Title character
{{Short description|Character who is named or referred to in a work's title}}
{{Excessive examples|date=January 2024}}
The title character in a narrative 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 the title role of the piëce. The title of the work might consist solely of the title character's name – such as Michael Collins{{cite book|title=Irish English as Represented in Film|page=258|first=Shane|last=Walshe|publisher=Peter Lang|date=2009}} or Othello – or be a longer phrase or sentence – such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The titlë character is commonly – but not necessarily – the protagonist 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 opera The Marriage of Figaro, Giselle in the ballet of the same name, the Doctor in the TV series Doctor Who, Dr. Gregory House of the TV series House, Mario and Luigi in the video game Super Mario Bros., Harry Potter in the series of novels and films,{{cite book|title=Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts|last=Bell|first=Christoper E|date=July 30, 2012|publisher=McFarland|page=21}} and Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet in the play Romeo and Juliet.{{cite web|url=https://www.richmondshakespearefestival.org/event/the-tragedy-of-romeo-and-juliet/|title=The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet|publisher=Richmond Shakespeare Festival}}
Definitions
There is no formal, prescriptive definition of a title character or title role, but there are general standards accepted by tradition.
The title character need not be literally named in the title, but may be referred to by some other identifying word or phrase, such as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit,{{cite web|url=http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hobbit/canalysis.html|title=The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien, Analysis of major characters|publisher=SparkNotes}} Simba in The Lion King, Aang in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland or more vaguely, as in the play An Ideal Husband, which ostensibly refers to the character Sir Robert Chiltern.{{cite web|url=http://www.broadwayworld.com/boston/article/Review-An-Ideal-Husband-at-The-Gamm-20081113|title=Review: An Ideal Husband at The Gamm|last=Rice|first=Randy|date=November 14, 2008|publisher=Wisdom Digital Media}}
A title character is typically fictional, such as Alice in the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe in the book of the same name or Jean-Luc Picard in the TV series Star Trek: Picard; but can be a non-fictional dramatization, such as Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun,{{cite book|title=The Great White Way: Race and the Broadway Musical|last=Hoffman|first=Warren|date=February 18, 2014|publisher=Rutgers University Press|page=57}} Erin Brockovich in the film of the same name,{{cite book|title=Myths, Stereotypes, and Controlling Images in Film: A Feminist Content Analysis of Hollywood's Portrayal of Women's Career Choices.|isbn=9781243451705|page=58|first=Tonya R|last=Hammer|date=April 2008}} or Thomas More in the play A Man for All Seasons.{{cite book|title=The Best Test Preparation for the Advanced Placement Examination in English Literature & Composition|date=1990|publisher=Research and Education Assocn.|page=83}}
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 include Sauron in the book and film series The Lord of the Rings,{{cite book|last=Skogemann|first=Pia|title=Where the Shadows Lie: A Jungian Interpretation of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings|date=2009|publisher=Chiron Publications|page=145}} Count Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula,{{cite book|last=Constanzo|first=William V|title=World Cinema through Global Genres|date=November 18, 2013|publisher=John Wiley & sons|page=211}} or Francisco Scaramanga and Julius No in the James Bond novels and films The Man with the Golden Gun and Dr. No.{{Cite web|title=From Fleming to Film: The Search for Scaramanga|url=http://www.bakerstreetdozen.com/scaramanga.html|access-date=2019-12-29|website=www.bakerstreetdozen.com}} The protagonist and antagonist can arguably both be title characters, as in the films Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster or Smokey and the Bandit. In the novel and TV series Shogun, the feudal lord Toranaga is the title character, but the protagonist is John Blackthorne. In the 2003 revival of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Whoopi Goldberg had the title role of Ma Rainey, but the lead was Charles S. Dutton as Levee.{{cite book|title=The A to Z of African American Theater|first=Anthony D|last=Hill|date=September 2, 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=xxxiv}} In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wizard of Oz is the title character, but is a minor supporting character.