 | This articlemay containexcessive orirrelevant examples. Please helpimprove it by removingless pertinent examples andelaborating on existing ones.(January 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Thetitle character in anarrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have thetitle role of the piece. The title of the work might consist solely of the title character's name – such asMichael Collins[1] orOthello – or be a longer phrase or sentence – such asAlice's Adventures in Wonderland orThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The title character is commonly – but not necessarily – theprotagonist of the story. Narrative works routinely do not have a title character and there is some ambiguity in what qualifies as one.
Examples in various media include Figaro in the operaThe Marriage of Figaro, Giselle in theballet of the same name,the Doctor in the TV seriesDoctor Who,Dr. Gregory House of the TV seriesHouse,Mario andLuigi in the video gameSuper Mario Bros.,Harry Potter in theseries of novels andfilms,[2] andRomeo Montague andJuliet Capulet in the playRomeo and Juliet.[3]
There is no formal, prescriptive definition of atitle character ortitle role, but there are general standards accepted by tradition.
The title character need not be literallynamed in the title, but may be referred to by some other identifying word or phrase, such asBilbo Baggins inThe Hobbit,[4]Simba inThe Lion King,Aang inAvatar: The Last Airbender,Idi Amin inThe Last King of Scotland or more vaguely, as in the playAn Ideal Husband, which ostensibly refers to the character Sir Robert Chiltern.[5]
A title character is typically fictional, such asAlice in the bookAlice's Adventures in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe in thebook of the same name orJean-Luc Picard in the TV seriesStar Trek: Picard; but can be a non-fictional dramatization, such asAnnie Oakley in the musicalAnnie Get Your Gun,[6]Erin Brockovich in thefilm of the same name,[7] orThomas More in the playA Man for All Seasons.[8]
Although it is common for the title character to be the protagonist, it is not unusual for the principal antagonist or a key secondary character to be named in the title instead. Examples of titular antagonists includeSauron in the book and film seriesThe Lord of the Rings,[9]Count Dracula inBram Stoker'sDracula,[10] orFrancisco Scaramanga andJulius No in theJames Bond novels and filmsThe Man with the Golden Gun andDr. No.[11] The protagonist and antagonist can arguably both be title characters, as in the filmsGodzilla vs. the Smog MonsterorSmokey and the Bandit. In the novel and TV seriesShogun, the feudal lord Toranaga is the title character, but the protagonist isJohn Blackthorne. In the 2003 revival ofAugust Wilson'sMa Rainey's Black Bottom,Whoopi Goldberg had the title role of Ma Rainey, but the lead wasCharles S. Dutton as Levee.[12] InThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz, theWizard of Oz is the title character, but is a minor supporting character.[13] In the musicalBye Bye Birdie, Conrad Birdie is the title character, while Albert Peterson is the protagonist.[14] In the video gameThe Legend of Zelda, the title characterPrincess Zelda is thedamsel in distress andLink is herknight in shining armor.[15]
The title character need not be the subject of the title in a strict grammatical sense: Uncle Tom is considered the title character ofUncle Tom's Cabin[16] andLee Marvin is often described as playing the title character in the filmThe Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, as his character (Liberty Valance) is named in the title, even though the grammatical subject of the title is the person who shot him.[17]
The concept oftitle character may be interpreted to includeunseen characters, such as Godot inWaiting for Godot,[18] Rebecca de Winter in the 1938 novelRebecca,[19] orJason Bourne in the 2012 filmThe Bourne Legacy.[20] Status as the title character has been attributed to named objects, such as the bus in the film and musicalPriscilla, Queen of the Desert,[21] or the imaginary 6-foot rabbit Harvey in theplay and film of the same name.[22]
The generalnoun phrase "title character" can be replaced with a descriptivenoun or phrase which is then further described using theadjective "titular". For example, the title character ofDracula can be referred to as the book's "titular vampire",[23] the title character ofHamlet is the"titular prince of Denmark",[24] and the title character ofThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the "titular wizard".[25][26]