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Deleted member 6270
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I am struggling to come up with an opponent for one of my characters.
I know that a good opponent shows the weaknesses in the protagonist, that they and the protagonist should be fighting over the same goal, etc. I've read endless advice about creating opponents. But I just can't seem to get ideas.
The problem is, my protagonist is very isolated, so hasn't really had a chance to create any enemies. They only know a handful of people at the beginning of the story. They've been abused in the past, but I don't feel like it's right for the story for any of the abusers to return to their life. A big part of the character's growth is them learning to heal (some of) their past trauma, and that's not really doable if they're still being traumatised throughout the story.
I don't really know how to create an opponent who is fighting with the protagonist for the same goal, since it's primarily a love story so the goal is being with their love interest, but the protagonist and the love interest are polyamorous, so it's not like either of them would have to choose between each other and someone else. So I can't have an opponent who is a love rival.
And in terms of creating an opponent based on weaknesses in the protagonist... This is certainly possible, but I'm having a really hard time coming up with a concrete character. My protagonist definitely has weaknesses, but none of them are so terrible that they'd make a real enemy because of it. I know opponents don't have to be 'enemies' as such, but I don't know how to create an opponent out of bad-but-not-truly-terrible weaknesses (e.g. distrust, perfectionism, unreasonably high moral standards for themself and others).
I don't want to fall into that trap of 'the protagonist's opponent is themself'. And this isn't a story where some authority figure is oppressing the character, so that's out too. I'm really struggling with this. Any advice?
I know that a good opponent shows the weaknesses in the protagonist, that they and the protagonist should be fighting over the same goal, etc. I've read endless advice about creating opponents. But I just can't seem to get ideas.
The problem is, my protagonist is very isolated, so hasn't really had a chance to create any enemies. They only know a handful of people at the beginning of the story. They've been abused in the past, but I don't feel like it's right for the story for any of the abusers to return to their life. A big part of the character's growth is them learning to heal (some of) their past trauma, and that's not really doable if they're still being traumatised throughout the story.
I don't really know how to create an opponent who is fighting with the protagonist for the same goal, since it's primarily a love story so the goal is being with their love interest, but the protagonist and the love interest are polyamorous, so it's not like either of them would have to choose between each other and someone else. So I can't have an opponent who is a love rival.
And in terms of creating an opponent based on weaknesses in the protagonist... This is certainly possible, but I'm having a really hard time coming up with a concrete character. My protagonist definitely has weaknesses, but none of them are so terrible that they'd make a real enemy because of it. I know opponents don't have to be 'enemies' as such, but I don't know how to create an opponent out of bad-but-not-truly-terrible weaknesses (e.g. distrust, perfectionism, unreasonably high moral standards for themself and others).
I don't want to fall into that trap of 'the protagonist's opponent is themself'. And this isn't a story where some authority figure is oppressing the character, so that's out too. I'm really struggling with this. Any advice?