Vladimir Propp
Propp is a Soviet folklorist and scholar who analysed the basic plot components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest irreducible narrative elements.
He developed a character theory for studying media texts and productions, which indicates that there were 7 broad character types in the 100 tales he analysed, which could be applied to other media.
This theory is very easily seen in most Disney films, for example:
The villain (struggles against the hero)
The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
The false hero (perceived as good character in beginning but emerges as evil)
The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
The hero [AKA victim/seeker/paladin/winner, reacts to the donor, weds the princess
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