Character Types in Romantic Comedies

The main character types in rom-coms can be linked to Vladimir Propp's character theories. Propp (a folklorist interested in the relationship between the characters and the narrative) argued that stories are character driven and that plots develop from the decisions and actions of characters in a story. He identified a number of character types, such as the hero, the villain and the princess, who appeared over and over again in the folk tales he analysed. His theories have been applied to films and the notion of recurring characters is applicable to the romantic comedy genre, which repeatedly features the following characters:

The villain - whose narrative function is to keep the two love interests apart, for example Darcy in Something Borrowed.

The helper/confidant (sidekick) - the two main characters usually each have a best friend who they turn to when they need advice, for example Billy in Big.

The princess - this role can relate to either men or women, but the term princess reflects the "end goal" and the happiness at the film's climax. For rom-coms, the princess role can be filled out by both people who will be in the future relationship, as they both usually have equal status.

In rom-coms set in a high school (if American), you would usually find very stereotyped groups of people. 

The Breakfast Club presents these stereotyped groups with each character fitting into one of the groups perfectly - the bad boy, the jock, the strange one, the brain and the princess.

Other examples include the mean, popular group, and geeks.