“I’ll kill everyone you love.” 

“How convenient.” Lucien slipped lower, holding himself up with his elbows. The ground below him was drenched with rain, rain mixed with his blood. “There’s no one left I do love.” He looked up at Annie, standing over him with both knives drawn.

The girl laughed. He wished he had the strength to be angry that all she did was laugh, but he couldn’t be angry. Annie was a mad woman. A mad child, her mind lost to the darkness that had once taken over her. 

He was not angry that she laughed, but that could not stop him from being angry.

Annie laughed, a loud, mad laugh that ripped through his veins. “No one? Not a single soul? Shame, shame, tsk, tsk.”

Lucien’s elbows slipped out from under him, depositing him in the blood and water. He groaned and tried to raise his head. “Not anymore,” he whispered.

If he hurt her, if he touched the right part of whatever heart remained to her, perhaps she would demonstrate that she still had feelings. If she could feel, he could heal her.

Annie spun in the street, sending up a spray of water from the puddle under her feet. “What a shame,” she sang out, and then hummed a tune to herself. “I’ll kill all you love, love, love, if anyone anyone is left.”

Her heart was empty, black, and dark, as unfeeling as the stones he lay upon.

Lucien groaned and rolled onto his back. The rain fell onto his upraised face, sliding down his cheeks like tears. “Annie,” he whispered, because he could not say the words that haunted him: I loved you. 

There was no one left that he loved because he had never loved the real version of her, the version that wished to harm and maim and kill, who cackled and shed blood and hurt him in everything. She’d never raised a hand against him, but he’d loved her anyway.

He’d hoped to fix her. He would never succeed, but he’d nursed a sorrowful hope.

Annie knelt in the street in front of him. “What do you think?” she whispered with a laugh. “I thought your power seemed… fascinating. Turning things to stone. Turning your heart to stone. I want it. I want to do that.” She pressed her hands against his cheeks and tipped her forehead against his, sighing long and weary. If only it were real. If only it were for sorrow that she broke him.

“My power is nothing,” he whispered. “You don’t need to turn your heart to stone. Your heart is already stone.” He let his head fall back.

Annie knelt over him, turning her face down toward his. “I want to turn myself into stone,” she sang. “Stone. I will be stone. I don’t have to feel. I don’t want to feel.”

He closed his eyes. The tears ran down his face, mingling with the rainwater.

Annie. She was a force to be reckoned with, her laughter loud, her dancing beautiful. He’d been arrested by her. He’d run to her and hoped that she would hold him fast.

Lucien sighed. He’d known she could kill and yet he’d chosen her anyway. She’d stabbed him just like she’d stabbed everyone else.

She put one hand on either of his temples. “I’m taking your power for myself, sweetie,” she said, her voice gentle. “It’ll keep living, no matter what. I promise.” She patted his arm.

Lucien let another tear slide down his cheek.

Annie’s hands gripped the sides of his head. Something grew tight. Tension sprouted across the front of his forehead. He groaned and tried to turn his head away, but the pain was growing stronger, ripping him apart from the inside. He cried out, unable to restrain it. His power, sliding through his veins with his blood, felt thin and distant. Tears slid from his eyes. His heart. His love. His only hope.

He’d loved Annie with his entire heart, and now she would steal it.

She was ripping power out of him, and he could not hold onto it. His blood was sliding out of his body, taking his power with it. His head spun. His body spun. Annie. Annie. Annie, who he had loved. Annie, who he had given his heart to. Annie, who would now kill him.

His eyes slid closed and he let his mind fly. He had loved her.

But now no one was left for him to love.

 Hello everyone! 

I wanted to start a new series for writers on the blog, and as I was thinking about what that might entail, I got to think about main characters. Main characters should be the heartbeat of the story, but they end up being the main divisive point much of the time. I've read books and watched movies where I love the side characters and even the story, but cannot stand the protagonist, and it ruins the entire book for me. Alternately, if I connect to the protagonist, I fall in love with the whole thing, even if it's subpar. 

What are the factors that drive this? What allows your main character to be likeable, loveable, and compelling? How do they drive the story and raise the stakes by who they are?

I'm writing this series as a reader, writer, and viewer (of shows/movies). These are things I've observed, which quite a few of my favorite Protagonists have in common. Today is part 1, but I suspect I'll do quite a few of these little deep dives this year. Part 1 is something that you'll probably debate me about no end, but it's just so helpful and enjoyable. 

The first trait, in my humble opinion, of a compelling protagonist, is

~Demonstrated Competency~

Aragorn (Strider) from Lord of the Rings

Especially in the films, I don't think you could argue that Aragorn doesn't have a character arc. He might be 87 years old and an excellent Ranger,  but he still has a ton of doubt to overcome, positive changes to make, and lies to stop believing. He's incredibly well-written--but he's competent.

Aragorn's role is that of protector. He steps into that role and immediately demonstrates to us that he is capable of protecting those in his charge. If Merry had become the protector of the Fellowship, we would raise an eyebrow and chuckle, and it would feel wildly unrealistic. But Aragorn has a backstory to justify his knowledge--he was raised by Elves, and his knowledge stems from experience, battle, training, mentorship, and learning.

This is the first part of competency: Your character needs to already fit the role that they are in at the beginning of the story. This does not mean Aragorn has to be ready to be KING right now. He isn't ready. It takes time for him to get there, which the story gives him and allows him to develop. However, what he does already need to be is a protector and friend. If he were a protector who had never had any training, we would question why he was there. I'm sure this is obvious to many people, but I've read far too many YA books where someone is in a role that SIMPLY does not make sense. 

The second point...

Paul from Dune (2021)

Most main characters still have things to learn. We saw this with Aragorn, but we can see it with most main characters, if we're being honest. That's an arc. That's internal conflict. It's a crucial part of every story.

However, the character needs to have a realistic REASON for being involved. Unless you're writing some sort of fairy tale retelling where your main character is plucked off the street to follow some prophecy, your main character's background needs to inform where they're going to go next. This means that both backstory and mindset are important. Paul checks all of these boxes. He has internal conflict in that he does not WANT to be part of the conflict, but he has no CHOICE. That was decided for him. What he can choose is what to do with the conflict.

So, being a  smart boy, what he does is learn. He studies the cultures he's getting involved in. He learns the customs. He studies up on magic and becomes incredibly talented through STUDY. It does not come naturally to him--he's good because he's worked really hard. But that doesn't make him invincible at the start of the film, or even at its end. He's got more to learn. However, we trust that he's going to learn it--because he's demonstrated that he WILL.

Finally... 

Lazlo from Strange the Dreamer

Your protagonist needs to be likable.

If your protagonist is just plain good, it's going to drive people in the story crazy. That's just how life works. Strange is a great example of that. Lazlo is just good--a nice, normal, but ridiculously kind person. He gets beat up for being kind. It makes the people around him lose their minds slowly. Not everyone likes him. But that makes readers like your character--especially if they're self-aware.

Competency and likeability don't always go together, but in Lazlo's case, they do. He's a diplomat! He needs to be likeable. But the reason I bring this aspect up is because your character has somehow be likeable if they are competent. That doesn't just mean making them a hot jerk who's never messed up. They need redeeming qualities. Quality. I don't care, at least one. Something that will make your readers love them, even if their perceived perfection makes other characters hate them. Because that's life, baby! That is JUST life. 

This post was a lot of ramble, so let me know if you want more of these! I have some ideas, but I will not be writing more of these if y'all don't like them, haha. Comment if you liked this deep dive into the specific things about protagonists!