Timeline for Would it be too controversial to have the antagonist "get the (protagonist's) girl"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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| Feb 27, 2023 at 20:03 | comment | added | junkie junkie | This is not the OP but something I'm evolving in my mind based on the answers here so far: what if the girl chose to be with the antagonist not because she became attracted to him but because she wanted to get inside information to pass to the protagonist? If that is a reasonable approach, should the reader clued in on this or left as a mystery to be revealed at the appropriate climactic moment later? | |
| Feb 23, 2023 at 16:02 | comment | added | Philipp | @junkiejunkie Well, you can of course give the romantic interest a character arc where she first loves A, then changes and loves B, and then changes again and returns to loving A again. But you would need to give a good reason why she would settle for A when she previously rejected A. If you want her to be more than just a trophy for the male characters to fight over, then she would probably want neither A nor B and look for a completely different person. Unless, of course, A also had a character arc and is no longer the same person the love interest left once. | |
| Feb 23, 2023 at 15:54 | history | edited | wetcircuit | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Feb 23, 2023 at 15:44 | comment | added | Philipp | The movie Spider-Man 3 did that. The protagonist loses his girlfriend to his rival, but not because the rival deceives her, but because the protagonist drives her away by being a self-centered asshole. He wins her back not by defeating the rival but by fixing his character flaws. | |
| Feb 23, 2023 at 15:42 | history | edited | wetcircuit | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Feb 23, 2023 at 15:32 | comment | added | jtb | Yeah I think there's a middle ground that can be walked here. I have many intelligent respectable friends who make poor decisions in their romantic life. If she is being manipulated then the reader will "understand her reason" as the answerer said, and we won't have to take her to be a "simpleton". | |
| Feb 22, 2023 at 16:47 | comment | added | junkie junkie | These are all helpful thoughts. One clarifying question: you said "If the woman is a simpleton who can't see that she is being fooled and seduced, readers will wonder why she is of value to the protagonist" but are not many people fooled and seduced (both in real life and existing fiction books/movies)? Is this not an issue people can relate to? Is the woman still a "simpleton" if the manipulator is not yet fully revealed as evil? Is it not a "blame-the-victim" mentality to label the "victim" as a "simpleton"? | |
| Feb 22, 2023 at 4:47 | history | answered | wetcircuit | CC BY-SA 4.0 |