In one of my stories, which takes place in an academy type setting (Common trope, I know), I'm having difficulty deciding on the main character. I have one character who was intended as a secondary character, but I find that I have a stronger connection with her than the originally intended MC, who I no longer have any idea who he is. The problem is, the story was originally supposed to follow the MC as he develops his skills and deals with the challenges of being a demonic and having no prior knowledge of it. Am I focusing on the wrong character or is this normal?
Sounds also pretty standard to have the fawning or otherwise supporting character 'report on' the MC. That's certainly been done a bunch with this kind of manga stuff.
You'll have to answer "whose story is it?" If you are still going to be following the guy as he develops his skills and deals with challenges then he sounds like the MC. If the girl is there all the time as a narrator then she's like that guy in "The Great Gatsby". If you don't know who the guy is, I bet you find out as you write it.
What POV are you writing from? If it's multiple 3rd person, (i.e., sometimes from once characters POV, sometimes from another) just write the story , and don't worry about who the "main character" is. They both might be. Or some readers might think one is, and other readers the other. In real life and in fiction, there's often not just one "main character" to a story. And that's fine. Make all your characters real, and it won't matter who's "main."
I had the exact same thing happen to me. Exactly. I liked my secondary character better and for a short time switched. After some work I switched back but strengthened the secondary character's role. I connected to her more, but that didn't mean anybody else would. (That didn't bother me because no one else would be reading it but me, it is a factor to consider if you intend for others to see it). In real life everyone is the main character of their own story, it's just which character best represents the story you want to tell. If I were writing a War story one of my minor characters might be my lead. If I were writing a negative character Arc "Julien" would definitely be my lead. I don't know if this is the right way to do it but here's what I did. I looked at: Who had the most to lose Who would be pushed to the brink the most Who would struggle the most with the internal conflicts Who had the best ability to carry the weight of my story Who connected the best to my main theme(s) Who had the best character Arc (who changed the most) I hope this was helpful
One factor is who each character has frequent contact with. The protagonist may not be privy to information you want to pass along to the reader. Someone who is on nobody's side, or whose allegiance shifts, might be a batter choice, because he or she may see and hear things that no other character can. Also, the changing allegiance may show events in a more interesting light. On the other hand, someone who pals along with the protagonist won't know everything the protag has in mind, the better for springing surprises on the reader. He or she will likewise only be able to guess what antagonists are planning, and won't probably have the protagonist's keen insight. Limits on a POV character's knowledge its therefore not a handicap as much as an advantage, from a storytelling perspective.
Does this academy have some type of secret cult world involved in it? Like do they secretly worship some demon or cult leader? Is there any main antagonist that the MC would be facing? Also what makes the girl so special compared to the MC? It sounds really cool if the MC has some demonic powers that he never knew about. Or could you switch on and off between both of them as the MC's? I heard of some stories do this before. I like that the MC has demonic heritage though.
The basic idea is "What do demons do when they aren't terrorizing humans?" So it's an academy in hell for unholy beings. The girl is a misincarnated salamander, the guy... I'm still working that out. I'm thinking along the lines of a demi-shaman/demon/summoner/thing. He summons spirits, but he sucks at it at first. The girl has an identity crisis (She can't decide whether she is human or demonic), and the guy is Prince Bully Magnet.
