So for one I have like a "Neo" type where he's the protagonist. At first he works a lazy office job but then takes the red pill to free his mind from the dystopian government's control. He's supposed to be one of the older guys. His point in the book is to be like the "everyman" or the average joe. He's supposed to be a good representation of what life would be like on either sides of the law for people like you and me. But on the other hand. I have this even older guy who's like a futuristic cowboy (kinda like Mcree from Overwatch in his 50's.). He's a supporting character and I already have his backstory and personality figured out, and he seems pretty badass, but not entirely sure what his point should be. I feel like I should maybe kill one of them off, or cut one from the book, I don't know. I'm just so conflicted right now.
Killing off the badass can be a great way to force the other characters to step up and realize that they won't always have someone better then themselves to fall back on. It's a good way to force any characters that aren't treating the problem properly to get their butts in gear. Alternatively, you could have the Not-cree go to the "other side" via mind control, of his own volition, or because he has no choice (Or any variation of these three things). This will supply the protags with an instant antagonist that has a history with the protags, as well as an established reason for the readers to think "Oh crap, this guy's gonna be a problem", because we've seen him do his thing, and we know that he's a badass without the story having to show it once he shows up on the antag side. Finally, you could have him give up. This is great because "Oh shit, the badass just gave up! If he gave up, then who else might give up?" This is, in my opinion, a very effective way to say to your audience that no one is safe from leaving the story in one way or another without killing a metric ton of named characters (Looking at you, George R. R. Definitely a Sadist). I'm not too sure about the No-o, though. You could have him fail at the end, and the other characters have to pick up his slack. Or maybe he could pull the Neo and sacrifice himself at the end, except that it doesn't work? That could be fun. Anyways, good luck!
I kinda like the direction that @LastMindToSanity is going with the connection to the antagonist's side. But with the caveat that he is more of a double agent playing for both sides, that would make it a tad more interesting and make him be a questionable character that we are unsure to root for him or not as a reader. That would be a twist with some complexity to it.
