Current Events > Stories where the antagonist is the main character?

(+) Yeah! (+)

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Beat me to it

Ryven posted...

Terminator? Does that count?

Yes

Tyranthraxus posted...

Based on how the story unfolds, who is the protagonist of Moby Dick?

Is it...

1. Ahab
2. Ishmael
3. Moby Dick

Never read it, should probably change that but I'm not gonna front.

Yeah, linking that essay doesn't change the definition of the word. James Bond is most assuredly the protagonist of the Bond movies.

pegusus123456 posted...

Yeah, linking that essay doesn't change the definition of the word. James Bond is most assuredly the protagonist of the Bond movies.

Yeah. Defining protagonist as "one affecting change" is baffling.

This isn't how the terms protagonist/antagonist work

Tyranthraxus posted...

Yeah. Defining protagonist as "one affecting change" is baffling.

"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."

Is how wikipedia defines it. Nothing is stated about them being sympathetic. The only reason most protagonists are sympathetic is because no one wants to engage in media with a character that is not.

High Tension

Bond is an antagonist because he's a piece of shit

CrimsonAngel posted...

Is how wikipedia defines it. Nothing is stated about them being sympathetic.

Because that definition doesn't make sense under any scrutiny. Some of the best antagonists are also sympathetic. And there are plenty of protagonists that are completely unsympathetic.

Dexter

Xethuminra posted...

Most horror movies tbh

Especially the classics

Im listening

Kurt_Russel posted...

Im listening

Dr jekyll and mr hyde
Frankenstein
Dracula (arguably the mc)

Kurt_Russel posted...

Im listening

Well, take The Wolfman for instance

Back then even, creators knew that the audience really wanted to spend time with the monsters

I mean, aren't Vader and Palpatine the best part of 3?

I'd watch a whole movie just about Vader & Palpatine. Throughout the trilogy, that's essentially what you do anywho

An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge

2003 Video Game: Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean?

Twin Peaks

The antagonist literally can't be the main character.

A protagonist is just the leading or one of the leading characters in a work. An antagonist is a character(s) who noticeably opposes the protagonist(s) in some way.

Hell, the best friend Rowley in Diary of a Wimpy Kid (At least in the first movie/book) is often cited as one of the antagonists in the story, because he's an active force for the protagonist (Greg) to overcome and presents conflict to him. Despite Rowley being probably the sweetest kid ever and unaware of that dynamic in the first place for most of the story.

Basic misunderstandings like this are why gamers suck ass at trying to get a story they wrote published. Can't even get the fundamentals right, so it naturally shows in the rest.

I mean damn, the etymology of the words says all you need to know. "Antagonist" has the base of "anti" in it. but I guess now we know who learned nothing from school.

-BrokenSpiral- posted...

The antagonist literally can't be the main character.

A protagonist is just the leading or one of the leading characters in a work. An antagonist is a character(s) who noticeably opposes the protagonist(s) in some way.

Hell, the best friend Rowley in Diary of a Wimpy Kid (At least in the first movie/book) is often cited as one of the antagonists in the story, because he's an active force for the protagonist (Greg) to overcome and presents conflict to him. Despite Rowley being probably the sweetest kid ever and unaware of that dynamic in the first place for most of the story.

Basic misunderstandings like this are why gamers suck ass at trying to get a story they wrote published. Can't even get the fundamentals right, so it naturally shows in the rest.

I mean damn, the etymology of the words says all you need to know. "Antagonist" has the base of "anti" in it. but I guess now we know who learned nothing from school.

The protagonist is the antagonist of the character the audience perceives as the just character, making the protagonist a villain in their eyes, and while the focus of the story, they are perceived as working against it

-BrokenSpiral- posted...

I mean damn, the etymology of the words says all you need to know. "Antagonist" has the base of "anti" in it. but I guess now we know who learned nothing from school.

As we all know, antiheroes cannot be protagonists

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/4/4/AAcpoDAADUK0.jpg

CryoForceOmelet posted...

As we all know, antiheroes cannot be protagonists

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/0/4/4/AAcpoDAADUK0.jpg

Antihero describes the characters morality not their relationship to how the story is structured.

This topic went places.

The Agatha Christie book The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. The narrator is the killer.

And the video game Heavy Rain on the PS3 might count. The origami killer is one of the four characters you play as.

-BrokenSpiral- posted...

The antagonist literally can't be the main character.

They can if the main conflict of a story is internal, such that it stems from the protagonist hurting themselves or working against their best interest in some way. This is why I mentioned the two movies I did. Both are about the protagonist fighting, and ultimately learning how to overcome, the destructive parts of themselves.

I hadnt considered DID stories like Jekyll and Hyde, but these are also good examples of the protagonist also being the antagonist (not in cases where the extra personalities are completely separate from or created externally to the protagonist, but in stories where they are manifestations of his negative emotions that he usually represses or somesuch).