Editing Title character (section)

== 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]],''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/hobbit/canalysis.html|title=The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien, Analysis of major characters|publisher=SparkNotes}}</ref> [[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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

A title character is typically fictional, such as [[Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Alice]] in the book ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', Robinson Crusoe in the [[Robinson Crusoe|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 (musical)|Annie Get Your Gun]]'',<ref>{{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}}</ref> [[Erin Brockovich]] in the [[Erin Brockovich (film)|film of the same name]],<ref>{{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}}</ref> or [[Thomas More]] in the play ''[[A Man for All Seasons (play)|A Man for All Seasons]]''.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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]],''<ref>{{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}}</ref> [[Count Dracula]] in [[Bram Stoker]]'s ''[[Dracula]]'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Constanzo|first=William V|title=World Cinema through Global Genres|date=November 18, 2013|publisher=John Wiley & sons|page=211}}</ref> or [[Francisco Scaramanga]] and [[Julius No]] in the [[James Bond]] novels and films ''[[The Man with the Golden Gun (novel)|The Man with the Golden Gun]]'' and [[Dr. No (film)|''Dr. No'']].<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 ''[[Shōgun (1980 miniseries)|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'', the [[Wizard of Oz (character)|Wizard of Oz]] is the title character, but is a minor supporting character.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In the musical ''[[Bye Bye Birdie]]'', Conrad Birdie is the title character, while Albert Peterson is the protagonist.<ref>{{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}}</ref> In the video game ''[[The Legend of Zelda (series)|The Legend of Zelda]]'', the title character [[Princess Zelda]] is the [[damsel in distress]] and [[Link (The Legend of Zelda)|Link]] is her [[knight in shining armor]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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]]''<ref>{{cite book|title=Ready Reference Treatise: Uncle Tom's Cabin|last=Sharma|first=Raja|date=2012}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

The concept of ''title character'' may be interpreted to include [[unseen character]]s, such as Godot in ''[[Waiting for Godot]]'',<ref>{{cite book|title=Ready Reference Treatise: Waiting for Godot|last=Sharma|first=Raja|date=2012}}</ref> Rebecca de Winter in the 1938 novel ''[[Rebecca (novel)|Rebecca]]'',<ref>{{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}}</ref> or [[Jason Bourne]] in the 2012 film ''[[The Bourne Legacy (film)|The Bourne Legacy]]''.<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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]]'',<ref>{{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}}</ref> or the imaginary 6-foot rabbit Harvey in the [[Harvey (play)|play and film of the same name]].<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==="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",<ref>{{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}}</ref> the title character of ''[[Hamlet]]'' is the [[Prince Hamlet|"titular prince of Denmark"]],<ref>{{cite book|title=American Theatre: History, Context, Form|first=Theresa|last=Saxon|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=October 11, 2011}}</ref> and the title character of ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' is the "titular wizard".<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>