: 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

@Dunderdale623

Vote Up Vote Down

Considering your problem from a Hero's Journey-perspective, I strongly argue that the answer to your question is: Yes. If your hero is unable to defeat the villain, your story does not work and needs revision. Here's why:

A story is about change. The Hero realizes that his world is off-balance and embarks on a quest to re-establish this balance. The quest is not a simple one -- before he can succeed, he must tackle a trait of his own personality that forbids him to find a new balance. Possibly, this personality trait is what set his world off-balance in the first place. It is called The Shadow and has the potential to destroy the hero. The Villain is the embodiment of the shadow. In the beginning of the story, he is a terrible threat to the hero and appears to be impossible to defeat. During his transformation, however, the hero gains the ability to defeat the shadow. At the end of the story, he has acknowledged the power that his shadow potentially has over him and found a way to integrate the shadow into his personality.

Once you understand the relationship between the overall story, the hero, the hero's shadow, and the villain, it is clear that a story can only end in two ways: The hero can either adapt and find a way to keep his shadow in check; or he can fail to adapt and allow the shadow to run wild and ravage his world. Both resolutions are acceptable.

From what you write, it appears that either your hero fails to adapt to his shadow -- in which case he simply has no means to win the battle and should, consequently, lose it --, or that your villain is not your hero's shadow. You can fix both problems by re-examining your story and consider carefully what the hero's transformation at the heart of the story is and whether your hero and villain support and provoke this transformation.

For more information about the Hero's Journey, refer to Chris Vogler's "The Writer's Journey". He does a very good job of not only listing the steps of the Hero's Journey and associated archetypes, but also of examining the psychological significance of each element of the Journey.

(0)

Login to post a comment!