Antagonist

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King Claudius, the antagonist, is married to Queen Gertrude in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Massalitinov and Knipper in Hamlet 1911.jpg
King Claudius, the antagonist, is married to Queen Gertrude in William Shakespeare's Hamlet .

An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy and rival of the protagonist. [1]

Contents

Etymology

The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – antagonistēs, "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, rival," which is derived from anti- ("against") and agonizesthai ("to contend for a prize"). [2] [3]

Types

Heroes and villains

The antagonist is commonly positioned against the protagonist and their world order. [4] While narratives often portray the protagonist as a hero and the antagonist as a villain, like Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter , the antagonist does not always appear as the villain. In some narratives, like Light Yagami and L in Death Note , the protagonist is a villain and the antagonist is an opposing hero.

Antagonists are conventionally presented as making moral choices less savory than those of protagonists. This condition is often used by an author to create conflict within a story. This is merely a convention, however. An example in which this is reversed can be seen in the character Macduff from Macbeth, who is arguably morally correct in his desire to fight the tyrant Macbeth, the protagonist.

Examples from television include J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) from Dallas and Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) from Dynasty . Both became breakout characters used as a device to increase their shows' ratings.

Other characters

Characters may be antagonists without being evil – they may simply be injudicious and unlikeable for the audience. In some stories, such as The Catcher in the Rye , almost every character other than the protagonist may be an antagonist. [5] Another example of this occurring is through Javert in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables , in which Javert displays no malicious intent, but instead represents the rigid and inflexible application of the law, even when it leads to moral and ethical dilemmas.

Aspects of the protagonist

An aspect or trait of the protagonist may be considered an antagonist, such as morality or indecisiveness. [5]

Non-personal

An antagonist is not always a person or people. In some cases, an antagonist may be a force, such as a tidal wave that destroys a city; a storm that causes havoc; or even a certain area's conditions that are the root cause of a problem. An antagonist may or may not create obstacles for the protagonist. [6]

Societal norms or other rules may also be antagonists. [5]

Usage

An antagonist is used as a plot device, to set up conflicts, obstacles, or challenges for the protagonist. [5] [7] Though not every story requires an antagonist, it often is used in plays to increase the level of drama. In tragedies, antagonists are often the cause of the protagonist's main problem, or lead a group of characters against the protagonist; in comedies, they are usually responsible for involving the protagonist in comedic situations. [7]

Antagonist-design techniques

Author John Truby argues that a true opponent not only wants to prevent the hero from achieving his desire but is competing with the hero for the same goal. According to John Truby, "It is only by competing for the same goal that the hero and the opponent are forced to come into direct conflict and to do so again and again throughout the story." [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hero</span> Person or character who combats adversity through ingenuity, courage, or strength

A hero is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake of glory and honor. Post-classical and modern heroes, on the other hand, perform great deeds or selfless acts for the common good instead of the classical goal of wealth, pride, and fame. The antonym of hero is villain. Other terms associated with the concept of hero may include good guy or white hat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protagonist</span> Main character of a creative work

A protagonist is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a story contains a subplot, or is a narrative made up of several stories, then each subplot may have its own protagonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidekick</span> Subordinate but significant character

A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany.

A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief. However, a well-crafted plot device, or one that emerges naturally from the setting or characters of the story, may be entirely accepted, or may even be unnoticed by the audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thriller (genre)</span> Genre of literature, film, and television

Thriller is a genre of fiction with numerous, often overlapping, subgenres, including crime, horror, and detective fiction. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving their audiences heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. This genre is well suited to film and television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villain</span> Evil character or person

A villain is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. Random House Unabridged Dictionary defines such a character as "a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel; or a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot". The antonym of a villain is a hero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tragic hero</span> Stock character; hero with a major flaw that leads to their eventual death and downfall

A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his Poetics, Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle based his observations on previous dramas. Many of the most famous instances of tragic heroes appear in Greek literature, most notably the works of Sophocles and Euripides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foil (narrative)</span> Character who contrasts with another character of a narrative work

In any narrative, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character, typically, a character who contrasts with the protagonist, in order to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist. A foil to the protagonist may also be the antagonist of the plot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heel (professional wrestling)</span> A villainous or "bad guy" character in professional wrestling

In professional wrestling, a heel is a wrestler who portrays a villain, "bad guy", or "rulebreaker", and acts as an antagonist to the faces, who are the heroic protagonist or "good guy" characters. Not everything a heel wrestler does must be villainous: heels need only to be booed or jeered by the audience to be effective characters, although most truly successful heels embrace other aspects of their devious personalities, such as cheating to win or using foreign objects. "The role of a heel is to get 'heat,' which means spurring the crowd to obstreperous hatred, and generally involves cheating and any other manner of socially unacceptable behavior."

