Almost every story that you pick up out there, be it packaged in the form of a book, movie, video game, etc… happens to have a protagonist at its core. Simply put, a protagonist is an important piece of any story and has a very large role to play in an overall narrative. But what is a protagonist exactly? Is it the hero? The villain? The main character in general? The narrator? Well, today’s post will teach you what a protagonist is and what sort of role the protagonist plays in the overall fabric of a story.
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What is a Protagonist?
A protagonist comes from Ancient Greece from the word “protagnoistes,” which means “first actor” and was often used to refer to the main characters of a play. In modern storytelling, the protagonist is basically the main character or the central figure of which a story revolves around. The plot of the story focuses on that character, the character’s conflict, the development of that character, and how the character drives the narrative forward in the story.
What is the Role of a Protagonist?
The protagonist has many roles in the story besides just being the main character, though this is the primary role. The protagonist is also referred to as the main character most of the time and the protagonist conveys the story to the readers either from their own perspective or via a narrator that gives us a bird’s eye view of what’s happening on the page.
The protagonist typically undergoes significant growth and changes in a story that represent the character’s arc. This arc can be positive or negative or even a blend of the two, but the protagonist’s journey on this arc essentially shows the reader how the conflict affects the protagonist and how the protagonist in turn affects the plot.
The protagonist is also the one at the center of the main conflict in the story and that is a big part of the story-telling process. We see the actions and decisions that the protagonist makes and how these things affect the overall progression of the conflict and the plot in relation to that conflict.
A protagonist is, simply put, a voice that conveys to the reader the story, gives the reader a chance to relate to the story, and embarks on a journey of whatever kind while changing for better or for worse.
I want to clarify something here though: A protagonist can be a hero, but a protagonist does not need to be a hero. The story can revolve around a villain character and that villain is still the protagonist. A protagonist is simply the main character. However you choose to make that main character is up to you.
Protagonist Archetypes
There are many different types of archetypes for characters in books and I’ve talked about villain archetypes before, but here are some protagonist archetypes that you should know about as well that can help you determine what sort of protagonist you want for your story.
Picking an archetype depends mainly on what your goals are for your story and what you want the character arc to look like, but in any case, there are a lot of different types of protagonists that you can go for.
If you want to make your protagonist a villain, you should check out the villain archetypes list for more info.
The most common archetype is the hero. This is your classic “good guy” character that is present in most stories. The hero is someone who is brave, moral, and has a deep desire to do good and help others. The hero makes decisions based on morals that they strongly believe in and the hero avoids doing bad things even if it can make their life easier. This is like a heroic knight or someone similar.
Another archetype is the anti-hero, which is basically a person who has the capacity to do bad things, lacks morality, and doesn’t follow traditional hero qualities. These characters are more likely to use questionable means to achieve their end goals and believe that they are doing right by their mind. They don’t necessarily care to be “good guys” and sometimes teeter into villain territory but don’t reach that level just yet.
The next archetype we see is the underdog. This type of person is someone that nobody would expect could do amazing things or have a profound impact on the story, but in the end, their actions actually pan out well and they turn out to be the hero after all and save everything using their wits rather than traditional things like strength. This is also similar to the everyday hero.
Another archetype is the tragic hero, which is someone that is noble in some ways, but incredibly flawed. Their downfall is brought about by some sort of mistake or a flaw in their personality. I really like this archetype and I think it has a lot of potential in stories when done right.
The Byronic hero is another archetype that’s pretty interesting. This sort of protagonist is pretty much a rebel, is brooding, and very complex. They often have a dark past that affects their personality and behavior traits, but they desire deep connections and still want to be normal, even if they can’t be. This archetype is named after Lord Byron, a poet who often included characters like this in his works.
How to Create an Interesting Protagonist
Creating a compelling, interesting, and engaging protagonist is pretty akin to any advice I’ve given before on creating memorable characters. You can check that post out for more in-depth advice if you want.
