: Re: Will changing a protagonist into an antagonist alienate readers? It's really hard for me to write questions here without giving a complete info dump on my story. Every time I start to explain

@Jennifer354

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Your protagonist will still be the girl. She's the "main character". A protagonist doesn't have be a hero. They can be a reluctant anti-hero, amoral, or even a villain. You could write a book with Satan as the protagonist if you wanted.

As long as the readers have built an attachment to the character, and her actions make sense from her point of view, your readers should be okay with her getting dark or making mistakes. Note that's in general. Some people will be turned off (they don't like grey) but there's nothing you can do for them given your storyline.

Being a "puppet" (for long) isn't a great idea, as you're taking away her agency. She isn't driving the plot anymore AND her actions don't really matter. The villain can drive the plot for a while and the story can be fine (think of the Joker in Dark Knight).

You say that you're worried about turning a "good" character "evil". But I'm sure she does not so good things at the beginning, and has flaws. And the "evilness" of her actions can be justified by her motivations. Everything turns a bit grey.

As I said before, as long as your character is relatable, and her choices and actions match her characterization and situation, your readers will be fine. Now stop worrying about this and go write! If you're hesitant, put your mental effort into making her relatable and her actions understandable.

Good luck.

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