Archetype dyn.pr. Sidekick ↔ Skeptic

an Archetypal Character possessing the qualities of disbelief and oppose

If a Sidekick is a cheer leader, a Skeptic is a heckler. The Skeptic still wants to see its team win, but doesn't think it can and is sure this is because the team members are going about it all wrong. Therefore, the Skeptic exhibits disbelief and opposes all efforts. Of course, when the team really is misguided, the Skeptic is in fact right on track. As with all Overall Story Archetypes, the Skeptic applies its outlook to hero and villain alike. In other words, the qualities of disbelief and oppose describe the nature of the Skeptic - not just its opinion about a particular issue. So, the Skeptic also doubts the bad guys are as powerful (or bad) as they are said to be, and opposes them as well. One purpose of stories is to illustrate how well different personality types fare in the effort to solve a particular kind of problem. Archetypal Characters represent the most broad categories into which personality types might be categorized. The Skeptic provides the opportunity to explore how well a doubter and naysayer does in resolving the story's troubles.