Characters are the personalities or individuals in a narrative. Whether they are actual people, anthropomorphized animals or entirely fantastic, they must have personality traits and characteristics we can relate to.
MajorCharacters are those around whom the story revolves. They make the most decisions, we know the most about them, they have the goal to achieve or the problem to solve.
Protagonist--is the 'hero'; the main character that we follow in the narrative. Sometimes this individual is referred to as 'the good guy', which is unsophisticated. A protagonist may be a very bad person in some narratives. They are merely the main/central character of the tale.
Antagonist--is the personality or force that creates obstacles for the protagonist in achieving their goal or solving their problem. Antagonists are not always human. Animals and nature itself can be very formidable antagonists.
Minor Characters are assistants and sidekicks, friends, minions and donor characters. The story needs them to help the major characters, and we may know many things about them, but we are not following them to see if they achieve their goal or solve their problem.
Dynamic Characters are characters who change in the narrative. They may learn something, have a transformative experience, or raise or lower their societal status. When a character is dynamic, they change something about their BELIEFS or OUTLOOK on life or their PERSONALITY. They must change more than their appearance or clothing.
Static Characters do not fundamentally change in a narrative. They remain the same personality from beginning to end.
Types of Characterization
Characters have a purpose in the story. They help to teach the theme, the life lesson, the insight about life that the author wants you to know. Therefore, you must be able to ANALYZE a character. Authors will give you EVIDENCE of their characters' motives, temperament and belief system if you know how to look. What drives a character drives the conflict. What drives the conflict drives the plot. What drives the plot drives the theme.
Direct Characterization--when an author has a very strong narrative voice, they will sometimes tell you everything you need to know as the narrator. This is called direct characterization.
EXAMPLE: "I present him to you: Ebenezer Scrooge....the most tightfisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge! A squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!" - That is the narrator of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Indirect Characterization -- Not everyone is as good at that sort of thing as Charles Dickens. Most often, authors use indirect characterization to let you imagine the characters yourself. They do this through:
Character actions
Character speech
Describing character thoughts and feelings
Describing character appearance
Having other characters talk about them
EXAMPLE: "Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley’s, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. "-- From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.