CHARACTE

R TYPES

Fifth Grade

ELA Teachers

INTRODUCTION
This

lesson is about the different

types of characters found in
literature.
The different types I will cover in
this lesson are the protagonist and
antagonist.
I will explain what each of these
entail so that you can identify types
of characters in stories that you
read.

PROTAGONIST/ANTAGONIST

It

is easiest to
think of the
protagonist and
antagonist
characters as the
"good guy" and
the "bad guy"
respectively.

HERO AND VILLAIN

In order to
understand
protagonist and
antagonist, you can
think of the
protagonist as the
hero and the
antagonist as the
villain.

HOW TO REMEMBER

Pro

The

prefix pro
means good, or
positive.

Ant
The

prefix ant
means bad, or
negative.

PROTAGONIST
Central

character

of story
Can be male or
female
Written as being
"good" most of the
time, but in some
instances can be
"bad."
Story usually told
from protagonists
point of view.

ANTAGONIST
Causes

or leads the conflict

against the protagonist
Not always human, but can
be a group or force as well.
Mirrors protagonist
Whatever the protagonist
does that is good, the
antagonist will work to
undo.
Usually the antagonist
attempts to disguise
him/her/itself.

EXAMPLE
Consider the story The
Three Little Pigs.
In the original story, the
three pigs are the
protagonists and the wolf
is the antagonist.
A new book titled The
Real Story of The Three
Little Pigs is written in
the wolf's point of view
and he becomes the
protagonist and the pigs
are the antagonists.

PROTAGONIST/ANTAGONIST
Completely

different and in most

cases, complete opposites

Can
Just

both be very complex

because the protagonist is the

central character in the story does
not mean that he/she/it is any more
complex than the antagonist.

HOW TO IDENTIFY
Think

about which character is central to

the story. (protagonist)
Think about which character (or what
force) is acting against that central
character (antagonist).
Usually you can consider which character
is good and which is bad.
In most instances, the good character is
the protagonist and the bad, or opposing
character, is the antagonist.