Fantasy Fiction 101: Casting Your Characters

Written By Noelle Hollar

"Characters are not created by writers. They pre-exist and have to be found."

Elizabeth Bowen

We started this series by asking the basic question “What is fantasy fiction?” and continued with the slightly more complicated question “Why write fantasy fiction?” The answer to both, simply stated, is that fantasy fiction is the ultimate “What if?” This is the genre that brings dragons to life, fills forests with fairies and ancient guardians, and creates worlds where magic flourishes and fantastical, mythical creatures occupy the same earth as you or I. The world is not restrained by the limitations of reality, but only by the boundaries you weave into the fiber and construct of the world you create.

Once a fantasy reader starts a new journey into being a fantasy writer, however, the joy can quickly turn to terror. Worldbuilding alone is intimidating and overwhelming, not to mention your cast of characters, magic systems, and then of course your favorite part of the process, actually writing the bloody thing. 

In the spirit of Lewis Carroll’s sage advice, we spent some time discussing how to “begin[ning] at the beginning” and we’ll conclude this series by talking about how to “go until you reach the end” - which is a poetic way of saying we’ll talk about how to finish your first draft. By this point, we’ve broadly addressed the initial stages of imagining, planning, and plotting your novel, which means it’s finally time to start the fun (and occasionally terrifying) parts of the process. This post will address casting the characters for your fantasy fiction novel, but rather than focus on the technical process of how you create a character, I’m going to focus on the different character archetypes found in fantasy fiction and the general purpose they serve for your story. For purposes of this post, I’ll be using C.J. Solomon’s Writing Fantasy: The Ultimate Guide and Complete Reference Book for reference material. Each character archetype section will include character examples from various works of fantasy fiction; for consistency, the listed works will remain the same throughout the sections, which means that some sections will not include character archetypes from those specific works if these archetypes are not present in the story. 

Let’s get started.

The Protagonist

Solomon identifies four main types of protagonists:

  1. Heroic or Warrior Protagonist: “A good person who is deliberately fighting against an enemy who probably seems more powerful.” (10)

  2. Anti-hero or Rebel: “A jaded loner who begins off as selfish but has a conscience that pulls them into the heroic side of a conflict.” (11)

  3. Innocent Protagonist: “May be a child and/or orphan… They tend to be curious and kind and might be looking for the affection of a new family.” (11)

  4. The Messiah: “Someone who has a cause that means everything to them…They will have seen how terrible the enemy is - perhaps having lost family and/or friends to the antagonist - and are willing to do anything to stop that enemy, even if it means sacrificing their own life and those who follow them.” (11)

Your protagonist is the second-most important character you will create for your story. Inevitably, you will probably spend a great deal of your time developing this character, ironing out every detail from their name and age to their hobbies, eccentricities, hopes, and dreams, along with their character journey and associated development as the story moves forward. I previously talked about the creation and development of your protagonist in “The Power of a Protagonist: How to Get Readers to Relate to Your Story’s Driving Force” and provided character examples to illustrate the point. To summarize, here are the key points that you will want to remember when developing your protagonist:

  • Whatever their struggle, whatever their journey, the protagonist is the lifeblood flowing through the veins of your story. This is a character that the audience will relate to through their struggles, their traumas, their triumphs, and especially their flaws.

  • Flaws (also known as quirks, oddities, colorful aspects of the personality, etc.) are essential to making a character relatable. Use your protagonist’s flaws to build character development throughout the story.

  • By the time your story ends, your protagonist should no longer be the person he/she was on page one.

  • Protagonists ultimately connect with readers by invoking emotions: ambition, hope, despair, fear, love, grief, et cetera. The more human you allow your protagonist to be, the faster readers will turn the page to see what comes next.

While you could easily have a master file on every character in your story (and some writing advice suggests that you do), this is one of the two characters that must have a master file for you to reference. You will likely add details to this file throughout the drafting process, and it will be invaluable during the editing process. 

Pro Tip: Your editor may even ask you for a copy of the master file, especially for a developmental edit, to ensure you’ve kept the character consistent.

