Does it truly matter what the story’s setting and genre is when it comes to the character’s goal/motivation?
For an example and this is purely an example:
If a character is searching for a legendary herb to cure their sick parents, the genre will have to be fantasy and the setting as well or something along those lines, right?
However, if a character is searching for a guy or girl who can be a potential boyfriend or girlfriend after coming out of a terrible relationship, but learns that their is no such thing as a “perfect boyfriend or girlfriend” and accept it by dating and falling in love with a old friend, does the genre have to be a romance contemporary set in some modern era or something along those lines?
Like does the character’s goal/motivation need to fit the setting and genre that they will placed in?
Can you place a character in ANY setting or genre regardless of their goals/motivation? Or there is a certain place for every character?
I know this is a silly question, but I am genuinely curious.
What do you think?
You could put a character searching for a magical herb in a realistic contemporary story, but all the other characters would likely see that character as a kook. And it would be a more interesting story to me for that reason. (>‿◠)
True and that can show that the character is coping their parents’ sickness in their own way rather than it being some magical epic journey or something.
Their motivation can be anything but the world tells us how they would think and react. Terminal illness is a curse, no matter the time period, but depending on the setting, it can be seen as a literal curse from the gods.
Actually, no. Not really. In some cases, yes, it can play a role, but it also depends on the goal or motivation. Like if you have a character whose main goal is to defeat a king and tear down his reign of terror, it’ll most likely fit fantasy. But if you turn that king into a government, it can fit contemporary or dystopian.
Most motivations, like curing sick parents or finding a relationship, can fit multiple genres. Take the new Wednesday show on Netflix as an example. It’s a great spin on the original Addams Family show from the 60s which is described as a “macabre comedy.” Wednesday isn’t that, though. It’s definitely macabre, but not much of a comedy. It features horror, fantasy, and murder mystery aspects of it. However, it mostly falls under fantasy mystery. The story is about Wednesday going to a boarding school called Nevermore which, you eventually find out, is filled with fantastical students (werewolves, sirens, vampires, other monsters), and while she’s there, there’s been “bear attacks” that’s taken place around the property, though they aren’t necessarily “bear attacks,” just some monster killing people. Her main goal is to find the killer and put a stop to it, and that kind of goal goes along with any setting, but it’s main genre is murder mystery/thriller.
