Misplaced Pages

#420579

28-472: Felonious Gru Sr. , alternatively spelled as Felonius Gru and typically referred to simply as Gru , is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Despicable Me franchise. Voiced by American actor Steve Carell , he has appeared in all six films in the series. Gru is a grouchy, quick-witted, and cynical former supervillain , who serves as a secret agent in order to fight other supervillains. Gru

56-585: A Russian mafioso and a crazed Nazi " by Roger Ebert , was largely a product of his voice actor Steve Carell 's experimentation. According to Despicable Me producer Chris Meledandri , the voice Carell eventually settled on was conceived as "halfway between Ricardo Montalbán and Bela Lugosi ". The use of flashbacks to characterise Gru in Despicable Me was compared by Variety to those used in Pixar 's 2007 film Ratatouille to characterise Anton Ego . Gru

84-412: A parent and bravery were part of his Super-ego . Gru has also been interpreted as a Russian stereotype, with a 2017 study stating that elements of his characterisation had been designed to support supposed American political agendas that label Russians as backwards and violent. Protagonist The protagonist is the character whose fate is most closely followed by the reader or audience, and who

112-508: A prize'). The earliest known examples of a protagonist are found in Ancient Greece . At first, dramatic performances involved merely dancing and recitation by the chorus. Then in Poetics , Aristotle describes how a poet named Thespis introduced the idea of one actor stepping out and engaging in a dialogue with the chorus. This was the invention of tragedy, and occurred about 536 B.C. Then

140-460: A war. Though many people equate protagonists with the term hero and possessing heroic qualities, it is not necessary, as even villainous characters can be protagonists. For example Michael Corleone from The Godfather (1972–1990) film series (1978–1983). In some cases, the protagonist is not a human: in Richard Adams ' novel Watership Down , a group of anthropomorphised rabbits, led by

168-430: Is also a claim that the poet did not assign or create the protagonist as well as other terms for actors such as deuteragonist and tritagonist primarily because he only gave actors their appropriate part. However, these actors were assigned their specific areas at the stage with the protagonist always entering from the middle door or that the dwelling of the deuteragonist (second most important character) should be on

196-553: Is derived from anti- ("against") and agonizesthai ("to contend for a prize"). The antagonist is commonly positioned against the protagonist and their world order. While narratives often portray the protagonist as a hero and the antagonist as a villain , like Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter , the antagonist does not always appear as the villain. In some narratives, like Light Yagami and L in Death Note ,

224-440: Is not always a person or people. In some cases, an antagonist may be a force, such as a tidal wave that destroys a city; a storm that causes havoc; or even a certain area's conditions that are the root cause of a problem. An antagonist may or may not create obstacles for the protagonist. Societal norms or other rules may also be antagonists. An antagonist is used as a plot device, to set up conflicts, obstacles, or challenges for

252-602: Is opposed by the antagonist . The antagonist provides obstacles and complications and creates conflicts that test the protagonist, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the protagonist's character, and having the protagonist develop as a result. The term protagonist comes from Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής ( prōtagōnistḗs )  'actor who plays the chief or first part', combined of πρῶτος ( prôtos , 'first') and ἀγωνιστής ( agōnistḗs , 'actor, competitor'), which stems from ἀγών ( agṓn , 'contest') via ἀγωνίζομαι ( agōnízomai , 'I contend for

280-520: Is the most important thing. In the second film , Gru leaves his villainous past behind to care for his adoptive daughters, but then soon joins forces —unwillingly— with secret agent Lucy Wilde, whom he later marries. In the third film , after he and Lucy are fired from their jobs at the Anti-Villain League, Gru learns that he has a twin brother, Dru, whom he never met due to their divorced parents raising each child separately. Along with Lucy and

308-512: Is the son of Marlena and the Bald Terror (real name Robert), twin brother of Dru, the adoptive father of Margo, Edith, and Agnes as well as the biological father of Gru Jr., husband of Lucy, and boss of the Minions . At the beginning of the first film , Gru is an ambitious supervillain who constantly seeks approval from his mother, until the adoption of his daughters convinces him that their happiness

SECTION 10

#1732851630421

336-483: The "good guys" of the narrative. Examples include DC Comics' Superman (hero) and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games (heroine). An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who lacks conventional heroic qualities and attributes such as idealism, courage, and morality. Examples include Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye , Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With

364-523: The Rye , almost every character other than the protagonist may be an antagonist. Another example of this occurring is through Javert in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables , in which Javert displays no malicious intent, but instead represents the rigid and inflexible application of the law, even when it leads to moral and ethical dilemmas. An aspect or trait of the protagonist may be considered an antagonist, such as morality or indecisiveness. An antagonist

392-476: The Wind , Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby , and Walter White from Breaking Bad . A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. Examples include Oedipus from Oedipus Rex and Prince Hamlet from Shakespeare's Hamlet . The protagonist is not always conventionally good. Contrasting the hero protagonist, a villain protagonist is a protagonist who is a villain , driving the story forward regardless of

