: Re: The protagonist can't defeat the antagonist without the antagonist being stupid What should I do if my story's plot is built around the antagonist being extremely strong, and by the end it's

@Si5022468

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In what ways is the antagonist "extremely strong"? If this "final battle" is one that it is so "clear that the protagonist cannot possibly" win, why is the protagonist so ignorant or foolish to commit to that kind of "final battle" anyway? Why does your plot seem (as far as you've described it to us as potential problem-solvers) to be all about one very predictable and one-dimensional contest of strength? Are you or your protagonist imprisoned by predictable plot conventions?

If I'm going to read a story with the outline you suggested, I'm going to be hoping that something interesting and consistent is going to happen. If any form of deus ex machina intervenes to save a foolish hero who has no reason to expect not to be squashed in a direct attack, doing nothing with any reasonably expected chance of success, then I'm probably going to feel like I wasted my time. I'd want a hero and his allies to be dealing with the situation in intelligent logical ways and come up with something that could work and is clever and not obvious. Or if he's forced to fight a hopeless fight, I want to be really clear that he has no better alternative in logical and consistent ways.

I'd also hope that a story would involve conflicts and situations whose outcomes are not all that certain, and where what people do to improve their odds and react to circumstances is as interesting as possible.

Hopefully the situation is also not really all just about two characters getting around to having a fight, whose fight overshadows everyone and everything else.

There are infinite ways a fight or battle can seem hopeless but work out unexpectedly. You could read classic stories to find examples. You could start at the beginning, with The Illiad, for example, and see what happens with Achilles.

You could also consider that there are many ways for situations to change throroughly, which may not even involve fighting, and may not even directly involve your two main characters. Any number of events or combination of events could change the conditions of the fight or whether it even happens at all.

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