Hello everyone!! Nice to meet you here one week more! 
As you may have noticed because of the topics the majority of the last posts were about, these two last weeks we have been working on one of the most important elements and resources in Children’s Literature: tales.
According to Wikipedia, tales are “generally short stories based on real or imaginary situations, inspired or not in previous writings or legends, with a simple plot protagonised by a reduced group of characters […] and that have been passed from generation to generation, both in an oral or written way”
In my previous post, I shared with you The original stories behind the tales we know, like the real Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears or The Lion King; and, as this past Monday we learnt about the characters that usually make up tale stories, in this post I would like to go deeply on this topic. So, here I present you the different types of characters we may find in every tale story:
- Hero/Heroine: The character that protagonises the story, and, although in most of the stories it is a male character, due to the historic tradition of giving the man the power and strength, there are also female characters as heroines. Some examples are the Superheroes, such as Spiderman or Superman; Peter Pan, or the Disney Princesses, like Mulan or Belle.
Furthermore, one of the main characteristics of heroes is that they often move vertically, and we can notice that in the way the Superheroes climb or fly.
Shrek (Shrek) Source: Wikipedia
- True Love: The character that the hero/heroine is in love with, and for whose true love he/she fights. As an example, we have Fiona, in Shrek; and, although it can be not considered a fairy tale (although I believe that every story can be transformed into a fairy tale for kids), I think that Dulcinea, the True love of Don Quixote, perfectly fits to this definition.
Esmeralda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame). Source: Galleryhip
- Villain: The character that opposes the hero, related to evil powers and wicked actions. The best examples are Disney Villains, such as Scar, Ursula or Jafar; but also there are evil prototypes in traditional tales, like the wolves, witches and stepmothers.
Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) Source: Wikipedia
- Elder: The character, usually a king or a father, who normally remains at home (sometimes disabled) or does not change so much along the story. Examples of elders are Mufasa, Rafiki , Papa Smurf or Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother.
Mufasa (The Lion King) Source: Fanpop
- Helper: The powerful or magical character who gives advice or valuable gift to the hero/heroine and often tests them; like, for example, Tinkerbell, Cinderella fairies and Jiminy Cricket.
Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio) Source: Wikipedia
- Friend: The character that accompanies the hero, often belonging to lower class. In this case, I would like to emphasise that it is usually my favourite character in every tale story, and I think that also for many kids; as it is fun, loyal and a little bit crazy. Some examples are the amusing Timon and Pumba in the Lion King, or the charming Donkey in Shrek.
Dory (Finding Nemo) Source: Pixar Wikia
- Messenger: The character, human or not, that brings news. In case of Disney, it could be Sebastian or Hermes; and in traditional tales, the birds or royal postmen.
Sebastian (The Little Mermaid) Source: allfreevectors
Now, that we have learnt the character motifs, their characteristics and some examples for each one; Raquel has told us that it is our turn to create a new example for one of the motifs. I am working on this activity now, and it is really amazing, as there are plenty of possibilities to take and it could lead to crazy stories.
And, I am sure that it would be great if you also join us in this journey of being character creators, and you also make up an interesting character for a new and surprising story!! We would be glad and excited to know about them!!
Finally, I hope you all liked this post!!
Thank you for visiting! See you next week!