1. VLADIMIRPROPP (1895-1970)
Propp was a Bulgarian theorist. In his 1922 work The Morphology of the Folk Tale he
analysed something like 400 Russian folk tales. He found that across all of these
tales, despite apparent differences,characters and their actions can be categorized
into clearly defined roles and functions (8 character roles and 31 narrative functions)
which are summarized here:
The hero: seeks something, to fulfill a ‘lack’ of some kind
The villain: opposedthe hero, tries to make the hero fail
The donor: aids the hero by providing an objectwith magical properties
The dispatcher: sends the hero on a quest of some kind
The false hero: pretends to be the hero
The helper: assists the hero in some way
The princess:doubles up as a reward for the hero and the objectof the
villain’s plot
Her father: will reward the hero (oftenby giving the hero his daughter)
DARK KNIGHT RISES
(which character fulfils this role and why?)
Hero Batman – He is the personwho is called upon to save the city
and everyone puts their faith in him. He eventually saves the day.
Villain Bane – He is the villain who wants to destroy Gotham City.
Donor Lucius Fox – He designs vehicles and gives Batman “The Bat”
which is a flying vehicle.
Doctorin ‘The Pit’ – He fixes Bruce’s back and teaches him to
fear death
Dispatcher John Blake – John goes to see Bruce Wayne and convinces him
to return as Batman.
CommissionerGordon– When Bruce Wayne visits Gordonin
hospital he tells him that they need the batman, he also tells
John to get batman to come back.
False hero Miranda Tate – We are lead to believe that she is a good guy as
she works with Lucius Fox and Batman trusts her with the atom
bomb however we find out later in the film that she is in love with
Bane and is working with him to destroyGotham.
Helper Alfred – He is Batman’s butler and provides emotional supportfor
Bruce, he also is his “helper” by job role and is his only family.
Cat Woman – She works with Batman to defeat Bane and
remove the bomb.
John Blake – John helps Batman to defeatBane and rescue’s
the police from the sewer.
Princess Selina Kyle – Batman falls for her at the end of the film.
Miranda Tate – She sleeps with Bruce Wayne half way through
the movie and he falls for her but then she reveals that she is a

2. PROPP NARRATIVE FUNCTION
These functions should not be seen just as events, actions or characters in themselves, but as
elements in a narrative, which can occur at different places. The same action can have a different
meaning depending on where it occurs.
PREPARATION
A community (a
kingdom, family, etc.) in
a state of order
- Gotham city is safe
A member of the family
leaves home
- Alfred leaves Bruce Wayne
A prohibition/rule is
imposed on the hero
- Batman is wanted by the police so he is laying low
A prohibition / rule is
ignores or broken
- Batman hunts down bane and exposes himself to the
police
The villain makes an
attempt at
reconnaissance; tries to
find something out
about the hero
- Selina Kyle takes Bruce Wayne’s finger prints as she is
working for bane at this point
The villain learns
something about his
victim
- Bane finds a letter of resignation in Commissioner
Gordon’s jacket pocket,from this he learns that Batman is
actually a hero
The villain tries to
deceive the victim to
gain an advantage
- Miranda Tate flirts with batman and becomeshis
romantic interest
The victim is deceived
and unknowingly helps
the villain
- Batman gives the bomb to Miranda Tate
COMPLICATION
The state of order is
disrupted
- Selina Kyle steals from Bruce and Bane overthrows the
plane
The villain harms a
member of the family
- CommissionerGordonis shot by Bane and his followers
A member of the family
lacks or desires
something
- Alfred wants Bruce Wayne to leave Gotham City
and start a family, he wants Bruce to be happy.
This lack is made
known to the hero who
is sent on a quest
- Alfred tells Bruce Wayne about Rachel’s letter in which
she admits that she doesn’t love him
“False Princess” and is really in love with Bane, she was simply
trying to gain Batman’s trust.
Father Ra’s Al Ghul – He is Miranda Tate’s father and when she
escaped from “The Pit” he went back and killed all of the
prisoners exceptfrom Bane who had previously helped his
daughter to escape.Following this however, when he found out
that Bane was in love with Miranda, he exiled him from The
League because he couldn’t accepthim as anything more than a
monster.

3. The hero plans action
against the villain
- Batman goes up against Bane
TRANSFERENCE
The hero leaves home - Bruce Wayne is put into ‘The Pit’ by Bane
The hero is tested,
attacked, interrogated:
the hero receives help
- Batman is beaten up by Bane on the streets in front of
the town hall
The hero reacts to the
donor
- Bruce Wayne learns to feeldeath, as the doctorin The
Pit advised him to do
The hero is transferred
to the location where
he will fulfill his quest /
task
- Batman returns to Gotham City
STRUGGLE
There is a struggle
between the hero and
the villain
- Batman and Bane have a fight in front of the town hall
The hero is branded - Bruce Wayne’s back is broken
The villain is defeated - Bane is shot by Cat Woman
The initial state of order
is restored / the lack
fulfilled
- The plan’s made by Bane have failed and Gotham City
is safe.Batman has disappeared and the lack is fulfilled
RETURN
The hero returns - Batman returns from ‘The Pit’ to Gotham City
The hero is pursed - Batman is pursued by the police as they think he killed
Harvey Dent
The hero escapes / is
rescued
- Bruce Wayne escapesfrom ‘The Pit’
The hero arrives home
or some other place: he
is not recognized
- When Batman returns to Gotham City he finds that he is
not as powerful as he once was and that Bane has the
most power
A false hero makes a
false claim
- Miranda Tate claims that she will make ‘safe energy’
with the nuclear reactor
The hero is given a
difficult task
- Bruce Wayne must climb out of ‘The Pit’
The task is
accomplished
- Bruce climb’s out of ‘The Pit’ and defeats Bane
RECOGNITION
The hero is recognized - Batman fly’s the bomb away from Gotham City
The false hero / villain
is exposed
- Miranda Tate stabs Batman between the ribs
The false hero / villain
transforms
- We find out that Miranda and Bane are ‘doing it for love’
The false hero / villain
is punished
- Miranda Tate is trying to escape from Batman but she
crashes her car
The hero is rewarded
(marries the princess
and is granted
wealth/power)
- Bruce Wayne has dinner in a restaurant with Selina Kyle