Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2021 February 6

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February 6

A character that is fundamental to driving the story, but isn't the protagonist or antagonist

In many stories, there is a character that is fundamental to the story: typically because the story is driven by their actions, or by their presence and other people's reactions to it, but they are neither the protagonist nor the antagonist. Examples would include E.T. in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Julius Caesar in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the Iron Man/Iron Giant in the book or film of the same name, Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc. Is there a technical term to describe this sort of character? (They're often the Title character, but not necessarily, and in any case that doesn't really describe their role in the story. They could be a deuteragonist and tritagonist, but that also seems too vague). Iapetus (talk) 17:13, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

The snake in Genesis 3,^[1] Mary in the Gospel of Matthew,^[2] Parolles in Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well,^[3] Clodio in Cervantes' posthumously published The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda,^[4] and Eusebiu Damian in Mircea Eliade's novel Nineteen Roses,^[5] are all called "essential characters" because of their functions in the narrative flow.  --Lambiam 22:56, 6 February 2021 (UTC)