Exchange of Realities

Last week, we began research on protagonists, looking into ways of recognizing these irritating individuals. But recognition is not enough; to be able to defeat the protagonist, or at least survive against the protagonist, we must understand the protagonist.

The first thing we must understand is that the protagonist will be in some way opposed to us. This may seem self-explanatory, as the protagonist is a part of Good’s overall representation, just as we are the hands of the Dark Powers and the narrative necessity for opposition to Good. But many Hands expect that a protagonist will be personally opposed to them, with a tangible and clearly triggered grudge. This is not necessarily true; while often they will be calling revenge for destruction of peasant villages or deaths of people close to them, sometimes they just happen to be between us and our goals, and just happen to dislike some aspect of what we’re doing. Even jaded and cynical antiheroes will find objections to your work, whether it’s as obviously dangerous as trying to destroy the world, or something less expected like having their modus operandi messed with. (Two of the scariest protagonists I’ve heard reports of were career spies specializing in dirty politics, until someone made the mistake of interrupting their games with a civil war. Next thing you know, they’ve got the world’s worst cases of protagonism and are practically their world’s nexus of opposition to darkness. It can happen to anyone.)

Then you have the protagonist’s attitude towards Fate. They’re usually against it, and will, in fact, deny it at every possible opportunity, bypassing prophecies, breaking things that have been in the stars for millennia, and otherwise declaring that free will, particularly theirs, is more powerful than any sort of predestination. Unless, of course, the Will of Fate or the currently relevant prophecy is in their favor, at which point they will not only believe wholeheartedly in Fate, but shove it down the throats of anyone who dares to disagree. At least we’re honest about our hypocrisy. (A note: this goes double for people whose powers should be inferior to much of anything, as they rather stridently claim otherwise. Unnervingly enough, they are usually right.)

Similarly, protagonists have a rather unique grasp on what they can and can’t do. Impossible isn’t a flat quality, that something either has or doesn’t have, to a protagonist; instead, it’s a sliding scale, with some things more impossible than others. Things that even they should have to admit are impossible are instead “unfeasible”. And as for “inconceivable”, well—as hero-logic goes, that just means that it’s something that people can’t imagine happening or working. But protagonists have unnervingly good imaginations.

The protagonist is fiercely loyal. Now, this doesn’t mean that every protagonist is going to get along with every member of the group he occupies. But it does mean that they’re highly prone to “Mess with one of us, you mess with all of us” mentalities. Depending on how widely a protagonist defines “in-group”, you could find yourself facing off against a hero with a grudge just for forgetting to tip the poor waiter. The advantage to this is that if you’re the lesser of two evils, you might be able to get them helping you out for the sake of one of your subordinates. Just be careful how you come across to the protagonist in the process; they might decide the subordinate would be better off without you.

Never forget: understanding the protagonist is the first step to defeating or using the protagonist. Remember how they work when dealing with them!