420-433: The audience is invested in that story. Tybalt, as an antagonist, opposes Romeo and attempts to thwart the relationship. In Shakespeare's play Hamlet , Prince Hamlet, who seeks revenge for the murder of his father, is the protagonist. The antagonist is the character who most opposes Hamlet, Claudius (though, in many ways, Hamlet is his own antagonist). Sometimes, a work will have a false protagonist , who may seem to be

448-482: The events of the story and are not as involved within the "main action" of the plot. The supporting protagonist may be telling the story while viewing another character as the main influence of the plot. One example is Nick in The Great Gatsby . Euripides ' play Hippolytus may be considered to have two protagonists, though one at a time. Phaedra is the protagonist of the first half, who dies partway through

476-463: The evil qualities the main character has. These traits can include being cruel, malicious, and wicked. Examples include Humbert Humbert in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and Richard III in the eponymous play by William Shakespeare . When a supporting protagonist appears, the story is told from the perspective of a character who appears to be minor. This character may be more peripheral from

504-436: The first film, Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin , later opted for a more sleek character that would echo "the world of James Bond ", with Auric Goldfinger being cited as a particular influence. Gru also bears some design similarities with British comic-book character Grimly Feendish and with the pre- Crisis version of Lex Luthor . Gru's distinctive accent, described as "quasi-Russian" by A. O. Scott and "halfway between

532-453: The girls, Gru meets Dru at his mansion in Freedonia, and they form a brotherly relationship over the course of the film. In the fourth film , Gru has a blood-related son called Felonious Gru Jr., who he must protect from his rival Maxime Le Mal. The character that would become Gru was conceived by animator Sergio Pablos , who envisioned him as a Dracula -like character, but the directors of

560-436: The play. Her stepson, the titular Hippolytus, assumes the dominant role in the second half of the play. In Henrik Ibsen 's play The Master Builder , the protagonist is the architect Halvard Solness. The young woman, Hilda Wangel, whose actions lead to the death of Solness, is the antagonist. In Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet , Romeo is the protagonist. He is actively in pursuit of his relationship with Juliet, and

588-434: The poet Aeschylus , in his plays, introduced a second actor, inventing the idea of dialogue between two characters. Sophocles then wrote plays that included a third actor. A description of the protagonist's origin cited that during the early period of Greek drama, the protagonist served as the author, the director, and the actor and that these roles were only separated and allocated to different individuals later. There

SECTION 20

#1732851630421

616-451: The protagonist Hazel, escape their warren after seeing a vision of its destruction, starting a perilous journey to find a new home. Antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist . The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – antagonistēs , "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, rival," which

644-439: The protagonist is a villain and the antagonist is an opposing hero. Antagonists are conventionally presented as making moral choices less savory than those of protagonists. This condition is often used by an author to create conflict within a story. This is merely a convention, however. An example in which this is reversed can be seen in the character Macduff from Macbeth , who is arguably morally correct in his desire to fight

672-502: The protagonist, but then may disappear unexpectedly. The character Marion in Alfred Hitchcock 's film Psycho (1960) is an example. A novel may contain a number of narratives, each with its own protagonist. Alexander Solzhenitsyn 's The First Circle , for example, depicts a variety of characters imprisoned and living in a gulag camp. Leo Tolstoy 's War and Peace depicts fifteen major characters involved in or affected by

700-431: The protagonist. Though not every story requires an antagonist, it often is used in plays to increase the level of drama. In tragedies, antagonists are often the cause of the protagonist's main problem, or lead a group of characters against the protagonist; in comedies, they are usually responsible for involving the protagonist in comedic situations. Author John Truby argues that a true opponent not only wants to prevent

728-480: The right hand, and the tritagonist (third most important character), the left. In Ancient Greece, the protagonist is distinguished from the term "hero", which was used to refer to a human who became a semi-divine being in the narrative. In literary terms, a hero (masculine) or heroine (feminine) protagonist is typically admired for their achievements and noble qualities. Heroes are lauded for their strength, courage, virtuousness, and honor, and are considered to be

756-419: The tyrant Macbeth , the protagonist. Examples from television include J.R. Ewing ( Larry Hagman ) from Dallas and Alexis Colby ( Joan Collins ) from Dynasty . Both became breakout characters used as a device to increase their shows' ratings. Characters may be antagonists without being evil – they may simply be injudicious and unlikeable for the audience. In some stories, such as The Catcher in

784-539: Was cited by Katy Marriner, writing in Screen Education , as one of the premier examples of a protagonist in an animated film who reforms themself, in contrast to the traditional animated film protagonist who remains heroic throughout. Gru was psychologically analysed by Nofika Dewi of Universitas Pamulang  [ id ] , who found that his rude and ambitious qualities represented his Id ; his villainy and tenaciousness represented his Ego , while his competence as

#420579