The characters of traditional operas--the emperors, generals, ministers and talented men and beautiful women--were substituted with the heros of the proletariat workers, peasants and soldiers--who were all inhumanly flawless "models" of virtue.
樣板戲最為人詬病的地方是人物塑造，傳統戲曲中的帝王將相和才子佳人統統被拉倒，換上的工農兵「無產階級英雄」個個都是不食人間煙火，沒有一點瑕疵的「樣板」。