how do I turn an antagonist into a protagonist

[thatoneguywho-]

hello, people who are reading this! so, right near the beginning of my entire story, I have a character that starts off fighting in a war against my main protagonist, and soon becomes a protagonist herself. how should I write the transformation?

background info: a prophecy just appeared, and main protag is attempting to end the war(Which has gone on for almost ten thousand years) both characters, and everyone around them, are members of the elementals, those humans born with magic. main MC uses shadow magic, other one uses flame.

 

[AudreyTheDaydreamer]

I think I'd need a bit more details on the characters and their personal motives to give my thoughts on how you could convert the antagonist to the MC's side. But this sounds like a fun premise.

 

[thatoneguywho-]

I think I'd need a bit more details on the characters and their personal motives to give my thoughts on how you could convert the antagonist to the MC's side. But this sounds like a fun premise.

ah. well, both characters are considered leaders to their tribes (main MC is part of a council, other is beloved by her people. both are great fighters, and are about to battle, with the main MC winning. I'm trying to find a way for main MC to convince her to leave the war.

 

[thatoneguywho-]

I'm trying to find a way for main MC to convince her to leave the war.

maybe for her people, or losing war, or the prophesy

 

[Devor]

The big question to figure out is why the character is working for the bad guy to begin with. Maybe they were forced and need to be freed, or that's just how they were raised and they need to see more of the world, or they have friends and comrades who are fighting and were even killed by the good guys so it's emotional and they need to calm down to think rationally, or they're fighting for a lie and just need to see the truth, or they're fighting for themselves and need a better offer, or they're fighting for an ideal and need to see a new ideal that protects the same underlying value, or they've seen the worst side of the good guys and the best side of the bad guys and need to see the big picture.

Several of the above is likely, with a main reason and a few lesser reasons that support it, and from the outside it can be difficult to tell which the main reason is.

 

[thatoneguywho-]

The big question to figure out is why the character is working for the bad guy to begin with. Maybe they were forced and need to be freed, or that's just how they were raised and they need to see more of the world, or they have friends and comrades who are fighting and were even killed by the good guys so it's emotional and they need to calm down to think rationally, or they're fighting for a lie and just need to see the truth, or they're fighting for themselves and need a better offer, or they're fighting for an ideal and need to see a new ideal that protects the same underlying value, or they've seen the worst side of the good guys and the best side of the bad guys and need to see the big picture.

Several of the above is likely, with a main reason and a few lesser reasons that support it, and from the outside it can be difficult to tell which the main reason is.

as I said to a fellow member, antag is like a leader to her tribe. she is an ally of the first real antagonist. I recently got a story up for her where her father is dead from the war, but that's all. she is actually fighting in ALL reasons listed. the war was started by a a fake accusation, she is fighting for her tribe. fighting for the ideal of 'purity', and see has fought a shadow tribes councilor before, and didn't get a good message...(hooded, mysterious, cryptic, very powerful.

so far I have it where she loses against the main protag, and retreats, main protag fights the sun tribe directly and turns the war over(he is the commander the the shadow tribes forces), a letter arrives from the holy empire to send each tribes best warriors to the capital, and 4/6 tribes accept, MC and antag are two of the warrior sent. thats all I have for now

 

[Mad Swede]

I think you need to do more with your antagonist than you suggest. What you're asking your readers to accept is a sort of heel-face turn, and for that to work your readers must accept the reasons for this about face. Your example is going to need a lot of character development along the way, and that needs supporting with the change in the relationship with your first protagonist. Don't forget that you first protagonist will also need quite a bit of character development to accept, work alongside and then befriend a former enemy.

 

[thatoneguywho-]

I think you need to do more with your antagonist than you suggest. What you're asking your readers to accept is a sort of heel-face turn, and for that to work your readers must accept the reasons for this about face. Your example is going to need a lot of character development along the way, and that needs supporting with the change in the relationship with your first protagonist. Don't forget that you first protagonist will also need quite a bit of character development to accept, work alongside and then befriend a former enemy.

I can tell. they will have their misgivings for each other, but it will warm up eventually.

 

[Devor]

she is actually fighting in ALL reasons listed.

So let's break that down.

1) forced => need to be freed
2) how they were raised => see more of the world
3) friends and comrades who have fought and died => calm down to think rationally
4) fighting for a lie => see the truth
5) fighting for themselves => need a better offer
6) fighting for an ideal => new ideal that protects the same underlying value
7) seen the worst side of the good guys and the best side of the bad guys => need to see the big picture

Now to sort and group them in a way that follows some kind of timeline for how the character might proceed... I get four stages.