Articles related to literature include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conflict (narrative)</span> Literary element of challenge that stands in the way of a goal

Traditionally, conflict is a major element of narrative or dramatic structure that creates challenges in a story by adding uncertainty as to whether the goal will be achieved. In works of narrative, conflict is the challenge main characters need to solve to achieve their goals. However, narrative is not limited to a single conflict. In narrative, the term resolution refers to the closure or conclusion of the conflict, which may or may not occur by the story's end.

In the creation and criticism of fictional works, a character flaw or heroic flaw is a bias, limitation, imperfection, problem, personality disorder, vice, phobia, prejudice, or deficiency present in a character who may be otherwise very functional. The flaw can be a problem that directly affects the character's actions and abilities, such as a violent temper. Alternatively, it can be a simple foible or personality defect, which affects the character's motives and social interactions, but little else.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of literary terms</span>

This glossary of literary terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in the discussion, classification, analysis, and criticism of all types of literature, such as poetry, novels, and picture books, as well as of grammar, syntax, and language techniques. For a more complete glossary of terms relating to poetry in particular, see Glossary of poetry terms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magician (fantasy)</span> Magicians appearing in fantasy fiction

A magician, also known as an archimage, mage, magus, magic-user, spellcaster, enchanter/enchantress, sorcerer/sorceress, warlock, witch, or wizard, is someone who uses or practices there was so a girl name furry rap and she ate cookies with milk and loved Kekwmwmagic derived from supernatural, occult, or arcane sources. Magicians enjoy a rich history in mythology, legends, fiction, and folklore, and are common figures in works of fantasy, such as fantasy literature and role-playing games.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fiction:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magic in fiction</span> Magic depicted in fictional stories

Magic in fiction is the endowment of characters or objects in works of fiction or fantasy with powers that do not naturally occur in the real world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark lord</span> Fantastical stock antagonist characterized by immense villainy and power

In fiction and mythology, a dark lord is an antagonistic archetype, acting as the pinnacle of villainy and evil within a typically heroic narrative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enemy</span> Individual or a group that is considered as forcefully adverse or threatening

An enemy or a foe is an individual or a group that is considered as forcefully adverse or threatening. The concept of an enemy has been observed to be "basic for both individuals and communities". The term "enemy" serves the social function of designating a particular entity as a threat, thereby invoking an intense emotional response to that entity. The state of being or having an enemy is enmity, foehood or foeship.

<i>The Seven Basic Plots</i> Book by Christopher Booker

The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories is a 2004 book by Christopher Booker containing a Jung-influenced analysis of stories and their psychological meaning. Booker worked on the book for 34 years.

References

  1. About.com, Literature: Contemporary "Antagonist." Online. 18 October 2007. Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
    • "Protagonist and Antagonist definition". Grammarist. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
    • "Glossary of Literary Terms". Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
    • "Glossary of Drama Terms". Online Learning Center. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
    • "Antagonist – Definition for Fiction Writers". About.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2015. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  2. "Antagonist". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  3. "antagonist" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  4. Gunderman, Hannah C. (May 2017). "Blurring the Protagonist/Antagonist Binary through a Geopolitics of Peace: Star Trek's Cardassians, Antagonists of the Alpha Quadrant". The Geographical Bulletin. 58 (1): 52–53.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Bulman, Colin (2007). Creative Writing: A Guide and/or Glossary to Fiction Writing. Polity Press. p. 17. ISBN   9780745636870 via Google Books.
  6. "The Elements of Literature". roanestate.edu. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  7. 1 2 Smiley, Sam (2005) [First published 1971 by Prentice-Hall]. Playwriting: The Structure of Action. Yale University Press. pp. 133–134. ISBN   0300107242 via Google Books.
  8. Truby, John (2008). The anatomy of story: 22 steps to becoming a master storyteller (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 46–47. ISBN   978-0-86547-993-7. OCLC   281139315.