DZ-33: Protagonist vs Hero - Dawn of Character Function

Listen to see how splitting character functions across your cast sharpens what your story actually means.

We are often told that our 'protagonist' needs to be a active. That they need to be compelling. That they need to change. And - old faithful - that they need to be likeable. But after looking at MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, STAR TREK (2009), THE FIGHTER, and SICARIO, Chas and Stu learn that your primary character does not need to do all these things. In fact, they learn that splitting these functions between your primary characters can reinforce theme and create potential for different types of narratives.

And stick around for backmatter if you want to hear Stu go on a rant. For a change.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

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FILMS

• MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015) — (w) George Miller, Nico Lathouris, Brendan Mccarthy (d) George Miller
• STAR TREK (2009) — (w) Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman (d) Jj Abrams
• THE FIGHTER (2010) — (w) Paul Tamasy, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, Keith Dorrington, Eric Johnson (d) David O Russell
• SICARIO (2015) — (w) Taylor Sheridan (d) Denis Villeneuve

SCRIPTS

• Study the script: MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015) — George Miller, Nico Lathouris, Brendan Mccarthy
• Study the script: STAR TREK (2009) — Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
• Study the script: SICARIO (2015) — Taylor Sheridan

LINKS

• Read: Lia Matthew Brown - All We Have Are Our Bodies On FURY ROAD
• Read: Bitter Script Reader: How STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS gave us the Kirk we deserve

RELATED EPISODES

• DZ-03: Making Unlikeable Protagonists Compelling
• DZ-19: Car-Crash Characters
• DZ-20: Writing Strong Secondary Characters - Trinity, Bechdel and a Bamboo Killer
• DZ-24: Forging story rules in TV pilots

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Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2016/dz-33/