2) how they were raised => see more of the world

First, the character gets around, discovers a broader and more realistic picture of the world, even as they're fighting for the bad guys. Maybe in this case it happened off page, but early on you want to see her acknowledge it, "The world is not what I thought it was when I was growing up." You want to show that the character is paying attention and learning and acknowledging that she has room to grow and better understand things.

1) forced => need to be freed
3) friends and comrades who have fought and died => calm down to think rationally

Second, something about the situation "sets her free." The Bad Guys aren't watching her anymore, so she's free to make her own choice.... She may not have had much choice before, but she wasn't a slave, she was making her choices, she had agency in her life - after all she somehow became a key figure, not a nobody. So freedom isn't enough. This would be a good time for someone to point out that it's her choice, and to then see an explosion of emotion out of her, the heat and grief that comes from everything she's done and everything she's lost to get where she is. Readers need to see all of that emotion play out on the page before we can believe that she's processed it and is thinking clearly and rationally.

4) fighting for a lie => see the truth
7) seen the worst side of the good guys and the best side of the bad guys => need to see the big picture

Once all that emotion is out of her system, and she's pulled herself together, she doesn't just switch sides. Maybe she's more open, but she still needs a chance to see the bigger picture. This is the revelation phase for her, where she can see that there's another side to things, that her life of death and violence in the warfare isn't all that's happened, and she can start to put together the cause and effect, and why the bad guys are really bad and the good guys are really good.

6) fighting for an ideal => new ideal that protects the same underlying value
5) fighting for themselves => need a better offer

Finally, someone makes an offer. You and your people can be better if you join us. And in so doing, the person making the offer can show they understand her, by reframing her ideal (purity) as an underlying value (i.e., legacy-honoring identity), and presenting a new way to respect that value (maybe to honor some other aspect of your people's history that was previously ignored...).

^ Hey, that looks like a full arc. Act 1: See the world, call to action: Recognize that she's been set free. Act 2a, resist freedom, a futile rage against the world, midpoint: "And where will all that hate lead us...?" Act 2b: See the world with a fresh view for understanding it. Darkest Moment: Have I really been so wrong all this time? Act 3: Face a new future, reconciling the past with a way forward.

 

[thatoneguywho-]

So let's break that down.

1) forced => need to be freed
2) how they were raised => see more of the world
3) friends and comrades who have fought and died => calm down to think rationally
4) fighting for a lie => see the truth
5) fighting for themselves => need a better offer
6) fighting for an ideal => new ideal that protects the same underlying value
7) seen the worst side of the good guys and the best side of the bad guys => need to see the big picture

Now to sort and group them in a way that follows some kind of timeline for how the character might proceed... I get four stages.

2) how they were raised => see more of the world

First, the character gets around, discovers a broader and more realistic picture of the world, even as they're fighting for the bad guys. Maybe in this case it happened off page, but early on you want to see her acknowledge it, "The world is not what I thought it was when I was growing up." You want to show that the character is paying attention and learning and acknowledging that she has room to grow and better understand things.

1) forced => need to be freed
3) friends and comrades who have fought and died => calm down to think rationally

Second, something about the situation "sets her free." The Bad Guys aren't watching her anymore, so she's free to make her own choice.... She may not have had much choice before, but she wasn't a slave, she was making her choices, she had agency in her life - after all she somehow became a key figure, not a nobody. So freedom isn't enough. This would be a good time for someone to point out that it's her choice, and to then see an explosion of emotion out of her, the heat and grief that comes from everything she's done and everything she's lost to get where she is. Readers need to see all of that emotion play out on the page before we can believe that she's processed it and is thinking clearly and rationally.

4) fighting for a lie => see the truth
7) seen the worst side of the good guys and the best side of the bad guys => need to see the big picture

Once all that emotion is out of her system, and she's pulled herself together, she doesn't just switch sides. Maybe she's more open, but she still needs a chance to see the bigger picture. This is the revelation phase for her, where she can see that there's another side to things, that her life of death and violence in the warfare isn't all that's happened, and she can start to put together the cause and effect, and why the bad guys are really bad and the good guys are really good.

6) fighting for an ideal => new ideal that protects the same underlying value
5) fighting for themselves => need a better offer

Finally, someone makes an offer. You and your people can be better if you join us. And in so doing, the person making the offer can show they understand her, by reframing her ideal (purity) as an underlying value (i.e., legacy-honoring identity), and presenting a new way to respect that value (maybe to honor some other aspect of your people's history that was previously ignored...).

