I never really written main antagonistic force or anything in my stories, I always just try to write something else.
In my stories, I try to make the villain everyone or the villain some intangible thing.
Everyone and everything has antagonistic side given the circumstances. There are no true villains, because even a good natured soul can show a darker side when push comes to shove.
At the same time there are no true heroes either. This is something I am just now noticing in my work.
Thoughts and feelings?
NOTE: This is the goal for projects Alagossia, Hero, and Succession.
I think this is also an issue with my current project. There is no single villain that plays a role in the story’s progress. There is a villain group that had a significant impact in the main characters’ past lives (before the story), but that group only makes one or two (indirect) appearances in the story’s planned plot.
The serious constant threat to the main characters, and the success of their shared goals, is the undesirable elements of the characters’ own natures* which they either have to temper or discard. For one character to achieve an unannounced goal, they have to abandon all desires for future confrontations with the above group…Leave that bunch of thugs to someone else, go and enjoy a life with your new friends…
*The hardest victory is over self ~ Plato.
A possible interesting variation on this setting is where the main character discovers the real enemy, or a far more dangerous enemy, is their own side.*
*The Opposition are not the enemy, they’re just the government in exile. The real enemy is your own party ~ Yes, Minister (BBC).
Not a bad thing, just something I’m not used to writing and it might be difficult to get right. Developing and keeping an atmosphere of suspense and mystery, when there is no clearly defined (separate) opposing entity acting against the characters.
I’m now wondering if the Slice of Life anime and manga, and other such media, could be successful examples of this setup.
I am wondering that a bit myself since, there are characters who could fit the antagonistic role, but even then that role is for everyone.
I am writing a fantasy where there are no clear big baddies, just the whole everyone is bad when given the circumstances that come their way. The same with heroes.
I get that people want to root for someone or hate someone, but I don’t have a story like that.
So, who do you root for when no one is taking the hero or villain role?
Maybe characters the reader can relate to, or characters that face and survive events / situations the reader is familiar with…Ordinary people doing extraordinary things…
I recently heard in a character review video* that another way of gaining a reader’s interest in a character is to provide an insight into the character’s life, and personal trials, outside of the main plot, example being their hobbies.To which I’d add, make the hobbies unusual but easy for the characters to justify (to each other and the reader).
*Update: Found the video…
^There are a few interesting (possibly relevant) videos in this channel. Cinema Therapy also has some examples of how other stories created ordinary yet heroic or villainous (or both) characters, based on their personal motivations and challenges more than the overall storyline…I just can’t think of any at the moment…
Why I have two set primary antagonists (one more than the other, as the second comes with a lot more nuance and therefore (imo) cant really be described as a villain) each character, and their subsequent flaws and arcs, are really the driving antagonist force in many situations and circumstances.
As an example, I have two main characters (one moreso than the other, but i digress) and they constantly get in one another’s way. They are, in some sense, antagonists to eachother. Although they are on the same side, and work together, they contrast and combat one another so often that they impede their own goals and ability to progress. This dynamic, imo, is most interesting. They are, for all intents and purposes, rivals and this relationship is at the forefront of the story. Yes, there is a looming antagonist they have to work together to overcome, but to be frank, they’re for the most part a background force. The real antagonism is in their interactions and learning to work together, which oftentimes comes with a mutual ability to put hurdles in the others way.
Its definetly an interesting approach to the story, especially if the antagonistic force is ones own self. “Man Vs. Self”, which I’ve always found to be a very mysterious and engaging read when executed well. I’d say the only real difficulty in this is making the reader root for them. I feel like the main goal would be finding a way for the reader to root for a hinted outcome and goal, a character arc, if you will. Zuko’s arc in ATLA, for example, is primarily internal conflict. We dont necessarily root for Zuko’s external goals, we root for his eventual metamorphosis and redemption.
As I jot down notes, I think I might’ve lied…sorta.
There’s an antagonistic character/the main villain, but to be fair that is only in the being’s nature because of what they are. Though to everyone else, this being is a villain at their core.
As for the other characters, they are forced to play as the pawns until the curse is broken. Once it is broken, then it’s a matter of them characters trying to figure out who the hell am I and what is happening.
So, they take on a different persona or a new persona because they don’t know who they are.
Yeah I have three main villains in Project Succession.
I like stories with flawed protragonists, who are realistic without the tags “good” or “bad” or “hero” or “villain”. Fictional labels are limited by the publishing industry to force stories into buzzwords, and nice fancy boxes for selling purposes.
I like gray villains, so I don’t usually write stories with a Voldemort or a Darth Vader or an evil queen who is evil and powerful because she’s evil and powerful.
I only ever wrote one actual villain who is a mean and horrible, power hungry version of the Wizard of Oz.
Usually the antagonist is a gray villain, or an entity like chaotic magick which consumes you if you use it and makes you do horrid things even if you’re not horrid. Or the “evil” is just a monster who is being, well, a monster. They’re like vicious wild animals who are just being animals. Or the antagonist is within the characters themselves.
Like you said
Someone can snap in an unexpected way or be let down the wrong path inadvertently. I have some characters like that who snapped for whatever reason even though they might have been acting good before.
It’s interesting to explore what happens to a character, isn’t it?
Well, if you have no true villains, you will have no true heroes. I think those go hand in hand.
Pinti would be considered the heroine of her story, but she doesn’t show hero qualities most of the time. Thorn is not a true villain. He’s a gray villain mostly because he was her friend and his actions go against those of his race (which Pinti doesn’t notice in the beginning).
