Author: Charles Frank

ANTAGONIST Definition & Usage Examples

Establishing a strong understanding of the roles played by antagonists and protagonists is essential for all writers. This is an interesting question with some conflicting points of view. Villanelle from Killing Eve is the antagonist to Eve (the other protagonist) and slips her grasp constantly.

Whichever types of protagonist and antagonists you have in your story, always make sure they are worthy of each other. Opponents need chemistry in order to make a convincing and gratifying conflict. Think Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal who are very different characters but matched in an intelligence in which they find a mutual respect. Batman and The Joker are matched perfectly for their abilities to bring out a madness and darkness within each other. Sherlock Holmes and Jim Moriarty are matched in the depth of their intellectual game playing. A protagonist is a character who, in most situations, a reader will be rooting for.

This character differs from other main characters because they are the ones that drive a story forward with their decisions and actions, and their goals reflect the goals of the story. Consider Lord of the Rings for example.The goal of the trilogy is good triumphing evil, and its protagonist, the big-hearted Hobbit Frodo, has the goal of destroying the ring and thus destroying Sauron who embodies evil. An antagonist is a character working against the protagonist who, in most cases, the reader wants to see foiled. The antagonist creates the conflict and is generally seen as the ‘bad’ one but, like the protagonists, there are different types of antagonists. Basically, readers tend to empathise and relate to a protagonist, whereas they won’t necessarily want to with an antagonist. However, they need to understand both these characters.

Villanelle is funny, unpredictable and wears outrageous clothing, and we find ourselves charmed by her despite her psychopathic, murderous ways. The appeal of writing someone who says and does questionable and outrageous things so far out of our normal everyday lives is big (at least it is for me, so I wonder what that says about me?!). As a reader, being thrust directly into the mind of someone villainous can be exciting. Keep in mind when writing a protagonist that they need to be relatable. If they’re not flawed in any way, they won’t feel real and therefore the reader won’t care what happens to them.

Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels

We offer editing, we run courses, we offer some great mentoring, and we host some awesome events. Best of all, we offer a great membership service to serious writers. Add antagonist to one of your lists below, or create a new one. Ewing (Larry Hagman) from Dallas and Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) from Dynasty.

1. In most cases, a reader follows the protagonist throughout the story, however sometimes we see the protagonist through the eyes of someone else – a supporting character or through a third person narrator.
2. As a reader, being thrust directly into the mind of someone villainous can be exciting.
3. The antagonist creates the conflict and is generally seen as the ‘bad’ one but, like the protagonists, there are different types of antagonists.

The protagonists are generally the good guys (even it means that sometimes they are antiheroes) while antagonists are generally the bad guys. Look at the protagonists and antagonists in Disney films or in classic children’s fairytales. They are always perfect examples of clear conflict and well-matched foes.

What Is A Protagonist?

Both became breakout characters used as a device to increase their shows’ ratings.

If they’re too powerful, the reader will assume they can overcome anything and therefore the story will become boring – Superman maybe a classic hero but thanks to Kryptonite he still has one weakness. Yet, if they’re too weak, the reader will feel annoyed at the character’s lack of gumption and won’t root for them. And if they’re too nasty, they won’t feel like a protagonist. No one will want to see if they make it to the end of the book. On the stage or screen, in a story or a novel, the protagonist is the main character and the antagonist is the opposing one. Pro- and ant- usually mark the good and bad characters, but not always; there may occasionally be an evil protagonist and a good antagonist.

What Is An Antagonist?

He was Andy’s most beloved toy until Buzz Lightyear was bought. His presence had a knock-on effect to the internal conflict within Woody – his insecurities and fear of being replaced meant his ‘good guy’ persona was rattled and he had to work hard throughout the film to overcome it. In most cases, a reader follows the protagonist throughout the story, however sometimes we see the protagonist through the eyes of someone else – a supporting character or through a third person narrator. Consider the famous play Blood Brothers by Willy Russell.

Opposites for antagonist

Their friction needs to be relatable, or at least plausible. It’s important to keep in mind that an antagonist must be as three dimensional as the protagonist. Their backstory should be just as important and relevant as that of the protagonist, and consequently their motivation should be something the reader can understand – even if they don’t agree. Antagonists are conventionally presented as making moral choices less savory than those of protagonists.

The narrator is an enormous part but isn’t the protagonist – the audience care only about the two brothers, Eddie and Mickey. Characters may be antagonists without being evil – they may simply be injudicious and unlikeable for the audience. In some narratives, like Light Yagami and L in Death Note, the protagonist is a villain and the antagonist is an opposing hero. These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word ‘antagonist.’ Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Jericho Writers helps writers with every part of their journey to publication.

In the drama of the real world, it’s especially hard to sort out which is which, so we usually speak of both parties to a conflict as antagonists. During a strike, for example, representatives of labor and management become antagonists; they often manage to antagonize each other, and the antagonism often remains after the strike is over. If we, as authors, want to hook readers into our stories, we have to make them care. And the only way they are going to care is by relating to our characters and understanding their motivations which drive the decisions they make. It’s important that a writer addresses this for both the protagonist and the antagonist, not just to drive the plot forward but to connect with the readers.

This condition is often used by an author to create conflict within a story. An example in which this is reversed can be seen in the character Macduff from Macbeth, who is arguably morally correct in his desire to fight the tyrant Macbeth, the protagonist. Also, the antagonist of the story can also be inside of the protagonist – such as the old guy from Up battling against his grief. Woody from Toy Story is another great example of the antagonist within the protagonist.