Stock character
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A stock character, also known as a character archetype, is a type of character in a narrative whom audiences recognize across many narratives or as part of a storytelling tradition or convention. Ther
Stock characters play an important role in fiction, including in fairy tales, which use stock characters such as the damsel in distress and Prince Charming (pictured is Sleeping Beauty).
Tom Wilson as a stock character of a policeman, in Charlie Chaplin's 1921 film The Kid
Damsel in distress
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The damsel in distress is a narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has been kidnapped or placed in other peril. The "damsel" is often portrayed as beautiful, popular, and of
Stock character
…Nevertheless, these terms are not synonyms. The relationship is that basic archetypes (such as "hero" or "father figure") and stock characters (such as "damsel in distress" and "wise fool") are the raw source material that authors use to build on and create fleshed-out, interesting characters. In contrast, stereotypes and…
Frank Bernard Dicksee's 1885 painting Chivalry
Gustave Doré's depiction of Andromeda chained to the rock—a Romantic-era portrayal of the damsel in distress from Greek mythology
Paolo Uccello's depiction of Saint George and the dragon, c. 1470, a classic image of a damsel in distress
John Everett Millais's The Knight Errant of 1870 saves a damsel in distress and underlines the erotic subtext of the genre.