Leading Male Character - An immoral Hero: The protagonist is often portrayed as a morally-ambiguous from the dark underworld of violent crime and corruption. This protagonist could be in any number of professions, for example, a screenwriter. However, the archetypal lead male character works alone as a private investigator although in only four of twenty-three National Film Registry noirs is the protagonist a P.I.Common Characteristics:
* Cynical* Obsessive
* Brooding* Sinister
* Sardonic* A lone ranger
Leading Female Character - Femme Fatale: The femme fatale is often the main female role within film noir; literally translated Femme fatale means "killer (or deadly) woman."A femme fatale must be:
♥ Beautiful
♥ Promiscuous
♥ Amoral
♥ Mysterious
♥ Seductive
♥ Manipulative
♥ Unreliable
The Femme Fatale character often deviates from what was considered "normal" in society at the time as she is independent and smart whose actions almost always lead to trouble for the protagonist who usually falls in love with the Femme Fatale.
The Femme Fatale is not only aesthetically beautiful but she is also seductive and enticing as she breaks social conventions by drinking and smoking alone or during the day.
Others:
The Villain and Henchmen: The villain is usually not the one to meet with the protagonist directly as that would give away his identity, instead sending a less intelligent but smartly dressed henchman to do his dirty work for him. The femme fatale has links to both the hero and the villain, sometimes she comes across as the evil character, other times she is the evil character; for example,
Other Women:
Women appear to fall into one of two categories in Film Noir: Femme Fatale or Other. Within the other category the women seem to be a reflection of modern society at the time, characteristics include:
*Dutiful
*Reliable
*Trustworthy
*Loving
These women seem to occupy a smaller role as they are not as beautiful as the femme fatale and are generally less interesting/ dangerous.
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