Propp's theory

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic in the 1920's. He grouped folk tales together as he believed that they all had common characters and a 'narrative function'. He then developed a general set of the following characters: 

• The villain (struggles against the hero)
• The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
• The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
• The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
• The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)
• The dispatcher (character who makes the disruption and sends the hero off)
• The hero  (victim/seeker/winner, reacts to the donor, marries the princess)