All Moral Exemplars and Social Critics

Protagonists whose central function is ethical witness: a figure defined chiefly by principled conduct in the face of injustice, or a narrator-observer whose testimony frames and judges the events of the work. Belongs here: a protagonist whose defining trait is moral steadfastness or the act of bearing witness, rather than a personal quest, romance or downfall. Does not belong here: a protagonist whose own passions or flaws drive the central conflict, tracked under Tragic Heroes and Doomed Protagonists above.