Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Malcolm

Malcolm and Cole share the protagonist role, since their quests to overcome various family and ghost issues take up equal time. However, Malcolm's probably more of a protagonist, because: Bruce Willis. But seriously, since Cole's story is kind of nested within Malcolm's own overall quest to come to terms with the new normal—the new normal being that he's dead, that is—we'll give Malcolm the benefit of the doubt. It's part of the genius of the story that we don't realize it's really Malcolm's story until the very last scene.