![]() A protagonist is under so much narrative pressure that when the story relaxes, he bursts, like a sea creature brought up from its crevasse to the surface. The supporting cast has room to go off on tangents, but the characters at the center have to constantly triangulate between action, motivation, and relatability, which can drain them of all surprise. ![]() It’s great advice, but in practice, it often results in leads who are boringly singleminded: when every action needs to advance the plot, there isn’t much room for the digressions and quirks that bring characters to life. The internal problem stems from the reasonable principle that the narrative and the hero’s objectives should be inseparable: the conflict should emerge from something that the protagonist urgently needs to accomplish, and when the goal has been met-or spectacularly thwarted-the story is over. ![]() I’ve learned to chalk this up to two factors, one internal, the other external. Club ran an entire article devoted to television shows in which the lead is also the best character, which only points to how boring many protagonists tend to be. ![]()
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