A stock character is a stereotypical fictional person or type of person in a work of art such as a novel, play, or a film who audiences recognize from frequent recurrences in a particular literary tradition. There is a wide range of stock characters, covering men and women of various ages, social classes and demeanors. They are archetypal characters distinguished by their simplification and flatness thus easy targets for parody and to be criticized as clichés, but they are as well an effective time- and effort-saving shortcut for story creators.
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