

• Someone who is fundamentally emotional.
• Someone who makes decisions based on emotions, not logic.
• Someone who may be negatively emotional (e.g., angry) or positively emotional (e.g., compassionate)—or both.
• Someone who acts in emotional ways independent of the Protagonist.
• Someone whose emotion influences the Protagonist's choices, for better or worse.

8 ½. Love Interest

Finally, we come to an archetypal staple not explicitly represented in "Dramatica;" however, it's huge. Everyone loves a good love story. The Love Interest is found in the vast majority of stories and is not mentioned in "Dramatica"'s list simply because it will almost always fit into one of the other archetypes as well.

However, the Love Interest is worth mentioning independently of the other archetypes both because of its prominence in fiction and because of several important distinctions unique to the role.

The Love Interest is the person with whom the Protagonist falls in love. They may or may not return the Protagonist's interest, but they almost always somehow push the Protagonist's growth. Often, the Love Interest is a side plot, and that's okay.

The Love Interest is:

• Often a catalyst in either the Protagonist's inner or outer journey—or both.
• Someone who alternately supports the Protagonist and resists him/her, depending on which action is necessary to push the Protagonist forward in his/her personal growth.

Examples include Peeta from "The Hunger Games," Ginny Weasley from the later "Harry Potter" novels, and Rachel Dawes in "Batman Begins."

Mixing and Matching Character Archetypes

This is a brief list of archetypes. An internet search can turn up hundreds of them, but they're all not necessary for a solid story. Remember, that an archetype is NOT a fully developed character.

You still need to do that work, but these archetypes give each character a purpose. You can use them to figure out how your cast fits together and why your character needs to be in the story. Once you've got that figured out, then you can start doing the deep work of developing their personality.

Mixing and matching character archetypes is a foundation and a jumping point to create a unique character. Get creative!

If you have a great character in mind that falls under one of these archetypes, let me know and I'll add it to the list of examples! I'll even mention that you were the one who suggested it ("free promotion"). Please don't forget to vote!