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All Literary Characters

Named fictional characters from works of literature: the protagonists, antagonists and other significant figures readers and critics discuss as characters in their own right, from Hamlet and Elizabeth Bennet to Raskolnikov and Atticus Finch, spanning every era, language and literary form the atlas covers. Each entry treats the character as a subject in its own right, distinct from the work that introduces them, carrying traits, relationships and critical reception rather than plot summary alone. Belongs here: a named fictional character created within a literary work, whatever the work's genre or form. Does not belong here: the work itself, filed under Works and connected to its characters by an edge; the work's author, filed under Authors; a genre, literary movement or form the character's work belongs to, filed under Genres, Movements or Forms respectively; and a character who is primarily a religious, mythological or historical figure rather than a literary invention, whose primary record belongs to Divinity or History and is linked here only if literature has substantially treated them as a character.

All Literary Characters
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Anna Karenina

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Atticus Finch

Moral Exemplars and Social Critics

Bilbo Baggins

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Captain Ahab

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Colonel Aureliano Buendia

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Count Dracula

Villains, Monsters and Antagonists

Cyrano de Bergerac

Romantic and Star-Crossed Figures

Daisy Buchanan

Romantic and Star-Crossed Figures

D'Artagnan

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Don Quixote

Satirical, Picaresque and Comic Protagonists

Dorian Gray

Byronic Heroes and Antiheroes

Ebenezer Scrooge

Satirical, Picaresque and Comic Protagonists

Edward Rochester

Byronic Heroes and Antiheroes

Elizabeth Bennet

Romantic and Star-Crossed Figures

Emma Bovary

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Eugene Onegin

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Frankenstein's Monster

Villains, Monsters and Antagonists

Frodo Baggins

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Gregor Samsa

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Hamlet

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Harry Potter

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Heathcliff

Byronic Heroes and Antiheroes

Hermione Granger

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Hester Prynne

Romantic and Star-Crossed Figures

Holden Caulfield

Byronic Heroes and Antiheroes

Huckleberry Finn

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Ishmael

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Jane Eyre

Innocents and Coming-of-Age Protagonists

Jay Gatsby

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Jean Valjean

Moral Exemplars and Social Critics

Lemuel Gulliver

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Long John Silver

Villains, Monsters and Antagonists

Meursault

Byronic Heroes and Antiheroes

Miss Havisham

Villains, Monsters and Antagonists

Mr. Darcy

Romantic and Star-Crossed Figures

Okonkwo

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Oliver Twist

Innocents and Coming-of-Age Protagonists

Peter Pan

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Pip

Innocents and Coming-of-Age Protagonists

Prince Myshkin

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Quasimodo

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Robinson Crusoe

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Rodion Raskolnikov

Byronic Heroes and Antiheroes

Scout Finch

Innocents and Coming-of-Age Protagonists

Sherlock Holmes

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Tom Sawyer

Quest Heroes and Adventurers

Werther

Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists

Winston Smith

Byronic Heroes and Antiheroes
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