Questions tagged [antagonist]
The main person or force opposing the protagonist of the story.
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How to efficiently mislead readers and catch them by surprise
I am working on a murder mystery and want to mislead my readers and create a false sense of security for them as to who the murderer is, but I have absolutely no idea how to start.
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Misleading readers on the motives/true personality of a character
My protagonist meets a Queen who is incredibly beautiful, acts very flirtatiously and is naive on most topics despite the fact she is a young adult. In short, she fulfils every stereotype of what a ...
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Who should be the antagonist when my novel is meant to be educational?
I am writing a science fantasy novel, but I think I should re-write it completely. Let me explain the situation.
Here's the concept of my novel: The story takes place in an alternate world where a ...
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Would it be too controversial to have the antagonist "get the (protagonist's) girl"?
I'm considering the idea of the antagonist of getting the protagonist's girl (either temporarily or permanently). Various ideas I'm playing with:
the antagonist uses non-consensual manipulation to ...
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How do I stop my villain from just showing up out of nowhere?
I suffer from “villain shows up out of nowhere syndrome”. My story involves a group of survivors trying to trek through a wasteland and reach a safe zone while my reoccurring main villain continuously ...
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Can I make an irredeemable character likeable?
In my fantasy epic, the protagonist is a destined chosen one who will defeat the dark lord (at least that is what the sorcerer propaganda says.) About 3/4 into the story, he eventually meets the ...
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Properly writing characters with Dissociative Identity Disorder
In my story for a game, one of the main antagonists has Dissocistive Identity Disorder. His alters are already written, but I am asking for some advice on how to properly portrayed a character with ...
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How long and/or big can a reference be?
In my story, there is a sidestory and character arc for a minor supporting character. Due to a war happening in the fantasy world, the character is drafted into the military, and is sent through basic ...
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Are stereotypical roles of a character at times right?
Are stereotypical roles of a character at times right?
Speaking as an amateur writer, how exactly do I broaden characters beyond their roles? Or if an archetype is better off staying the way they are?
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Making an antagonist both scary and funny
In the story for a game I am making, there is a sideplot involving a messed up cult as a minor antagonist. Originally, the cult was supposed to be a comedic villain, mainly as a parody of religion in ...
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How to properly make a character hateable?
My story is an epic fantasy that, while it satires and mocks tropes, also still has consistent characters and worldbuilding. In the story, there is a group of minor-antagonists who compete with the ...
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How do you make a super villain's plan smart enough to outwit genuinely intelligent heroes but still have the heroes win?
Even if they are not super-geniuses, many villains are portrayed as cunning, charismatic, and manipulative, staying three steps ahead of the heroes at every turn.
But creating a good villain plan is ...
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How does a villain deceive the public into thinking he is the hero?
Lots of villains in media tend to be both incredibly charismatic and highly manipulative. With their powers of persuasion, they can often amass a large following of people.
So, here is my question
How ...
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How do you keep an antagonist as morally grey even after they cause serious harm/conflict?
If all an antagonist did was steal a pie, then they could probably be forgiven after a simple apology. But some antagonists kidnap, murder, conquer whole lands, and routinely hurt the protagonists ...
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How to make zombies be the primary antagonist and humans secondary
In my outbreak story, the main focus is the zombie survival in the quarantined state. These zombies cannot take out the government, but rather weaken them greatly. In my story, there are bad humans ...
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