1. Veltman

    Veltman Active Member

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    Tips for getting the underdog protagonist done right?

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Veltman, Jan 22, 2019.

    I've gotten to a point of no return writing my novel where the overall premise is ready and I already wrote a few key scenes that gets the story going. It's a futurist sci-fi novel set on a terraformed, human-controlled Mars. Some of you may have seen my post on that a little while ago.

    The protagonist will start living a common life, but will be thrust into making some choices that will put him in charge of an operation to rescue a one of a kind supersoldier that crashed in an uncharted zone in the middle of a civil war and a natural disaster. The MC's relationship with the supersoldier and their eventual triumph will be the main focus of the story and I want them to learn different things from each other.

    The main point here is that I don't want to just create a military grunt MC that follows orders and acts tough to get the job done. I want him to be a guy that was convinced by his father (The scientist behind the supersoldier peoject) to become a soldier, but never really wanted to, and in the end, failed and moved on with his life. However, for some reason I didn't come up with yet, he will end up having to bear the task of getting it done.

    I want the reader to be able to connect with him, to be able to put themselves in the MC's shoes. I want him to learn, but not so much that he loses the vulnerability. I want him to have to take risks, and sometimes losses as well, because he wasn't completely ready. I want him to win in the end, but not in a triumphant display of might, but snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

    How do I pull that off? Those of you who frequently write underdog protagonists, please help me out.
     
  2. Thundair

    Thundair Contributor Contributor

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    You could go yin and yang giving each character different quality of skills where one would show strength and weakness in harmony with the other, where the whole is greater than the assembled parts.

    You could also use what I call 'in resonance.’ I know resonance is applied to frequency, but if you think of it in terms of action, your characters would amplify each other. Think of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Individually they had less power than combined.
     
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  3. -oz

    -oz Active Member

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    Your question, as I understand it, is how to give the MC a catalyst to start his character arc. You know where he has to go, you know what he has to do, but you don't know how to get him to start doing that without it seeming weird; something the readers can relate to. (If I misunderstood this, please clarify.) While I could brainstorm and come up with possible solutions, I don't know enough of the backstory, characters, or setting, so I'll pose a few questions that might help:
    • If the MC is still in the military, does he have a duty to obey?
    • If the MC has strong family ties, does he have a compulsion to help his father in this operation?
    • Does the MC have a super strong feeling of responsibility he can't let go when someone gives him this task?
    • Is the MC too proud to say no to leading the operation? (Especially if hasn't led something like this before)
    • Would leading this operation release the MC from a responsibility/debt/life he wants away from?
    • Is he trying to impress someone by doing this op? (Father, girlfriend, etc)
    • Does he just want a change, and is hoping this will lead him to a different [life/location/situation/etc]?
    These are just some ideas to get you brainstorming; hopefully something here helps. Again, if I just totally misunderstood your question, please clarify. Have fun!
     
  4. Veltman

    Veltman Active Member

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    That's exactly the key to this entire thread! You were spot on. The catalyst is the fuel I need to power the entire story later on. Let me answer some of your points so you can know more about the story:
    1- No. His father never thought he was good enough, and when his mother died, the father took him out of the project to become the supersoldier, going after the person that eventually succeeded, the one he'll rescue.
    2- The MC had close family ties until his mother died and his father became too busy with the new prodigy, he was lonely after that.
    3- That's not what I had in mind for him. For now, no.
    4- Maybe. I could make it so that his childhood made him develop "Napoleon complex" or something similar.
    5- Maybe so. I want him to be unhappy at being a corporate drone doing repetitive work.
    6- Himself maybe? To prove everyone he has what it takes.
    7- I didn't think about this too much at this point.

    @-oz Please give me a few more hints. I loved your first post, I think you can give me some fantastic feedback with this info.
     
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  5. Kalisto

    Kalisto Senior Member

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    The good news is that readers connect to a character's vulnerabilities more than their strengths. Characters who serve as "wish fulfillment" are just not that good of characters. People do want to see the struggles and the tribulations of the characters.

    I would also like to state that most sons want to please their fathers. Especially if that father was emotionally absent in his life. And that would make sense if his father is constantly researching.
     
  6. -oz

    -oz Active Member

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    Nice, thanks for the responses! That helps me get a better feel for how you want us to empathize with your MC. These questions are a little more brainstorming on my part as well, throwing random ideas out you can steal from.

    Hmm, I'm understanding that you want him to be a corporate drone, he's unhappy with it, and he's lonely because his family is not available (to put it gently). Having been in those shoes, that leads to quite a bit of depression. Depression is a nasty funk to try to get out of, especially when you lose the support structure of your family. At some point, down in the dumps, you realize that you HAVE to make a change. If they don't sometimes people choose suicide as a means for change, but that won't help your MC.
    1. Is your MC depressed?
      • If so, this might be a desperate attempt to save his life (though you don't think that way when you're depressed and actively making this change... this will take a little research on your part.)
      • If so, maybe his friends in the military he's kept in contact with might be his last support structure? He can reach out to them just to talk, they offer him a job, and he gets wrapped up in this project? (How he leads the project is a different problem)
    2. Being stuck in a day-to-day grind at work can be really frustrating. Maybe he's not depressed, just REALLY hates his daily grind of a job and needs something different. Maybe travels back home/to the natural disaster area, meets just the right people, ends up associated with the job?
    3. Not sure where/when it happens, but if the natural disaster is a slower thing that's a known factor, maybe he goes there as a relief worker and somehow gets wrapped up in all this?
    4. Maybe he just has a good friend (girlfriend?) he hangs out with constantly and he/she's going to the place he'll get wrapped up in the event, and he tags along (if only temporarily)? Again, being stuck in a long, boring job can motivate people to make a change too...
    My brain is too tired to come up with other ideas; I need to get some sleep before I go back to my day-to-day grind of a job. :p Let me know what you think, hopefully these questions trigger your own brainstorm and help you figure it out.
     
  7. Matt E

    Matt E Ruler of the planet Omicron Persei 8 Contributor

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    Show them doing all the right things, being competent and proactive, and overcoming small obstacles. But then throw big crises at them, and have them lose anyway. That's a good way to pull off an active protagonist, which readers like, while still having them in boat loads of trouble. The opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Arc is a classic example of this.
     
  8. LazyBear

    LazyBear Banned

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    I'd find it hard to relate to a super soldier, so just a regular soldier from the front lines taking all the crap from above would feel more like an underdog story.
     
  9. Veltman

    Veltman Active Member

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    The protagonist is not a super soldier. He's a common guy.
     

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