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smcquail · 6 years

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What’s Wrong With Your Work; Passive Protagonists

Okay, so before we begin, I might need to clear up a bit of terminology. When we talk about ‘main characters' we're referring to the ones whose eyes we see the world through. The ‘protagonist' is the character that the story revolves around, i.e. the one who is most important, or who the action keeps happening around (whether they like it or not). Strictly speaking, these two aren't always the same. Watson from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series, for example, is the main character as he's the one telling us each of the stories, but Sherlock is the one the stories actually focus on. Usually, they're one and the same because, well, it's just easier that way.

Stop me if you've heard this one: someone (usually young) discovers they have or know something unique, something that could be either wondrous or dangerous. Suddenly, a mysterious organisation hunts them down, and they're saved by another secret organisation and told that they are the only one who can stop some nebulous evil. A few shenanigans happen, and in the end, our hero defeats the darkness.

Classic, right? You've probably read it a hundred times by now. Except there's one thing missing from this story. A vital, compelling part of all stories and characters that is mysteriously absent.

Choice.

At no point in the above story does the hero choose to be a hero. They either have or find the MacGuffin/power/knowledge and are suddenly thrust into a new world and tossed around between two warring factions and told that they, and only they, can end this world-spanning conflict (no pressure!). There might be a throwaway scene where they tell their new friends/kidnappers "no!" but in the end you know they're going to help out either way. That's just how the story goes, right?

And that's boring. Really, really boring. Because your protagonist isn't a character; they're a plot device. They're just as much a MacGuffin as the mystical whatever they dug up in their backyard. Sure they might be funny, tragic or a stoic badass, but the fact remains that they're being dragged along on this adventure without any meaningful input.

This is a problem that's stereotyped as plaguing YA and Romance, but the fact is you find it everywhere. David Edding's Belgariad, a personal favourite from my own childhood, pretty much runs on Garion doing what he's told, and the few times he does disobey it ends horribly (Though I know a few who wouldn't consider serving a certain snake queen as ‘horrible'). Anything with a prophecy is liable to fall into this because prophecies have an annoying tendency to limit a character's actions unless you decide to make like a Greek myth and make things vague or ironic. Oedipus Rex is a prophecy fulfilled entirely by the characters' choices and makes the tragedy all the more poignant.

Compelling characters all have one thing in common, and that's motivation. It doesn't have to be a grand goal, like saving the world. It can be a little thing; Sam Vimes from Terry Pratchett's Discworld just wants to do his job and, in later books, tuck his son into bed at night. But every good character has a drive; something they want and something they work towards. Heroes, villains, even side characters. But when you have a passive protagonist, their wants and needs vanish in favour of the plot. A passive protagonist doesn't want to save the world, they're told they have to. They don't join the rebellion because they've heard good things and really want to stick it to the dystopian government, they get dragged into it because they're special. They don't seek out power to complete their goals, they are given it, or find it or just unlock it so that they can defeat the Big Bad Evil Guy.

That's not to say you can't have the "power thrust upon them" thing and compelling characters. Harry Potter is told he's a wizard and gleefully jumps at the opportunity to escape his Aunt and Uncle, and that feels far more genuine than if he had just been grabbed by Hagrid and dragged to Hogwarts because Dumbledore's Voldy-Sense was tingling. Frodo from The Lord of the Rings wouldn't be anywhere near as compelling if Gandalf had turned to him and said "Here, you take this to the volcano. I'm sure you'll be fine!"

Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender is a fantastic example; he's told he's the next in a long line of element controlling peacekeepers and chooses to run away. This results in him being frozen for a hundred years, during which his people are destroyed, the Fire Nation starts conquering the world, and everything goes to hell in a very large handbasket. When he wakes up, he sees the fallout of his rash (but totally understandable!) decision he's motivated to take responsibility and fix the terrible situation he caused with his absence.

Aang's power is thrust upon him, and he knows he has to save the world. But because he made a choice and now has to deal with the fallout, we get a damn good character arc and a lot of world-building in one fell swoop. If Aang had passively accepted his role as Avatar not only would he no longer have a strong motivation, but the entire plot would just dissipate.

I hate to rag on this book any more than most of the internet already has, but Bella Swan from Twilight is a perfect example of a passive protagonist. Because, really, what does Bella actually do?

> She moves into a new town (her Father's decision)

> Edward falls in love with her (out of her control)

> She's almost hit by a car thus revealing Edward's superhuman abilities (also out of her control)

> A trio of vampiric killers start prowling around (I'd hope that was out of her control)

> She discovers Edward's nature (Full credit for a half second of detective work)

> The Cullens kind of scoff at her for a bit (Honestly this lot are the best part of that franchise)

> She's kidnapped (no victim blaming!)

>Edward has to choose between letting her turn and possibly draining her dry

The only plot related thing she does is her vampire research, and even that is effectively pointless because vampires run on completely different rules in this universe. The closest thing to a motivation she has is finding out why this stunningly handsome Adonis (I hate how often that word crops up…) is making her heart go Doki-Doki.

Of course, I get why passive protagonists exist. For one, it's a lot easier to get your plot rolling if everyone just shrugs and goes along with it. You don't have to make up some reason for your moping/angsty/PTSD-riddled-seriously-they're-fifteen-and-in-a-war-zone teenage hero to get out of bed and save the world. But the other, slightly more obvious reason is the self-insert fantasy.

Pretty much everyone on earth wishes excitement would swoop in and drag them off on an adventure (It's kind of the entire basis for the Mills and Boon catalogue). We all want to ride broomsticks around Hogwarts, or topple a dystopian government, or prove to ourselves that we really are as special as we feel we should be. And having a passive protagonist lets us be the protagonist. We can slip into the role and see ourselves as the hero because to be quite frank there's nothing else there. We can put our motivation, our own desire to be exceptional, front and centre because hell if the actual protagonist has anything better.

And you know what? That can be a lot of fun. But it's a fantasy, not a story. There's nothing wrong with daydreaming about the infinite possibilities of fiction. But at the end of the day, we don't read stories just to get a whistle-stop tour of a dystopian future or the rolling hills of Generic-Fantasia. We read them to get invested in the struggles of the characters; we read them to see the ups and downs, to cheer the protagonist on as they inch closer and closer to that goal they've held in their heart for so long. The goal we now share because of our time spent with them.

We want Harry to defeat Voldemort not because it's his destiny, but because it's what he wants; because he's trying to save his world and his friends. We cheer when Samwise picks Frodo up and carries him because we love the dynamic they've built and the goal they share. We want Aang to defeat the Fire Lord because he knows he screwed up and wants to fix the mistake he made.

A compelling character has a want. A need. An arc. What they don't have is a story guide they need to follow. Build your plot around your characters, their decisions and the fallout from them. It's okay to have a start and end point, but let your characters find their own way between them. Otherwise, you might just end up dragging the audience along.

#writing #writing tips #passive protagonists #writerblr #rant #WWWYW

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