literary character
Person in books
A literary character is a person, animal, or other figure depicted in a work of fiction—novels, plays, stories, poems.
Characters range from protagonists who drive the plot to minor figures who appear briefly.
The term distinguishes invented persons from real ones: Hamlet is a literary character; Shakespeare was not.
Well-drawn characters often feel as real as actual people, which is why readers speak of them as if they exist.
- narratorOne who tells events
- protagonistStory's central figure
- villainWicked story antagonist
- heroOne admired for courage
- damselOld-fashioned maiden
alter ego · Dracula · love interest · love triangle · mentor · trickster · bildungsroman · comic relief · sidekick · catalyst · unreliable narrator · femme fatale · foil · rebel · tragic hero · story · rival · fictional