Character Examples

  • The Pevensie siblings, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia

  • Lyra Belacqua, His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman

  • Mowgli, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

  • The Unicorn/Lady Amalthea, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

  • Frodo Baggins, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Wendy Darling, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

  • Dorothy Gale, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Antagonist

The antagonist is the most important character you will ever create because their existence is intimately linked to the protagonist’s journey. In many cases, the antagonist will have a personal link to the protagonist (e.g., killed a member of the protagonist’s family, or a former friend who betrayed the protagonist). That being said, if your antagonist doesn’t have a personal link to the protagonist, they will still be linked by their motivations and/or by their existence (the relationship between Harry Potter and Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series is an example of this). Solomon provides an extensive list of different relationships between protagonists and antagonists (found on page 12), including:

  • The protagonist and antagonist are members of the same family; they never desire to be enemies but have found themselves pitted against each other, perhaps by an advisor or parent.

  • The protagonist and antagonist were once lovers who have since fallen out with each other.

  • The protagonist and antagonist are rivals for the throne.

  • The antagonist desires to do good but chooses evil means of going about it.

  • The antagonist does not start as an evil person but makes a bad decision that has escalated.

  • The antagonist wants something that the protagonist has.

  • The antagonist is an evil, non-human monster that the protagonist is destined to defeat.

  • The antagonist is something inanimate (e.g., poverty, nature, or authority) or deeply personal to the protagonist (e.g., the protagonist’s self-doubt and fears).

A character’s motivation will always be essential to bringing them to life, and I would argue that no other character archetype embodies this more than the antagonist. To use some of Solomon’s examples, your antagonist could be outright evil, without redemptive qualities, greedy, and psychopathic; they could be a literal monster such as a demonic entity eager for world destruction. On the other hand, the antagonist could believe they are doing what’s best for the world and/or their family/realm, but their actions are causing more harm than good. I spent a great deal of time dissecting the motivations of antagonists in “The Vice of a Villain: The Flaws and Motivations the Humanize Your Antagonist” and, similar to my post on protagonists, provided character examples and highlighted how their motivations created their character development (and downfall). Key points from that post are summarized below:

  • An antagonist is not synonymous with a villain, though the terms often get tossed around like they’re interchangeable.

    • “An antagonist is a character or thing that opposes the protagonist. A villain is an antagonist because they oppose the hero. But an antagonist does not have to be a villain. A villain indicates some level of evil while an antagonist does not.” (Chester, 2017, 4) 

  • The wants and needs of your villain create the plot’s central conflict and, in turn, create conflict with your protagonist. This conflict then propels the narrative forward through action, which, ideally, will have the audience glued to the pages as they try to determine who will ultimately win.

  • “Let the reader see that the villain has the capacity for good, but is choosing not to use it [emphasis added].” (Chester, 2016, 27)

Pro Tip: Similar to the master file you will want to keep for your protagonist, you will want to keep the same for your antagonist. Again, you will likely add details to the file throughout the drafting process, and it will be invaluable during the editing process to ensure your antagonist’s motivations and story arc have remained consistent throughout the manuscript.

Character Examples

  • Queen Jadis (The White Witch), The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

  • The Authority, His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman

  • King Haggard, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

  • Sher Khan, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

  • Sauron, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Captain James Hook, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

  • The Wicked Witch of the West, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Mentor

The mentor operates as a teacher to both the protagonist and the reader; this character is also helpful with providing necessary exposition by explaining things about the fantasy world and/or any details of the magic system that they (the protagonist and the reader) need to know. Additionally, they will often be the one who instigates the call to action, at which point the protagonist (and potentially other characters) becomes involved in the story’s adventure. Throughout the journey, the mentor will serve a variety of other roles, such as suggesting solutions to problems as they arise and helping the protagonist through difficult, painful, or troubling times.

Solomon identifies different characters that could hold the mentor role in the story, including:

  • A royal advisor;

  • A magician guiding the protagonist’s newly emerging talent;

  • A god helping a mortal achieve a quest; or

  • A warrior teaching battle skills to an inexperienced but promising protege.

Character Examples

  • Aslan, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from  C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia

  • Pantalaimon, His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman

  • Schmendrick the Magician, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

  • Akela the Wolf, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

  • Gandalf the Gray/Gandalf the White, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • The Good Witch of the North, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Sidekick and Allies

The simplest way to describe the role of a sidekick character archetype is “a friend who shares the entire adventure with the protagonist” (13), but they aren’t there just to be a source of unquestioning, unflappable support (a “yes man or woman,” if you will). Of course, if you desire to have the sidekick character be a close friend who supports everything the protagonist does, there’s no harm in that. However, don’t be afraid to give your protagonist a sidekick that she bickers with every moment of every day.

Solomon provides a few examples of the kinds of characters who can operate as a sidekick, including:

  • A spy

  • The antagonist

  • The mentor

  • The love interest

Pro Tip: The sidekick character archetype is one of several that can be merged with other archetypes mentioned in this post, so don’t think you have to label each character with one archetype. They can wear many hats!

