Just so we’re all on the same page of the cool, new notebook we bought from the dollar store, here are some words that will come up again and again:

1. The “protagonist” is just your main character.
2. The “antagonist” is the one that causes problems.

So, the antagonist is the person or force that is in conflict with the protagonist. It’s the thing that wants the exact opposite of what your character wants.

It’s the thing that is going to create drama with your main character.

It might be a bratty little brother.

In Mulan, it’s Shan Yu.

In Star Wars, Darth Vader.

In Aladdin, it’s Jafar.

In the movie Jaws, it’s the shark. That’s a really straightforward conflict. The shark wants to eat the main character. The main character does not wish to be eaten. Only one of them will win.

Boom. Conflict.

But this raises an interesting point: the antagonist doesn’t always have to be a person. It can be a shark.

Or a hurricane.

Or an immune system disease that forces you to live in a bubble your whole life.

Or dyslexia.

Or the bubonic plague!

Something that is keeping your character from getting what they want. It might be a person, but it doesn’t have to be.

Also, it can be more than one thing.

In our going-to-the-store story (from the last post and before), we have both the sewer and the store clerk. They are both causing problems for our main character.

And we can add more.

Maybe there is a dog outside the store. Or we could add in shyness. We can add a whole bunch of things that push back against her trying to get what she wants.

In Mulan, it wasn’t just Shan Yu. It was also Chi Fu, who wanted to find out if she was a woman. The sexism of the time that said girls shouldn’t be in the army was also a force that was trying to stop Mulan from getting what she wanted. That’s a kind of antagonist, too.

So that’s it for this post. Just remember that the antagonist is the person (or thing) that is making things difficult for your main character.

Happy writing, young writer.