A character role in a play means one of the people in the play who have a particular character (personality). They contrast with the main characters of the play. For example, a pair of lovers may be the main characters of the story. The character roles who help the story might be: a wicked step-mother, a kind nurse, an old wise man, a fool, a domestic worker who is very old, a "Mary Sue" who is virtually without flaws, and so forth. These may be archtypes.