Hi there I am looking to write a short story around the 2000 word mark and I was wondering if people would consider a protagonist to be necessary? I ask this because of the lack of character development they will recieve. Do you see any strong benefit to having a protagonist for a short story, or would it be wiser to focus on environment building around nameless characters?
I don't see any reason your protagonist can't be nameless. I've written such stories myself. I believe every story needs some sort of protagonist.
Short stories can be more plot-driven, and the focus doesn't have to be on a character. Sometimes a story can work with characters not named.
