All Questions
Tagged with characters antagonist
31 questions
1
vote
2
answers
164
views
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.
- 13
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
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 ...
- 902
2
votes
3
answers
264
views
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 ...
- 173
3
votes
4
answers
260
views
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 ...
- 31
2
votes
2
answers
296
views
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 ...
- 515
0
votes
0
answers
1k
views
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 ...
- 515
0
votes
1
answer
47
views
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 ...
- 515
3
votes
3
answers
125
views
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?
...
- 41
1
vote
3
answers
2k
views
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 ...
- 515
2
votes
2
answers
156
views
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 ...
- 3,217
11
votes
11
answers
4k
views
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 ...
- 3,217
5
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How to decide how far my antagonist is willing to go?
in my short story the antagonist is someone confident and street-smart who is hiding their gambling addiction from a friend staying with them, as they are looking to take advantage of their friend (...
- 111
10
votes
7
answers
3k
views
How can I diversify the personalities of supernatural predators?
I'm working on an urban fantasy story that has a species of monsters that regularly prey on human beings, as in many, many other settings (e.g., various monsters in Buffy/Supernatural/The Dresden ...
- 4,664
0
votes
0
answers
147
views
How To Write a Heel Realization
Can someone teach me how to write both a heel realization and mental breakdown at the same time? I’m trying to write a highly emotional and heartbreaking scene where the central antagonist both ...
2
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Can you write a story without a protagonist?
Is it possible for there to be a story of a villain on a rampage only told in his perspective and his victims? Near the beginning, he defeats the only characters brave enough to stand up against him. ...
1
vote
1
answer
153
views
Is this character too cliche?
So I'm writing a story and my main antagonist is Death (At least from my MCs point of view). Is he as a antagonist too cliche? He owns a casino, his headquarters, and the setting is in 1700, London ...
2
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Can one character be both an antagonist and a protagonist?
If the protagonist seeks to stop themselves and creates conflict for themselves are they a protagonist, an antagonist, or both?
monthlyfeed
4
votes
2
answers
192
views
Is this sort of character arc too confusing?
In my story, I wanted to play with the idea of the protagonist taking a hero-to-villain arc, and the antagonist taking a villain-to-hero arc, with the POV's switching to make the previous antagonist ...
- 203
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What qualifies for an antagonist?
I'm a young author writing a realism-fantasy novel. My "antagonist" is this man who sends the protagonist away against his daughter's wishes(this is the climax of the story). He does it sort ...
- 745
1
vote
1
answer
118
views
How would you torture one of your MC without having a permanent injury? [closed]
I am a young author writing a fantasy series. I have been thinking about this for a while. In my fourth book, one of my MC’s gets captured by the antagonist. Th MC that was captured is the closest ...
- 488
8
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Can a fight scene, component-wise, be too complex and complicated?
Okay, there is some preliminary information for you to be able to answer this question: There is a sword of great power, a McGuffin, and a destined one who wields it. The destined one has two ...
- 4,053
24
votes
10
answers
9k
views
Can a successful book series let the bad guy win? [duplicate]
I have a five book series and I have plotted them all out. The main bad guy wins in the end. My problem with this is my girlfriend keeps telling me that bad guys winning will make readers upset that ...
- 377
7
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How to write characters who hate when you don't understand it?
I hadn't thought about it before, but today I came across a writing prompt that involved hate. My mind kept running up against walls. It's not a skill I have ever worked at fostering. I can't think of ...
- 311
1
vote
3
answers
2k
views
How can I defeat a 'force of nature villain' without killing him? [closed]
In my story, I have found myself in somewhat of a pickle: Although the hero is more than powerful enough to defeat a villain (which is your typical 'Dark Lord’) I don't think my protagonist is ready ...
15
votes
6
answers
5k
views
How to write a Complete Monster?
For those of you who are unfamiliar with TV Tropes lingo, a Complete Monster is the worst kind of villain imaginable: one that is evil to the core and has little to no redeeming traits whatsoever.
...
user29299
9
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to make "Joffrey like" characters for a "kick that son of a bitch " moment
We know what I'm talking about. The feeling when the legal side of a story doesn't bothers us too much because we want to see Joffrey getting strangled with a string of sausages.
So basically we ...
- 3,347
2
votes
7
answers
2k
views
How could a paragon character be an antagonist?
I want to write a story featuring two main characters--Al and Bob.
In the beginning, Al, the paragon, will be a kind, friendly, competent and well-liked, whereas Bob, the protagonist, is unliked, ...
- 663
8
votes
6
answers
1k
views
How to write a strong villain who isn't really present?
I've been working on a quite large story for a while now, but going through my drafts I noticed one weakness: My villains are very underdeveloped / weakly characterized.
I'll try to generalize the ...
- 193
2
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How to write a scene where the villain meets the protagonist?
The villain was, like the protagonist, a child soldier/mercenary, who served with him. The villain was captured, tortured, and snapped. He feels a burning hatred for the protagonist, believing that he ...
- 1,005
11
votes
12
answers
7k
views
How can I make believable motivations for antagonists?
I am writing a book. However, I can't quite wrap my head around making my character do bad things, while still making their actions and/or motivations for their actions believable.
Here is an ...
- 341
10
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Sympathetic portrayal of an evil protagonist with good motivations
I'm contemplating writing about a character with good motivations whose actions would be considered evil.
In short the story would be about a necromancer killing an entire nation so that he can bring ...
- 639