Whether writing a long running series or a one-off story, especially in character driven stories as most are nowadays, getting the main character of the story right is one of the most crucial aspects of storywriting. When it comes to writing fantasy and science fiction stories, it’s often quite normal to rely on the “chosen one” narrative as that’s been a very common template for storywriting for as long as stories have been told. But chosen one narratives can be quite difficult to write as it requires a balance of struggle and effort with fate and destiny as dictated by the plot to make the story interesting. Go too far in one direction and you potentially create an overpowered character and a story with little to no excitement or tension. But if you go too far in the other direction and you create the question of “why is this the main character?” It’s a very careful balance to consider, but it can be done with careful consideration.
Something very important to distinguish, however, is that the main character is not always the protagonist of the story. The protagonist of the story is often the one making choices that drive the story forward while the main character is the one the entire story revolves around. However, in most modern-day stories, usually the two types of characters are one and the same which often makes it easier to write as the author can focus on one character as opposed to several. While the two are often combined into one, it doesn’t make either distinction less important. The role of the protagonist is often easily understood as it’s the character that makes the choices that progresses the plot for good or for bad, but the main character is often harder to write as it requires more careful consideration. Why are they the main character? Why are they so important to the story?
A classic way to approach the main character is the good old trope of being the “chosen one”. Whether chosen by fate or by some powerful authority, the chosen one archetype is important to the story because the plot demands that they are. In these types of stories, often they are given a lot of importance from other people because of something that makes them special. A classic example would be Percy Jackson being the son of Poseidon making him uniquely positioned to take on a quest only he can manage or any of the avatars from the various Avatar series such as Aang, Yangchen, or Kyoshi who were specially chosen to be the bridge between humanity and the spirits. These characters are all chosen to fulfill their purpose which is to be the central figure within the story. Regardless of what occurs within the story, they are still the most important aspect of the story as they are essentially destined by the plot to complete the story, whether they succeed or fail.
There can be a bit of a danger with this type of character, however, as they can come off as “too special” as it were. In some cases, a character may have too many unique skills and characteristics where they start to feel unrelatable or uninteresting as characters. In some cases, it might feel almost too convenient that they have a special power that can resolve the main conflict of the story and end up removing any sense of tension or excitement in the story. One way to avoid this feeling is that they are “chosen” not because they are special (they can be, but that’s not initially), but because they are the only option. My personal favorite example is Yumeko from the Shadow of the Fox series. While fate had conspired to have her be the one to carry the scroll, it’s not something she ever wanted or aspired to do. While she is unique in being half human and half kitsune, she’s not necessarily considered very special or unique by others around her. She relies on her kindness and clever mind to befriend her allies and outsmart her enemies while still not feeling like she’s protected by the plot. Even though she’s a chosen one archetype, her progress feels earned.
Speaking from a rather meta perspective as the author, you have chosen this character to be the main character. In that aspect there’s always going to be an element of them having a special “chosen one” feel. But I think a lot of people worry too much about this element of the character. As the main character, they are meant to be special in some way that is meaningful to the story. The key is what is it that makes them special and why the reader would care about them as much as the story does. Something I’ve noticed in most stories where the main character is endearing is that they have an emotional connection to resolving the main conflict of the story. In that sense, them being chosen by the narrative makes sense as they are invested in the story in a more personal way than the stereotypical “stop the bad guy, save the world” storyline. Emotional investment will often always overshadow any feeling of author manipulation for said chosen character.
Writing the main character is hard as there’s so much to consider and balance to keep the story interesting and engaging. But with careful consideration, struggle to earn the admiration of the reader, and emotional investment in the main conflict, a main character can have that emotional impact on the reader.
– Raphael
P.S: Sorry for the delay! I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday and was tired and anxious all week leading up to it.
Raph's Cozy Musings 