Phase Two: The Enemy – Antagonists

“Behind every villain is a truth, whether it be perceived or actual.”

― Dalton Frey, The Darkest Light

The flip side is where it gets interesting, the antagonist is opposite the protagonist in many ways. They are the characters that oppose the protagonist.

It can be more than one person, an institution or a mystical, mythological force. It is the character on the screen that causes the audience to understand the protagonist even more.

Many antagonists are becoming more relatable and more emotional than anything else. 

An antagonist CAN NOT exist without a protagonist because then there is nothing for the antagonist to oppose.

From Cinderella to The Princess and The Frog, the antagonist has always been the typical bad or evil figure.

Antagonists are harder to create than the protagonist. So delving deeper into your own philosophy will help decide which ones speak to you more.

Knowing Thy Enemy

Here are some other Antagonist Types:

• Villain Antagonist: Ex- Mr. Hyde, Lord Voldemort, and Sauron

This is the most common mold, Disney’s favored type. They are typically selfish with evil intentions.

Planning numerous attempts to hinder the protagonist.

Their desires conflict with the hero and they believe their needs are more important than others. That they deserve it more.

• HERO ANTAGONIST: Ex- Commodore Norrington, Apollo Creed, Iceman

These are special antagonists-in my opinion the hardest to get right.They are characters with intentions that are noble and pure. Fully believing they are doing it for the betterment of their world.

Regardless of this they will try to stop the hero protagonist’s plans in any way they can. They see them as wrong despite the protagonist’s good intentions.

Despite being a hero antagonist, another type of antagonist can exist in the same story. This creates a bit more of a complicated world because it is where there is only one protagonist.

• GROUP ANTAGONIST: Ex- The Heathers, The Government in The Darkest Minds, The Capitol in Hunger Games

A group antagonist is not just one person, it can be multiple people or a whole country, or government.

This is the hardest one to make the audience relate to because it is people instead of a person and nonhuman entities.

We can’t relate to the government forcing kids to fight for their lives ending in death, or a bunch of children being put into camps and killed off.

• Non-Human Antagonist: Ex- Mars in the Martian, The Earthquake in San Andreas, Cancer in the Fault in Our Stars

This antagonist is one of the more widely used ones as of late. It is NOT human. It can be an animal, like the killer shark in Jaws or a natural disaster like the one in San Andreas.

In this sense, it is very hard to relate to the antagonist here because it’s not human and unfortunately, WE are.

Despite lacking everything that we need to connect and relate to this antagonist it usually helps us relate more to the protagonist/hero.

In this situation, many of us know what it’s like to deal with a  natural disaster and some know what an animal attack feels like, so it propels us to the protagonist.

• Internal Antagonist: Ex- Jason Bourne and the loss of his memory, Emma’s overconfidence, and meddlesomeness, (Pride and Prejudice) Mr.Darcy’s pride.

The best antagonist to form a connection with is the one in our head, and hearts. The antagonist is strictly an internal flaw the character has.

YOU cannot tell me you’ve never had an internal struggle with yourself. A flaw you have to get over or have gotten over.

This antagonist is harder to spy because it is never truly the only antagonist. These characters need triggers and many people see the trigger as a culprit.

It is the most relatable because we can share the same struggles as the character on screen. We can relate as to how the character is dealing with-or has dealt with.

Antagonist’s Skeleton

So, for the second step you need to find out what villain type speaks to you the most. Make sure it is the one that complements your hero/protagonist the most.

Then you repeat the skeleton from the protagonist’s post.

Watch movies that fit your preferences, watch the dynamic between the protagonist and antagonist because it will reveal more about them than what is seen on screen.