Tzvetan Todorov argued that a narrative moves through a process of transformation in progressing towards its conclusion. This was known as the “5 stage theory”. He identified that every story has a start, middle and end, so devised a theory consisting of 5 stages: Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition of disruption, Attempt to repair disruption and Reinstatement of the equilibrium.
Vladimir Propp is most famous for writing “The Morphology of the Folk Tale”. Using character types and “spheres of action”, Propp claimed it was possible to group most, if not all, characters. These “spheres of action” contained 31 functions that would help to progress the story. He discovered there were 7 character types:
- The Hero (traditionally a male protagonist)
- The villain (cause of disruption)
- Dispatcher (sends the hero on a journey)
- Donor (offers advice / gift with magical properties)
- The Helper
- Princess/Heroine (vulnerable, usually needs rescuing by the hero)
- False hero / false villain (a character who seems to be on a certain side – either hero or villain – who ends up deceiving/turning against them)
There are 4 spheres action: The Introduction, The Body of the Story (hero onto their main quest), The donor sequence (searches for a solution, often gaining a magical agent from the donor – this may complete the story, and the 4th sphere may not be needed), The Hero’s return (this phase is often optional). Within these spheres are what are known as “31 Narretemes”. A game company that tends to follow Propp’s theories very closely are Nintendo. A good game that depicts this from Nintendo’s collection is “Super Mario Bros”:
Initial Situation:
- Abesntation: Peach goes missing
- Interdiction: Mario is warned
Violation of interdiction
- Reconnaissance: Bowser seeks Peach
- Delivery: Bowser finds Peach’s whereabouts
- Trickery: Bowser attempts to deceive Peach
- Complicity: Bowser runs off with Peach
- Villainy and Lack: Mario realises Peach is missing
- Mediation: Mario realises Bowser has taken Peach
- Counteraction: Mario runs after Bowser to save peach
- Departure: Mario leaves on mission
- Testing: Mario is faced with levels he needs to complete to get to Bowser’s castle
- Reaction: Mario responds to the test, completing the levels
- Acquisition: Mario gains powerups as he progresses through each level
- Guidance: Mario reaches the castle (final level)
- Struggle: Mario and Bowser fight (Final boss fight)
- Branding: Mario is banded as hero
- Victory: Bowser is defeated
- Resolution: Peach is back, resolving the initial lack/misfortune