Characters in Action Films

Characters

In action films the characters are very similar. While they are not all the same people in every film, the types of character are similar. In action films you generally have a male main character, the protagonist, the character who the film is about. This is generally a person who has a sad back story or a tough life and they have become a special agent or a police man.For example James Bond is an orphan who was recruited when his parents died. The film follows this person throughout this film.

Then in most action films you have the bad guy, the antagonist. This is the person that wants to destroy something to get revenge. This is the person that the protagonist has to stop and the film is based around this. The antagonist is generally a male and had a backstory not too dissimilar to the main character, just instead of going into law enforcement he decides to get revenge. Skyfall is based around James Bond stopping the former agent from killing ‘M’.

Finally then other character you would expect to see in an action film is the support character to the main character. This is generally a woman who the protagonist saves or helps and then they finish the story helping each other. This character generally ends up in an on screen romance with the main character. This is essentially like a ‘Bond Girl’.

After this in most action films the other characters are just support roles. Not all action films follow this role. Depending on the story line and the sub-genre there can be many different types of characters. If the film was a crime action film you would expect the main character to be someone from a gang or from the mafia.

Some actors can be related to a specific genre. Arnold Schwarzenegger would be associated with action films as most of the films he has been in are action films.

The Dark Knight rises is a stereotypical action that has characters you would expect from an action film. (Shown Above)