{{cite web|url=http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/the-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-by-l-frank-baum-summary-characters.html#lesson|title=The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Summary & Characters|publisher=Education Portal}} In the musical Bye Bye Birdie, Conrad Birdie is the title character, while Albert Peterson is the protagonist.{{Cite web|url=https://www.courant.com/ctnow/arts-theater/hc-preview-bye-bye-birdie-goodspeed-20160626-story.html|title=Goodspeed's 'Bye Bye Birdie' Staying True To Original '60s Musical|last=ARNOTT|first=CHRISTOPHER|website=courant.com|date=23 June 2016 |access-date=2019-12-29}} In the video game The Legend of Zelda, the title character Princess Zelda is the damsel in distress and Link is her knight in shining armor.{{cite web|url=http://www.denofgeek.com/games/zelda/21232/the-legend-of-zelda-why-link-is-one-of-the-most-enduring-characters-in-videogaming|title=The Legend Of Zelda: why Link is one of the most enduring characters in videogaming|last=Lambie|first=Ryan|date=23 November 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620042618/http://www.denofgeek.com/games/zelda/21232/the-legend-of-zelda-why-link-is-one-of-the-most-enduring-characters-in-videogaming|archive-date=2013-06-20}}
The title character need not be the subject of the title in a strict grammatical sense: Uncle Tom is considered the title character of Uncle Tom's Cabin{{cite book|title=Ready Reference Treatise: Uncle Tom's Cabin|last=Sharma|first=Raja|date=2012}} and Lee Marvin is often described as playing the title character in the film The 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.{{cite book|title=Gangster Priest: The Italian American Cinema of Martin Scorsese|last=Casillo|first=Robert|date=2006|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9780802091130|page=153}}
The concept of title character may be interpreted to include unseen characters, such as Godot in Waiting for Godot,{{cite book|title=Ready Reference Treatise: Waiting for Godot|last=Sharma|first=Raja|date=2012}} Rebecca de Winter in the 1938 novel Rebecca,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/daphne-du-maurier-and-the-gothic-tradition|title=Daphne du Maurier and the Gothic Tradition|last=Buzwell|first=Greg|date=25 May 2016|website=British Library|access-date=2018-06-25|archive-date=2017-06-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170618050232/http://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/daphne-du-maurier-and-the-gothic-tradition|url-status=dead}} or Jason Bourne in the 2012 film The Bourne Legacy.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/09/the-bourne-legacy-review|title=The Bourne Legacy – review|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|date=August 9, 2012|work=The Guardian}} Status as the title character has been attributed to named objects, such as the bus in the film and musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,{{cite web|url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/02-2013/priscilla-queen-of-the-desert-tour-oxford_1040.html|title=Priscilla - Queen of the Desert (Tour - Oxford)|last=Tavener|first=Simon|date=February 28, 2013|publisher=What's on Stage: Theatre News}} or the imaginary 6-foot rabbit Harvey in the play and film of the same name.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/tn-wknd-et-tom-titus-harvey-laguna-playhouse-20190606-story.html|title=Review: On Theater: 'Harvey' hardly looks his age in Laguna|date=2019-06-06|website=Daily Pilot|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-29}}
="Titular"=
The general noun phrase "title character" can be replaced with a descriptive noun or phrase which is then further described using the adjective "titular". For example, the title character of Dracula can be referred to as the book's "titular vampire",{{cite book|title=Blood Will Tell: Blood and Vampires as Metaphors in the Political and Popular Cultures of Great Britain, France, Germany and the United States, 1870--1914|page=131|first=Sara Libby|last=Robinson|date=2008}} the title character of Hamlet is the "titular prince of Denmark",{{cite book|title=American Theatre: History, Context, Form|first=Theresa|last=Saxon|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=October 11, 2011}} and the title character of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the "titular wizard".{{Cite web|url=https://www.grunge.com/165193/the-real-meaning-of-these-wizard-of-oz-characters/|title=The real meaning of these Wizard of Oz characters|last=Grimes|first=A. C.|website=Grunge.com|date=6 September 2019|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-30}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y04MQEgHbZsC&pg=PA419|title=Historical Dictionary of American Cinema|last=Booker|first=Keith M.|date=2011-03-17|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7459-6|language=en}}