Help! I Didn't Want An OP FMC But Now She Feels Passive—How Do I Fix This?

[ehlarh]

Hi everyone,

I’m struggling with how my main character (MC) is coming across in my story, and I could really use your thoughts.

Summary of the story so far:
The MC is an Imperial Princess and the sole heir to the throne—there’s no dispute about her legitimacy. However, her father’s unwavering trust in the Chancellor has begun to jeopardize the empire. When she discovers that the Chancellor has already gained the allegiance of several nobles, she decides to secure allies of her own.

To her surprise, she receives a marriage proposal from the Duke of the northern region who is offering her his support (the dukedoms are usually neutral in court politics). Although conflicted, she accepts, seeing it as a strategic move. However, this doesn’t stop the Chancellor from undermining her. Meanwhile, the Duke—though helpful in some ways—keeps his own secrets.

Later, the Chancellor orchestrates a coup d’état that seemingly leads to the Emperor’s death. The MC is forced to flee the capital to the north with her fiancé.

My main issue:
I’ve always loved strong female main characters (FMCs), but I wanted to write a story where the FMC isn’t necessarily a master of battle tactics or overpowered. I aimed to make her strong in her own way—resilient and clever—but now I feel like I’ve accidentally turned her into a doormat.

She often follows the Duke’s lead even when she internally questions his decisions. They did have an argument about it in Chapter 23, but I’m worried it’s not enough. So far, I’ve written 24 chapters out of my planned 40 (though I’m a planster, so it might end up longer).

How can I balance her character to feel more active and assertive without straying too far from my vision?

 

[pmmg]

Perhaps by finding what her strengths actually are and having her use those to bring about her own desirable outcomes.

If the duke is good at war, she does not need to be, but if she is good at diplomacy, she might be the one to send to the court just behind the mountains to win their support as well.

Or better yet, have her grow into the role she needs to be.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Our "strongest" female character holds a city back from the edge of self-destruction while juggling family tragedy, a lethal addiction, and difficulty with defeating pseudo-demons the size of throw pillows. She's losing and she knows it, but she says her family is the sort that are too stupid to know when to quit. But when it comes to physical fighting and other, stereotypical, traits associated with "strong" female characters, she runs in short supply.

Also, and this is just me and I promise I'm not actively trying to derail the thread (but I'm going to do it, anyway), I hate strong female characters. It's just another pigeonhole that women get stuffed into. I prefer complicated. I love unlikable. And unrelatable. And older than 24, maybe? I want to see all the women, just like we get to see all the men. To me, that's strong.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Also, if your FMC is feeling a bit passive, ask her what her conflict is. And what is her agency to change that.

I love the smell of conflict in the morning.

 

[Orc Knight]

Keep in mind, Lowan also loves the smell of napalm and fireball in the morning too, but that's not the conversation.

But my FMC is of the type Lowan hates. She is a strong fighter who typically leads the way into the battles and loves single combat. (Look, I like warrior women) She does get sidelined early on by a number of incidents including a betrayal. For a long while she can't physically fight and is left to diplomatic duties and to gather allies. It's not something she takes well, as she's used to warring, fighting and being a front line general.

She ends up turning to her usual vices to get by as she turns her mind to revenge. As her story is one big revenge story and all, which I guess yours is going to turn into. Or at least a take back the throne plot. But as an Imperial Princess and only heir, I imagine she's had to at least have some training for courts, dealing with councils and even the Chancellor. Along with the various bloc's of power with the nobility and the Empire itself, like it's generals and such.

To use my FMC again, sure she's front line but as royalty she still has had all the training. From diplomacy and dancing to literature and trade treaties and the overall military disposition. It's not always stuff she likes, but she knows she has to know it. She's also trained in the families ancient trade should such a time come that they have to fall back on it.

So what else would she know? Where can she poke holes in the Duke's various plans? Outside of the military decisions. What intimate knowledge and gossip of the Imperial Court has she picked up? Does she have an ear to the ground with the servants and staff? You mentioned she's clever and resilient, so how does that show up too?

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Keep in mind, Lowan also loves the smell of napalm and fireball in the morning too, but that's not the conversation.

But my FMC is of the type Lowan hates. She is a strong fighter who typically leads the way into the battles and loves single combat. (Look, I like warrior women) She does get sidelined early on by a number of incidents including a betrayal. For a long while she can't physically fight and is left to diplomatic duties and to gather allies. It's not something she takes well, as she's used to warring, fighting and being a front line general.

She ends up turning to her usual vices to get by as she turns her mind to revenge. As her story is one big revenge story and all, which I guess yours is going to turn into. Or at least a take back the throne plot. But as an Imperial Princess and only heir, I imagine she's had to at least have some training for courts, dealing with councils and even the Chancellor. Along with the various bloc's of power with the nobility and the Empire itself, like it's generals and such.

