Protagonist and Antagonist: Writing Examples and How-To

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Want to write characters that keep readers up at night? Characters they can’t stop thinking about long after they finish your story? The relationship between your Protagonist and Antagonist is the engine that drives great fiction.

In this article, we’ll explore how to craft compelling protagonists and antagonists that feel real, create tension, and deliver your story’s theme effectively.

The Protagonist: Who They Really Are

Every story needs a protagonist, but identifying who that really is can be trickier than it seems. Sometimes the narrator or point-of-view character isn’t actually the protagonist.

So how do you know who your true protagonist is?

The 5 Commandments of Storytelling

The key to identifying your protagonist lies in understanding the 5 Commandments of Storytelling—the crucial moments that shape your story’s journey:

1. Inciting Incident

This is the event that shatters your character’s normal world. Think of it as a ball of chaos that forces them to respond. It might be:

• A phone call with life-changing news
• An unexpected opportunity
• A threat to something they value
• A chance encounter that changes everything
• A discovery that challenges their beliefs

The key is that this event forces your character to take action. They can’t just ignore it and go about their day.

2. Turning Point Progressive Complication

Your character tries to handle that initial disruption, but things keep getting more complicated. Each attempt to restore balance makes things more unstable until they reach a major turning point—the moment they realize there’s no going back to the way things were.

3. Crisis

Now your character faces a choice between two irreconcilable options. Both choices have clear advantages and disadvantages. Both will cost them something they value.

A great Crisis forces your character to choose between:

• Two things they desperately want
• Two different versions of what’s right
• Personal gain versus moral principle
• Individual needs versus group needs
• Short-term versus long-term good

4. Climax

This is where your character acts on their Crisis choice. It’s not just about making the decision—it’s about following through with concrete action that changes their situation forever.

A strong Climax is:

• A clear, decisive action
• Directly related to their Crisis choice
• Something that can’t be undone
• An action that reveals character
• The moment that resolves the central conflict

5. Resolution

Here we see the consequences of their Climax action. How has their world changed? What have they gained or lost? What do the other characters do as a result of their decision? What new reality are they living in now?

A strong Resolution shows:

• The immediate aftermath
• How relationships have changed
• What’s been gained or lost
• The new understanding achieved
• How the world is different now

Who is Your Protagonist?

👉 Your protagonist is the character whose life gets knocked off balance by the Inciting Incident AND who acts on the crucial choice in the Climax.

Both parts matter—they need to be the one whose life is disrupted and the one who takes the final decisive action.

Can You Have Multiple Protagonists?

Yes, but stories typically fall into two distinct categories:

Arch-Plot Stories

These focus on one individual’s transformation. Even if you have multiple POV characters, the story primarily tracks one person’s journey of change. The final Climax decision belongs to this character.

Examples include:

• The Great Gatsby
• John Wick
• Crazy Rich Asians
• Marathon Man

Mini-Plot Stories

These track changes in a system—whether that’s a society, culture, or other large-scale entity. Instead of following one person’s transformation, we watch how multiple characters’ choices create change at a systemic level.

Examples include:

• Game of Thrones
• Dune
• Foundation series

The Antagonist: Your Protagonist’s Dark Mirror

Your Antagonist isn’t just someone who creates obstacles. They’re a mirror of your protagonist—similar in many ways, but with one crucial difference.

👉 When faced with the same kind of choice earlier in their life, they made the opposite decision.

Examples of Protagonist-Antagonist Mirrors

Star Wars

• Luke Skywalker chooses the light side, believing in redemption and hope.
• Darth Vader previously chose the dark side, believing power was necessary for control.
• Their conflict isn’t just about good versus evil—it’s about two different responses to fear and loss.

Crazy Rich Asians

• Rachel chooses to maintain her individual identity despite pressure to conform.
• Eleanor, the boyfriend’s mother, previously chose family/cultural expectations over individuality.
• Their conflict embodies the tension between personal authenticity and cultural responsibilities.

The Hunger Games

• Katniss chooses defiance and freedom, refusing to play by the Capitol’s rules.
• President Snow previously chose control and compliance, believing order requires oppression.
• Their conflict represents different answers to the question of social order versus individual liberty.

Toy Story

• Woody learns to choose growth and sharing over status.
• Buzz initially chose to cling to his perceived identity and importance.
• Their conflict explores how we handle challenges to our sense of self. Notice how the Antagonist of this story (Buzz) isn’t a villain or bad guy. He’s simply the character that gets in the way of what the Protagonist wants and forces them to change.

The Devil Wears Prada

• Andy chooses authenticity over professional success.
• Miranda Priestly previously sacrificed personal identity for career advancement.
• Their conflict shows two paths in response to ambition.

Finding Nemo

• Marlin learns to choose trust over fear and allow chaos and uncertainty in his life.
• Dory embodies the choice to embrace life despite uncertainty.
• Their journey shows different ways of handling loss and risk. Again, Dory is the main source of Antagonism even though she is a virtuous character (given the story’s Theme).

The Great Gatsby

• Gatsby chooses to cling to an idealized past and impossible dream.
• Tom and Daisy choose selfish comfort and social status over genuine connection.
• At the Climax, Gatsby’s refusal to let go of his dream leads to his destruction. This is a Cautionary story.

Gone Girl

• Nick chooses passive acceptance and avoidance of conflict.
• Amy chooses absolute control and manipulation to shape her reality.
• At the Climax, Nick’s pattern of inaction traps him while Amy’s need for control creates a prison for them both. This is another Cautionary tale.

A strong Antagonist represents the path your Protagonist could take—but must resist.

How to Develop YOUR Protagonist and Antagonist

1️⃣ Start with Theme
What fundamental truth about life or human nature do you want to explore?

2️⃣ Choose Your Story Type

• Prescriptive: Right choice leads to positive change.
• Cautionary: Wrong choice leads to negative consequences.

3️⃣ Develop Your Protagonist

• At the story’s start, they haven’t learned the lesson your theme teaches.
• They make mistakes based on false beliefs.
• At the Climax, they must learn and make the right choice (Prescriptive) or double down on the wrong choice (Cautionary).

4️⃣ Create Your Antagonist

• They made the wrong choice before your story began.
• Their past choice shapes their worldview, actions, and opposition to the protagonist.

👉 Your protagonist’s journey isn’t just about defeating the Antagonist—it’s about choosing a different path.

By applying these principles, you’ll craft characters that resonate with readers and bring your story to life.

🗣️ "Worth evey penny!"

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