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 Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:58 am
I was pondering this and was curious what everyone else thought. What exactly makes a good antagonist and for that matter, a good protagonist? Is it their motives, their personality, how they look, or how powerful or cunning they are? In your opinion, what makes the best antagonist and protagonist? Does the genre matter when determining this? If you think so, feel free to give your opinion on each genre's best type of antagonist/protagonist.
Personally, at least as far as fantasy genre is concerned, I think an antagonist should be intelligent and have motives beyond simply being chaotic evil. They shouldn't desire world domination or global destruction (at least not usually; kinda cliché), but should have human goals. Everything they do is a part of some larger scheme and even better is when the antagonist remains unknown until further into the story. As far as protagonists, I personally like the anti-hero types. Sometimes a regular good guy is nice, but he/she should have some darkness in them. They should have faults. The greatest kind in my opinion are the ones that begin as lawful characters, but degrade into chaotic characters over the course of the story, defining their personality as it goes.
What's your opinions?
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Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 1:23 pm
Real, believable characters, no matter their side, always have a reason for doing something. Looks has nothing to do with, sometimes neither does personality. Or at least it's not a huge impact.
If you count personality with how they were raised then it could count . . .
Anyways,
One story of mine, the Antagonist is jealous of the way his father treats his adoptive sons. He believes his father does not love him so he kills his father then attempts several times to kill his adoptive brothers. He tries to convince his grandfather that his father took his own life, because he wants to be the head of the mafia/Yakuza/gang in Russia and eventually take over in japan for his grandfather. His motive for everything he does is jealousy and greed.
Another story, the Antagonist is being controlled by an evil witch (don't tell anyone though!!! its a secret!!!!) He of course, doesn't know this. He believes he is doing this of his own accord for his adoptive father. His motive, after finding out about this evil witch, is anger and loss of identity. All he knows is being evil and killing.
Now for protagonist. In the same story as the evil witch, the protagonist is bored of her life. She craves excitement. She accepts her Destiny because life is so boring. Her motives for fighting against the Antagonist: Saving her friends and sisters, having excitement, and to keep someone else from having to go through what she had to go through.
Another protagonist, an anti-hero i guess, does what he does because he loves it. Him and his two non-related brothers try to escape their adoptive brother (same story as first post). When their adoptive brother friends them, they decide its time to kill him and avenge their father. Their motives are: Revenge and Survival. If their brother doesn't die, then they will
I believe a character could be real as long as their motives are true to themselves
Sometimes chaotic evil could be a mental defect. All humans, even though we hate to admit it, have dark sides. Some hide it exceptionally good. Others, well, just watch the news.
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