In this episode, I explain the difference between villains, antagonists, shadow archetypes, and tragic heroes.
SUMMARY: Villains intend to harm others and thus perform evil actions. Antagonists actively oppose the protagonist but are not necessarily evil. Therefore most villains are antagonists. But not all antagonists are villains. Shadow archetypes are characters who psychologically represent the repressed desires/motivations of the hero. Often shadow archetypes perform as a villain or an antagonist in the story. Moreover, tragic heroes are characters who were heading toward a positive arc (thematically) but succumb to their psychological flaw (aka their fatal flaw). If they survive their transformation, the tragic hero often becomes a shadow archetype. While antiheroes may share attributes or behaviors of the previous characters, they are not villains. They often perform as shadow archetypes or antagonists to a classic hero. Lastly, villains can also be the hero, main character, and/or protagonist in a story.
Below are the timestamps for the different sections of the conversation.
00:00 Intro
02:00 Background
04:52 Definitions
06:40 Hypothetical examples
13:47 Cersei & Daenerys
31:43 Avengers: Civil War
41:20 Hybrid examples
48:31 Tragic hero
50:45 Outro
Additional Materials
You can watch the video version of this here.
Learn how to write better characters today.
How to Write Commercial Fiction That Sells: Five Steps to Create Even Better Characters
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Mythological Storytelling: Classic Stages of the Hero's Journey
ATTENTION FICTION WRITERS:
If you plan on writing any kind of fiction story, this book is for you!
When you buy this book you'll learn:
- The classic 3-act structure that all blockbusters follow
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About the author
Josh is a military veteran, public speaker, and father of three. Josh has published multiple science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction books. When not writing, Josh plays video games like Mass Effect, God of War, and Mortal Kombat. Growing up as a comic book geek in the 80s, Josh has an affinity for superhero stories. He's also a huge fan of classic Star Wars and owns multiple lightsabers. His other hobbies include powerlifting, roller skating, and beach bumming.
Feel free to follow Josh on social media, to get updates on all of his latest projects here: https://linktr.ee/joshcoker