^ Hey, that looks like a full arc. Act 1: See the world, call to action: Recognize that she's been set free. Act 2a, resist freedom, a futile rage against the world, midpoint: "And where will all that hate lead us...?" Act 2b: See the world with a fresh view for understanding it. Darkest Moment: Have I really been so wrong all this time? Act 3: Face a new future, reconciling the past with a way forward.

I didn't mean the reason in the entire reply, just the ones I listed. oops. lemme give some more character.

Fotia Firunyuli- a member of one of the six blessed bloodlines, hers blessed by the divinity of flames/fie, firunyutliyas. she is scarred, tall, and has very long red/orange hair that reaches her knees. she is commander of the flame tribes elites troops and commonly seen as leader of the entire tribe. she is an ally of the sun empirium tribe in the great elemental war. she is 2374 years old(all elementals, due to the magic inside of them, live for up to ten thousand years. she wields a serrated-edge sword and a dagger. at the beginning of the story, she is heading towards Starblot mountain(where the battle will take place) with her troops and sister, Sylikijulyan(Syl).

that's all I can think of now, thank you very much!

 

[Prince of Spires]

You could watch Avatar the Last Airbender and study Zuko's journey. It's a good example of the antagonist becoming a protagonist, and because it's a children's show, it's clearly laid out (without beating you over the head with it).

In a way, Han Solo, in A New Hope, is also this. Though he isn't really the antagonist, he does start out believing only in money. Throughout the story he grows and at the end, he believes in friendship and honor, and in doing so, helps overcome the bad guys.

I have a character that starts off fighting in a war against my main protagonist, and soon becomes a protagonist herself.

In general I think that having the antagonist transform soon is very hard to pull off. At least, if it's the point of the story. For maximum impact, you need to show the journey for the character, and that takes a lot of words. It's pretty much like any character journey, where the character learns and grows. The character starts believing in one thing, and then grows to believe in something else.

 

[thatoneguywho-]

You could watch Avatar the Last Airbender and study Zuko's journey. It's a good example of the antagonist becoming a protagonist, and because it's a children's show, it's clearly laid out (without beating you over the head with it).

In a way, Han Solo, in A New Hope, is also this. Though he isn't really the antagonist, he does start out believing only in money. Throughout the story he grows and at the end, he believes in friendship and honor, and in doing so, helps overcome the bad guys.

In general I think that having the antagonist transform soon is very hard to pull off. At least, if it's the point of the story. For maximum impact, you need to show the journey for the character, and that takes a lot of words. It's pretty much like any character journey, where the character learns and grows. The character starts believing in one thing, and then grows to believe in something else.

my story is going to start as an adventure fantasy with a small amount of dark parts, that progressively gets darker and darker until the prophesy (totally) kicks of and its full blown dark fantasy. the series doesn't end thee with the defeat of the villain, no, no, no.it gets darker. skip ahead a few thousand years, villain survived and destroyed humanity! character I'm talking about is long gone by then. new story, villain killed, you'd think its over. nope! new villain who believes his own morals and ALSO later becomes a protag. he is almost killed by YET ANOTHER villain, who DECIMATES the Protags but eventually defeated.

guess what! finally over.

TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTALLLLLLLLLY... turns out that prophesy was about something else. I'm gonna keep being to only one knowing about this for now.

so, yeah. its long. the antag-protag does not like MC, but she works with him simply for her people

 

[pmmg]

hello, people who are reading this! so, right near the beginning of my entire story, I have a character that starts off fighting in a war against my main protagonist, and soon becomes a protagonist herself. how should I write the transformation?

background info: a prophecy just appeared, and main protag is attempting to end the war(Which has gone on for almost ten thousand years) both characters, and everyone around them, are members of the elementals, those humans born with magic. main MC uses shadow magic, other one uses flame.

One does not have to be 'Good' to be the protag, they just need to be the one we are following and hopefully rooting for.

But I would expect such a transformation to contain realization, remorse, regret, attempts to atone, love, understanding, empathy, and forgiveness.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Good guy =/= automatically mean protagonist
as
Bad guy =/= antagonist

They're two different positions in narrative. And they can flip, if you do it right. But you have to do it right, and that's by making the reader believe they can invest in your world.

 

[minta]

What you want to do in this way is give them a relatable goal, reveal their motivations, their flaws, their pressure points, and then flip the story to their point of view.