Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Stock Character

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Stock Character: Afictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Suchcharacters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality,manner of speech, and other characteristics and are a key element in genrefiction, supplying relationships and interactions that people familiar with thegenre will recognize at once. Stock characters are ready targets for parody,exaggerating the stereotypes associated with them.So, the 'stock' criminalmay be dim and easily apprehended, the 'stock' nurse may be attractive andsexy, the 'stock' policeman not very bright and prone to uttering meaninglessjargon, the 'stock' detective able and perceptive but not successful withwomen. You get the picture.More honest and perceptivewriters tend to avoid the stock character and portray people who appear realinstead.