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Are there evil protagonists?

Short answer: yes, a protagonist can be evil. Villain protagonists are nowhere near as common as heroes, but can be done well if you do the necessary character-building, which we'll go into shortly. Sometimes the villain protagonist will start evil and become a better person at the end.
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Can a protagonist be evil?

Can the protagonist be the bad guy? Yes! Though not as common as traditional, heroic protagonists, or even anti-heroes with complex motivations, there are some fully malevolent villains that serve as the protagonists of their own stories.
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What is an evil protagonist called?

The traditional definition of antagonist is a villain—a “bad guy” in the story, often working for evil purposes to destroy a heroic protagonist.
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What are the 4 types of protagonist?

Most protagonists fit into one of the following four protagonist types: heroes, antiheroes, villain protagonists, and supporting protagonists.
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What do you call a fake protagonist?

A false protagonist is the character readers and viewers initially believe to be the protagonist, but in fact is just another supporting character. Also known as a “decoy” protagonist, the false protagonist is a literary technique often used to create plot twists or support over-arching themes.
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Comparison: Most Evil Fictional Characters

What is a Tetartagonist?

Protagonist means “one who plays the first part, chief actor”, and is the main character of the story. The Deuteragonist is the second actor or the second most important actor in the narrative, Tritagonist is the third actor, Tetartagonist is the fourth actor, Pentagonist is the fifth actor, and so on.
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Is it OK to have an unlikable protagonist?

At BPA we love characters who are flawed and complex (or even evil), and there's no reason you shouldn't write an unlikable person as the central character of your novel. That said, antiheroes are hard to pull off and we often see good novels let down by protagonists who are unlikable in the wrong way.
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Does a protagonist have to be good?

Protagonists are who we are following as they're trying to accomplish their goal. They are the main character… and often the main character is the “hero.” But, using the simple definition of protagonist = lead character, then your main character doesn't have to be virtuous or moral or good.
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How rare is protagonist personality?

The Protagonist personality type is relatively uncommon, making up about 2% of the population. Famous Protagonists include Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, John Cusack, and Malala Yousafzai.
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Is the protagonist always the hero?

Like hero, protagonist is a noun that can mean the leading character in a story. However, unlike hero, which historically has only referred to a male characters, a protagonist is defined as “a hero or heroine of a drama or other literary work.”
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What is the opposite of a protagonist?

In fiction, the opposite of a protagonist is an antagonist, meaning someone who opposes the protagonist. More generally, some antonyms for “protagonist” include: Adversary. Critic.
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What is an example of a bad protagonist?

The Grinch of Dr. Seuss fame is probably the most well-known example of this archetype, but it also appears in Megamind and Catch Me If You Can. Famous examples of traditional villain protagonists at work include the Godfather trilogy, The Usual Suspects, American Psycho, A Clockwork Orange, and Dexter.
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Who is the most unlikable main character?

The Most Unlikable Protagonists in Movies, Ranked
  1. 1 Mark Zuckerberg - The Social Network (2010)
  2. 2 Lydia Tár - Tár (2022) ...
  3. 3 Amy Dunne - Gone Girl (2014) ...
  4. 4 Alexander DeLarge - A Clockwork Orange (1971) ...
  5. 5 Lou Bloom - Nightcrawler (2014) ...
  6. 6 Howard Ratner - Uncut Gems (2019) ...
  7. 7 Rupert Pupkin - The King of Comedy (1982) ...
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What are the 5 types of protagonist?

Types
  • Hero/Heroine.
  • Antihero.
  • Tragic hero.
  • Villain protagonist.
  • Supporting protagonist.
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Can a villain be a deuteragonist?

The deuteragonist is the secondary character, right behind the protagonist in importance. The deuteragonist may be on the protagonist's side: for example, a love interest or sidekick. Or the deuteragonist can be a villain, like the protagonist's main rival. The deuteragonist could also be a neutral character.
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What are the 7 types of characters?

If we categorize character types by the role they play in a narrative, we can hone in on seven distinct varieties: the protagonist, the antagonist, the love interest, the confidant, deuteragonists, tertiary characters, and the foil.
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Who is the most badass character ever?

The Toughest Movie Characters of All Time
  1. Beatrix Kiddo: The Kill Bill Franchise. Miramax. ...
  2. Ellen Ripley: Alien Franchise. 20th Century Fox. ...
  3. John Wick: The John Wick Franchise. ...
  4. Dutch: Predator. ...
  5. King Leonidas: 300. ...
  6. Forrest Bondurant: Lawless. ...
  7. Imperator Furiosa: Mad Max: Fury Road. ...
  8. Frank Lucas: American Gangster.
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What is a damaged protagonist?

A damaged character is someone who is not "happy go lucky." They are not the quintessential hero or heroine. You may not want to be like them -- but in fact, you might be related to them.
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What is an unreliable protagonist?

An unreliable narrator is an untrustworthy storyteller, most often used in narratives with a first-person point of view. The unreliable narrator is either deliberately deceptive or unintentionally misguided, forcing the reader to question their credibility as a storyteller.
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What is a protagonist called who doesn't change?

A static character is one that doesn't change throughout the telling of the story, whereas dynamic characters are the opposite – they undergo significant internal and/or external changes. By the end of the story, dynamic characters are very different from how they were at the start.
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What are the two types of protagonist?

There are three types of protagonists: heroes, anti-heroes, and villain protagonists.
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What is protagonist personality type?

A Protagonist (ENFJ) is a person with the Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Judging personality traits. These warm, forthright types love helping others, and they tend to have strong ideas and values. They back their perspective with the creative energy to achieve their goals.
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Is hero Syndrome a real thing?

No. While the Hero Complex is mainly a psychological phenomenon, it is not a diagnosable disorder or a clinical term. However, the reported symptoms of the Hero Complex (such as an exaggerated sense of self-worth), is similar to a grandiose delusion, also known as delusions of grandeur.
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