A recognizable character type that audiences instantly understand because it shows up repeatedly across stories in a genre or tradition.
A stock character is a familiar figure that readers recognize on sight because the type has been used so many times across so many stories. Think of the wise old mentor, the bumbling sidekick, the corrupt politician, or the hooker with a heart of gold. Stock characters originated in ancient Greek and Roman comedy, where masks literally represented fixed types like the braggart soldier or the clever servant. They're a subset of flat characters - defined by their role and a handful of expected traits rather than individual complexity.
Stock characters are both a shortcut and a trap. Used well, they let you populate your story quickly with figures readers immediately understand, freeing up your creative energy for the characters who need it most. Used lazily, they make your fiction feel generic and predictable. The real skill is knowing when to deploy a stock character as-is and when to subvert or deepen the type into something fresh.
The granddaddy of stock characters in Western literature - Harlequin (the trickster servant), Pantalone (the miserly old man), and Il Dottore (the pompous intellectual) are templates we still use today.
The original film is built almost entirely from stock characters - the farm boy hero, the roguish smuggler, the wise old mentor, the captured princess - and it works brilliantly because the story is archetypal.
Johnson fills his cast with stock mystery characters - the eccentric detective, the scheming family members, the loyal nurse - then subverts expectations by making the supposed stock characters the most surprising people in the room.
Archetypes are universal, cross-cultural patterns rooted in human psychology. Stock characters are specific, culturally bound types from particular genres or traditions. The mentor is an archetype; the wise old wizard with a long beard is a stock character.
If a stock character has significant page time, give them at least one trait, desire, or behavior that breaks from the expected type. Even a small surprise makes them feel alive.
Examine your stock characters critically. Some traditional types are rooted in racist, sexist, or classist assumptions. Update, subvert, or replace them with something more thoughtful.
Pick a stock character you've seen a hundred times - the tough-but-fair coach, the sassy best friend, the nerdy hacker. Now write a 200-word scene where that character does something that completely breaks from the expected type while still feeling believable. The goal is to find the line between leveraging recognition and creating genuine surprise.