A specialized set of Stock Characters common to stories set in the American West of the 19th Century and used in The Western, almost as stylized and precisely-defined as the characters of commedia dell'arte.
Tropes:
Riders of the Purple Sage
- Anti-Hero: Late-period westerns were some of the major codifiers for anti-heroes, along with Film Noir. Think Spaghetti Westerns, The Man With No Name, etc.
- Cowboy
- The Drifter
- The Gunslinger
- Outlaw
- Bounty Hunter
- Samurai Cowboy
Lawmen
Frontiersmen
Rich Folk
Settlers
Townsfolk and others
- The Blacksmith
- Chinese Laborer
- Chinese Launderer
- City Slicker
- Clerk
- Corrupt Businessman
- Dry Crusader
- Forty-Niner
- Frontier Doctor
- Medicine Show
- Meek Townsman
- Morally Bankrupt Banker
- Pony Express Rider
- Posse
- Prospector
- Railroad Employee Roundhouse
- Remittance Man
- Schoolmarm
- Southern Gentleman
- Undertaker
- Wasteland Elder
- Western Union Man
The Church
The Saloon
- The Bartender
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold, often called a "soiled dove"
- Miss Kitty
- The Piano Player
- Professional Gambler
- Saloon Owner
Natives
- Going Native
- Indian Maiden
- Magical Native American
- Noble Savage: In this case, noble Native Americans
- The Savage Indian
The Army
- Army Scout
- Cavalry Officer
- The Remnant: All those Confederate soldiers still hanging on after the Civil War.
- The Seventh Cavalry