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Anime and manga many times rely on a standard structure
to tell their story. This structure is one of five heroes and a mascot
vs. four villains. This model is used especially in older stories, but
the same form continues to be used as it is successful and works well for
telling a story. In fact, it is such a successful way reaching an
audience, many films, such as Star Wars Episode IV, use a
variation of this structure to tell its story.
This basic layout of characters seems somewhat repetitive, but actually does
not hinder the story telling in a significant way, a creative author is able
to use this format and still add originality, drama, and tension into the
tale. |
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The Good Guys: |
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The Hero |
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The hero is generally the focus of the story. He/She is often forced
to go against the main authority in their life in order to save the day. |
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Magic Girl |
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She many times is a princess or has some royal connection. She may
seem to be a blundering fool, yet can be very capable when the need arises. |
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Rebellious Hero |
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The rebellious hero is usually a very powerful character. Often
possessing more power than The Hero, but their pride or rebellious
nature stops them from realizing the true level of hero. |
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The Oaf |
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More often than not, in anime and manga, there is the oaf. The big,
lovable guy who seems to be nothing more than an eating machine with huge
amounts of muscle. In fact, he is often the most caring of the group
and is many times the technical wizard of the team. |
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The Kid |
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This character is used many times to give the team someone to look out for,
also The Kid usually has a tendency to get into trouble and need
rescuing. This character helps younger viewer/readers to relate to the
story more. |
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The Mascot |
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Every team needs a mascot, right? In anime and
manga, there is almost always some kind of mascot, be it a real animal, a
crazy animal mix, or even a robot. This guy is around to add an
element of cuteness and comic relief to the story. They even save the
day sometimes. |
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The Bad Guys: |
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The BAD Guy |
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Usually the leader of the villains. He is sometimes a rampaging fool
and other times he can be very calculating and smart. Unlike
western-style stories, in anime and manga, the bad guy has motivation for
what he does, he is not just evil for evil's sake. |
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The Evil Leader |
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Most of the time in anime or manga, there is an almost all-powerful being
who is the commander or leader of the bad guys. This leader can be
either a king, queen, magician, wizard, even a computer. The Evil
Leader usually does not take part in any fighting unless the hero brings
it to them. They are more content to sit back and issue orders to
their minions from well behind the lines. |
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The Fallen Hero |
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Like the name implies, this character is one who was a good guy, but over
time has become a bad guy. Through some cruel twist of fate, this
character has become what he or she once despised. Many times The
Fallen Hero has some sort of connection to the good guys in the story. |
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Goons |
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The bad guys usually rely on goons to do their dirty work for them. In
quite a bit of anime or manga, the bad guys have countless goons who are
sent against the good guys during the course of the story. Goons can
be robots, creatures, or even clones. |
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So there are some of the basic character types that you
will find in anime/manga. If you think about the characters that you
know from your favorite series or OAV, you may be able to see what role they
fill.
Of course, not every story uses this style of characterization or if it
does, it can change the roles more, but having a basic understanding of some
of the character types may help you to understand and appreciate the story
more. |
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