The ally character archetype has a similar role to the sidekick, and they can often be merged into one large group, such as the fellowship of the ring in Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, Solomon emphasizes that every ally should have a specific role in your story: “No one should be there who does not contribute to the plot” (13). To elaborate, these characters should be close to your protagonist, but be prepared to let them:

  • Create conflict via arguments/disagreements with the protagonist;

  • Get hurt; or

  • Get killed.

Solomon also notes that you can develop the allies by having them belong to a specific group of people and incorporating elements of worldbuilding; for example, how the group of people are perceived and how that impacts their relationship with the protagonist. The 1997 gothic film adaptation of the Snow White fairytale, “Snow White: A Tale of Terror,” explores this idea with a reimagining of the seven dwarves into seven miners. Each one of the seven represents some form of social outcast, from mental and physical disabilities to a branded exile from the Crusaders, which initially makes them distrustful of Lillian (Snow White) as a member of the royal family. As the story progresses and Lillian grows from a spoiled child to a strong, determined woman who contributes to their way of life, the miners become incredibly protective of her and accept Lillian as part of their group.

Character Examples

  • Mr. and Mrs. Beaver and Mr. Tumnus, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from  C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia

  • Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby, His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman

  • Schmendrick the Magician and Molly Grue, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

  • Bagheera the Panther, Baloo the Bear, and Kaa the Python, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

  • Samwise Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • The Lost Boys, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

  • The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

The Lover

The lover character is another archetype that can overlap with other archetypes, such as the mentor, sidekick, or one of the allies. You have a considerable amount of flexibility and license for creativity with this character’s storyline and their relationship with both the protagonist and antagonist, including:

  • The lover starts as the protagonist’s friend and later becomes his/her love interest.

  • The lover reveals him/herself as a spy for the antagonist later in the story and ultimately sides with the antagonist.

  • The lover is already in a relationship with the protagonist when the story begins.

  • The relationship between lover and protagonist is one-sided and/or unrequited and remains that way.

  • The relationship between protagonist and love interest is a doomed romance, destined to cause pain or death to one or both of them.

Pro Tip: Similar to the protagonist’s allies, the love interest should always have a purpose for being in the story. Don’t plop them in the story just to be the love interest.

Character Examples

  • Will Parry, His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman

  • Prince Lir, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

  • Peter Pan, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

The Minions

Everyone loves a good antagonist, but the minions can be just as fun to write! As Solomon notes, these characters “may primarily function as the actors of the antagonist’s will, but they can be just as dangerous and immoral as their leader” (14), supporting the antagonist because of their ambition or greed, or because they are literal monsters. Alternatively, you could create more sympathetic minions, such as:

  • A lover who sees a different, kinder side of the antagonist;

  • An old friend of the antagonist;

  • A slave; or

  • Someone whose family has been threatened by the antagonist and therefore is providing assistance under duress.

Character Examples

  • Maugrim (captain of Queen Jadis’ secret police), The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from  C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia

  • Metatron, His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman

  • The Red Bull, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

  • Tabaqui the Jackal, The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

  • Saruman the White, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

  • Mr. Smee and the Pirates, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

  • The Winged Monkeys, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

Final Thoughts

"No one is as real to me as people in the novel. It grows like a living thing. When I realise they do not exist except in my mind I have a feeling of sadness, looking around for them, as if the half-empty cafe were a place I had once come to with friends who had all moved away."

Mavis Gallant

I’d like to close this post with two key points:

  1. This list is not all-inclusive, and you may find other writing guides for fantasy fiction that list other character archetypes for you to play with.

  2. Don’t be afraid to blend two (or three!) character archetypes into one character. Be creative with the different roles a character can play in your story, provided it doesn’t interfere with their motivations or contradict their established personality.

I have plans to do a thorough dissection of how to develop your character master file in a future post, which will cover all the different aspects and elements for you to consider when creating your characters. In the meantime, I encourage you to skim through the Further Reading section below for more tips and tricks and how to cast and craft your characters for the next great fantasy fiction novel. I look forward to seeing you in the next post, where we’ll look at the key considerations for building your fantasy world.

Happy Writing! 

Further Reading

Writing Fantasy: The Ultimate Guide and Complete Reference Book (C.J. Solomon)

Noelle Hollar
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Fantasy Fiction 101: Choosing a Style to Build Your Fantasy World
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Fantasy Fiction 101: Beginning at the Beginning