This week: Protagonists Edited by: Jeff More Newsletters By This Editor
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"What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out."
-- Alfred Hitchcock
Trivia of the Week: The concept of a story with a protagonist dates back to somewhere around 536 B.C. Prior to that, most dramatic performances merely included dancing and recitations by a chorus. Aristotle drew attention to the poet Thespis, who first introduced the idea of spotlighting an individual actor who had a dialogue with the chorus. Aeschylus then built on that idea and had two distinct actors having a dialogue between them, and Sophocles developed the concept further and introduced plays with three characters.
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PROTAGONISTS
A protagonist is defined simply as the main character or point of view character of a story. Protagonists are sometimes referred to as the hero of the story, but that's not always entirely accurate since protagonists can also include characters that engage in non-heroic actions. This week, let's take a look at some of the different kinds of protagonists.
In general, there are four general types of characters that are typically the main characters of stories.
Hero or Heroine. The most common type of protagonist is one who undertakes some kind of heroic journey, overcoming adversity to accomplish a noble goal of some kind. There's often danger, some kind of sacrifice, and heroic protagonists often undertake their journey on behalf of others or the common good rather than their own self interests. Indiana Jones is a quintessential heroic character; regardless of the situation he finds himself in, he always strives to do the right thing.
Antihero or Antiheroine. Antiheroes lack the typical qualities found in archetypal heroes. They may not have noble intentions or may not be particularly moral in their actions, although they often ultimately have a heroic arc. The Punisher from the Marvel Comics is a great example of an antihero; he has good intentions (getting rid of bad guys), but is just as brutal and violent as the bad guys he seeks to punish.
Villain. While villains are primarily the antagonists opposing heroic protagonists, they can also be the protagonists of their own stories. A common trope of this kind of story is to tell a familiar story from the villain's perspective, how the villain came to be so villainous, or to have the villain's pursuit of their goal mirror a hero's journey trying to accomplish a noble goal. The Broadway musical Wicked is a popular version of this kind of story.
Supporting. A supporting protagonist is less frequent than the other types of protagonists, and usually reserved for stories where the protagonist plays a minor or supporting role compared to other characters in the story. The Great Gatsby is an excellent example of this kind of protagonist, as Nick Carraway is most often an observer of the events that happen around him.
Within these four categories of protagonists, there are a wide variety of different types. Depending on who you ask, there might be a few or a few hundred. Here are a list (by no means exhaustive) of archetypes that protagonists often fall into:
The Chosen One
The Everyman
The Exceptional Man
The Former Great
The Hotshot
The Knight-Errant
The Lost Soul
The Lovable Rogue
The Noble Savage
The Rebel
The Reluctant Hero
The Rookie
The Underdog
If you're looking for additional resources that will define these character archetypes or give you some additional context on creating protagonists, there are tons of websites and reference material out there that deal with this topic. I'd also highly recommend:
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I've studied protagonists for a number of years (going all the way back to my time in film school), and it's been an invaluable source of inspiration in my own writing. If you're stuck on an idea or not sure how to make a familiar idea fresh and new, consider getting to know some of these protagonist archetypes and adapting them for your own story.
For example, the story of a chosen one undertaking a quest to become who they need to be in order to defeat an evil and save everyone else is an extremely common trope. But what if instead of a chosen one archetype you went with an everyman trope instead? The story then becomes someone who knows they aren't the exceptional chosen one destined for success trying to save the world anyway. Or what if you have a sports story with a typical underdog protagonist? The idea of the protagonist(s) struggling against a superior competitor has been done a thousand times. But what about a sports story with a rebel? Suddenly you're adding the complexity of protagonist(s) who may not even want to be competing in the first place.
Knowing character archetypes and how to adapt them to different kinds of stories can give you an incredible reservoir of inspiration to draw from if you ever find yourself bored or uninspired by the more familiar story configurations we're all used to.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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