So the outline for my story finally stands. I'm really excited and can't wait to start writing but there's one issue I'm still facing. All my characters, but most importantly my main characters and my protagonist, all have stories to tell and issues to face. That's why sometimes they just have to fail. They aren't where they need to be to overcome this obstacle. They need to learn and grow and they do, to certain degree. My protagonist is constantly challenged throughout the story. To keep things brief: He was a prodigy and could fight like no other. After being forced to kill a friend to protect others, he was traumatised. He had to retire due to the severity of his trauma and has hallucinations of his dead friend calling him a murderer and so on. This has caused him to get a "let live" attitude. So he basically stays out of everything. He doesn't want to intervene. However this story forces him to take action again and again. He is supposed to learn that taking no action is still an active decision which would it doesn't clear him of any guilt. While he never loses the core of his beliefs, he changes the way to go about it. Still, due to his nature, he has a hard time. He struggles with decision making (but will do it because there is no other choice). Anyway so I keep thinking that watching a character struggle and fail can be frustrating. The protagonist has his moments of grandeur but he also has more than enough moments where he simply cannot do it by himself or at all. So how can I show his potential in moments where he doesn't solve the problem? I've thought of having him propose ideas that need fine tuning or having show ability in staged situation but having him fail during the real battle. Does anyone else have ideas on how to show a character's potential even if they fail?
Sounds really interesting! I love characters who fail. It's so much more interesting than when they succeed. So I have 2 options for you: 1. Give them a handicap. If they fail with a handicap, well the failure isn't so much right? I have read multiple archetypes of this nature, i.e. the pacifist who is the strongest martial artist. I can only give you Japanese media in this case because they tend to glorify Buddhist philosophy while having warriors who were merciless killers: sword of the stranger, history's strongest disciple. Both these anime have some restrictions placed on their power. Sword of the stranger protagonist has a similar incident of trauma as in your story. He limits his power by not using weapon to its full potential. So when the story naturally forces him to unleash it, the pay off when he does is huge. I think it would be the best study for your story. 2. Change the measure of success or failure. So obviously in some capacity he failed even if he won the fight against his friend. Otherwise there would be no trauma right? So for him to have become successful in this regard would require him to find a non traumatic way to win that fight. Which most likely wouldn't be one where he kills his friend. One example I have for changing the metric for success is Vinland Saga manga/anime. Again this is a good study for you, the protagonist in this story has to forgo revenge as a measure of success and has to accept some other ideal. He's always facing moral dilemmas about this and the temptation of going back to his old ways. There is also some limitations placed because if you change the measure of success, then you possibly have to change the methods you were best at. Hope this may give you some ideas.
This. Remember the greatest failure of them all—Rocky Balboa. In the first movie, he lost his fight with Apollo Creed, but he was fine with that. He knew that he couldn't beat Creed, so he had set another goal—to be the first fighter to go the distance with him. That showed his true strength: not his skill as a boxer, but his will to go on. (Yes, I am from Philly. How did you know?)
