Valdimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Russian scholar born on April 17, 1895 in St. Petersburg. He is best known for his 'Morphology of the Folk Tale' which was published in 1928. Propp analysed Russian folk tales and he wanted to break them down to thier simplest form and the basic narrative elements. He said that after the story has begun to gain shape it takes the 31 functions some of which include:

VILLAINY and LACK- When the villan causes harm to the heroes family

DEPARTURE: When the Hero leaves home

PURSUIT: When the hero is hunted and chased by the villan

PUNISHMENT: When the hero is punished

Propp concluded that in the 100 tals that he analysed there are only 7 chracter types:

The villain — The one who is always battling with the hero
The donor — Prepare the hero for the quest ahead
The magical helper — They give the hero a magical object that may help him
The princess and her father — They give the hero his mission
The False hero — They may take credit for the hero's work
The dispatcher- They tell the villan the hero's whereabouts
The seeker hero — reacts to the donor, and marries the princess

This video by Ne-Yo shows some of the character types, the woman in the white is the villan and Ne-Yo, in the white hat is the hero. Some could say that the dancers dancing with Ne-Yo are the magical helpers because they are helping the villan prepare for battle.