A group of people causing the conflict would be considered society, perhaps the members of a team, community, or institution. Most times, something external is causing the problem. However, the antagonist could be the protagonist, who is torn by a problem within.

Antagonist – This character, or group of characters, causes the conflict for the protagonist.

The decisions made by this character will be affected by a conflict from within, or externally through another character, nature, technology, society, or the fates/God.

Protagonist – This is the main character, around which the whole story revolves.

There are two types, of which there may be a couple for each. These are the most important characters in the story. It’s a great example of how a story can work with only one character, although many minor characters appear in the beginning and end. This movie focuses on his psychological (mental) and physical condition as he slowly adapts to a life of isolation, living alone on an island that is off all regular sea and airplane routes. He’s the only survivor, trapped on an island for four years. His character is on board a shipping plane when it crashes. He appears to carry out the stereotype of a jock (strong but not so smart), but his character changes as it’s revealed that he can be hard working and intelligent.Ī movie that features one character throughout most of it is “Castaway” with Tom Hanks. Various characters underwent a change, making them a dynamic character, such as Noah Puckerman. Most stories have multiple characters interacting, with one of them as the antagonist, causing a conflict for the protagonist.Ī popular television series that just ended is the show “Glee.” Each season had popular characters who had to learn to work together to create a good musical production. This character’s conflict may be an inner one (within him/herself), or a conflict with something natural, such as climbing a mountain. A story can have only one character (protagonist) and still be a complete story. Writers use characters to perform the actions and speak dialogue, moving the story along a plot line.

A character is a person, animal, being, creature, or thing in a story.

Flat character definition