It’s the main character of the plot, things happen to her. She drives the action from the beginning to the end of the play, for instance. All stories have at least one main protagonist and, generally, this act motivated by her goals.
It may be confused with the protagonist. However, her role is to assist the protagonist to reach her objectives in the play, nothing else.
It doesn’t really appears in all the play. However, the sidekick can be seen in many different genres. She is the character that joins and accompanies the protagonist on her victories or defeats, she will always help the protagonist on whatever it’s needed, from physical to moral support. The sidekick, also is often devoted to the protagonist and will do whatever for him. She may even die for the protagonist.
It’s not a mandatory character neither the main one, however it shows up in many novels. She is the one that keeps something and guards it (normally something pretty important and related to the protagonist goal) she will behave as an obstacle for the protagonist to reach her goals.
Another not mandatory character however very strong when she’s present. She is the Yoda of Star Wars, or the priest in Count of Montecristo. A character that will guide and transform the protagonist so she will be ready for the final battle, the one that she will have to fight to reach her objectives.
The impact character is a secondary character with a brief show in the scene but very important. She is about the character that, in a given moment of the play, will give the protagonist the final push to keep going; or she may even give a clue that the protagonist can use later (in the climax for instance) to solve something, to find the value she needs, or the clue to find the murder.
In the other side of the table, we find a character that is the exact opposite of the protagonist. The Antagonist of Villain of the story. This doesn’t mean that the antagonist is always bad. However, she has a complete opposite goal than the protagonist and she will fight until the end to reach it. Within this clash of goals is where you find your conflict.
Just as the protagonist, the antagonist can have her helpers. Better said, characters that helps the antagonist to reach her objectives. These are not mandatory characters but they can be useful to create your plot.
The skeptic character is the one that doesn’t believe in the objectives of the protagonist. We could say, the opposite of the sidekick, she doesn’t really put obstacles on the protagonist. However, she will try to demoralize the protagonist.
These kind of characters are somehow similar to the Antagonist’s helpers. However the act more like jokers. Characters that will pop up briefly to complicate or deviate the protagonist from her objectives. Stormtroopers are good example for obstacle characters.
Sometimes, the goal of a protagonist can be another character. For instance, somebody has been kidnapped and the protagonist has to find her. This character, if she doesn’t have any other function or role in the play, can be considered the goal.
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