To use my FMC again, sure she's front line but as royalty she still has had all the training. From diplomacy and dancing to literature and trade treaties and the overall military disposition. It's not always stuff she likes, but she knows she has to know it. She's also trained in the families ancient trade should such a time come that they have to fall back on it.

So what else would she know? Where can she poke holes in the Duke's various plans? Outside of the military decisions. What intimate knowledge and gossip of the Imperial Court has she picked up? Does she have an ear to the ground with the servants and staff? You mentioned she's clever and resilient, so how does that show up too?

Liar.

I love women who fight. I, myself, am a woman with a long history of violence and a deep angst about being the owner of only one sword. What I can't stand is the one chick in a group of five, who's gifted, but not too gifted. A great teacher and an experienced warrior, but the clueless and totally inexperienced male protagonist can outstrip her in a training montage. OH, and she's totally hot. Hates the MMC- outwardly - but it just makes her hotter. Guaranteed to either be a successful love interest for the MMC or will sacrifice herself for him in a way that gives him motivation to beat the villain, but nothing gross because she's still got to be totally hot even when she dies.

Isn't that fun?

No, Orc, you've got a good one there. Give me complicated. Give me cowards. Give me human dumpster fires who still get up and keep throwing themselves at danger in the hope that maybe they can hurt its feelings or something. I've got a 700lb talking pig named Rachelle who's quickly developing into one of my favorite characters.

Here's a wee bit of scene notes to annoy everyone all at once.

~~

Rachelle: *listening to a general present his strategy for the coming battle, and bursts into the silence following* Wow, are you dumb. *walks with great confidence and grumbling to the head of the table and the gathered generals and lords get out of her way, because what else are they going to do?* Wasting your cavalry like that… And your bloody infantry…? Now, you're going to listen to the redhead behind me, and she'll tell you how you'll survive tomorrow.
General: Is… Is that pig talking.
Rachelle: *epic eyeroll*
Guard: I don't know… is the pig talking?
Rachelle: No, no I'm not. You've just finally eaten the last lotus petal.
Guard: *starts to cry*

 

[Mad Swede]

I'm no fan of strong characters, mostly because they too often become stereotypical. You know, like a strong male character develops into something rated M for manly or stops eating quiche and starts to suffer testosterone poisoning. Or like some strong female characters become plucky girly bruisers using silk to hide steel.

I feel you can do so much more with complex characters, so in your case I'd ask myself a few questions about the princess:

• Why did she accept the marriage proposal? What were the dukes motives and does she know these motives?
• Have she and the duke fallen in love? If not, have they taken lovers? What does their relationship look like?
• Does she have any resources of her own, people, contacts and the like? Is she using these to gather information or arrange things like assassinations? Has she already made arrangements to dispose of the Duke if needed?
• What is her end goal and what does she intend to do with the Chancellor and his supporters? Does the Duke support her aims, or has he made some arrangements of his own?

Answering those sorts of questions might help develop the princess character in the direction you want.

 

[Rexenm]

It’s the old princess in the tower trope - sometimes there is a dragon - and they need to be left alone. I approach this issue in an anonymous way, and discover that high fantasy is close by, and a necessary evil is even closer by. You could say, they are at a race to the top, no pun intended. You could try to envision the FMC, as a warrior, learning the ways of the sword, or replacing them with a MMC, hiding knives in the ways of diplomacy.

Money could be the root of all evil in this case. Could they come along with a dowry, that might be all that is necessary to secure any plot device? Maybe, for a plot twist: there is issue with either the money or the dowry, making room for plot progression. If all else fails, you could have the FMC convert to a religious order, then become stolen away in the night by some changing moral.

I find when writing female characters, that they are all the same. Looks, ways, men are attracted by modern trends. Regarding the food they eat and the clothes they wear. They are superiour to men, not because they do work, but because they make it. Anything you want, a woman scorned will remove it, so the FMC could certainly rival the Chancellor, rather than replace them with a MMC.

 

[Diana Silver]

Yeah, it sure sounds like she never got any agency as you were pantsing out the story. It's all the Duke this and the Chancellor that. If you have a character that feels like a doormat, then you've got to give them a more decisive voice in the story. Her wishes need to drive the plot, her efforts need to pay off, for goof-ups need consequences and the people who bypass her must face her reprisal. Through her resillience and cleverness, sure why not?

How can I balance her character to feel more active and assertive without straying too far from my vision?

I'm not sure what thoughts you're after, but could it be that you're really just looking for a kick in the butt to get working on some drastic changes? Go shake things up. Hack some parts of, glue new parts on. You know what doesn't work in the story. Now go find what does.

 

[ehlarh]

Thank you so much for all the replies. It seems i need to revisit my character board