For the most part, you want to set a few things about your character to make them clear to the reader. You want to focus on the goals and motivations of the main character. When a reader picks up your story, they should have a clear understanding of what the character wants, what their end-goal is, and why they are motivated to interact with the main plot of the story in the first place.
Furthermore, you want to talk about things like flaws, strengths, weaknesses, and more. You want to show that your character is not perfect at everything and is not flawed at everything. You want to make them relatable, even if they are very different from the average person. You want to show how their flaws affect them as well as the people around them, as well as how the character responds to situations they are put in.
In line with this, you want to show the character’s growth and development as well as how they change when interacting with the plot and conflict of the story. You want to show how the character adapts to changes in their life and how they respond to these changes. You want to give them conflict and challenges and you want to have these challenges come with high stakes so that the reader can understand how the character is actually being affected.
Finally, you want to ensure that your protagonist has a personality that’s solidified, understandable, and interesting. The reader should detect what the character thinks, feels, and believes as well as how they are with others, how they are towards themselves, and more. This personality should be distinct and recognizable when compared with other characters in the story.
Protagonist vs Antagonist
The protagonist is not the same as the antagonist, and the antagonist does not necessarily have to be the villain of the story. The protagonist engages with the antagonist to some extent, but the antagonist is essentially a thing or a person that opposes the protagonist, stands in the way of the protagonist’s growth, and creates conflict for the protagonist.
There are many different types of conflicts present in literature, and I’ve talked about the 7 identifiable ones on my blog before so you should go check that out.
Essentially, the antagonist can be anything that stands against the main character/protagonist and you need to flesh out this sort of conflicting relationship well in your story. You want the antagonist to actually pose a real challenge to the protagonist and for that challenge to have real stakes in the story.
Why is the Protagonist Important?
The protagonist of a story is really important because the protagonist is the story. When we look at a book and we think about the main character, if the main character is not well-written, is bland, or lacks development, we find that overall, the story is equally bland and not well-written.
What if My Protagonist is a Villain?
As a massive fan of grimdark fantasy, I LOVE stories where the protagonist is basically anything but a hero, and I’m very much a fan of stories where the protagonist is akin to a villain if he were written into any other book. For example, Jorg of Ancrath from Prince of Thorns has quickly become a favorite character of mine because he’s just so well-written and so interesting and despite his evil actions, he’s such a great character from a literary perspective.
The trick to writing a good villain protagonist is to understand that the protagonist is a villain. Readers expect a villain to do villainous things and to justify those things in whatever way they do and can. You also need to understand that at the end of the day, this is still a character. Give them depth, complexity, intelligence, flaws, strengths, weaknesses, etc… Villain or not, your character needs to be well-written!
Can a Book Have Multiple Protagonists?
A book can actually have more than one protagonist, this is true. There are some books out there that feature multiple perspectives written into the story, and the presence of these perspectives indicates that the book has multiple protagonists/main characters.
Book 2 of my series has two main protagonists that have chapters where their perspective is shown. Joel Vandenord and Azurai Galardidiabroka are both major pieces of the story and their perspectives matter a lot to the overall plot.
Protagonist Example: The Fallen Age Saga
There are many protagonists in my series, but there are some that feature across multiple books and some that feature in one or two books only. The protagonist of Book 1 is named Blide Stevens. He’s sort of a villain, to be honest. He’s a psychopath with no remorse or empathy. He feels nothing. His objectives are driven more by what he finds interesting and compelling and there is no moral compass that he holds himself to. Blide, at the end of the day, represents an evil person who is just less evil than the bad guys.
I mean, he refers to himself as the villain of villains.
Conclusion
The protagonist is an important part of any story and functions as the eyes that we readers see the plot from. The protagonist of the story can be anything from a hero to an anti-hero or a villain all the same. The protagonist must grow, change, adapt, and be put into situations that challenge them and who they are. They must also go on a journey that represents their character arc and the reader should see how the protagonist goes from one state to another in the story.
Before you head on out, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter to get updates on my latest WIPs, posts, book releases, and more!