Lesson 3: Antagonists and Allies
Even if you’re using first-person POV, your protagonists need strong secondary characters to help drive the story. Think of the Mrs. Bennets, the Queen Charlottes, the Harriets, the many engaging characters who add texture and plot complications to the stories.
The question is, who should they be for your romance? A lot depends on what you’ve already planned: exactly what your protagonists want, what’s getting in the way of their romance, the period and place of the story. I will be the first to admit that sometimes these characters just walk on the page when you’re drafting, even if you’ve made a thorough plan or outline. The need for a fresh take on something can be a matter of instinct. It can also be something you learn to bear in mind as you plan and draft.
Types of antagonists
An antagonist isn’t always a villain. An antagonist is simply:
- A character who forces the protagonist to act in a way they’re not willing to act
- A character who pushes them to make a decision that runs counter to what they believe is right
- A complex villain
What makes a good antagonist?
An antagonist has to have their own backstory, their own reasons for behaving the way they do along with stakes and misbeliefs and everything else. Even if a lot of that doesn’t end up on the page, it has to be clear in your mind, or their actions will feel arbitrary to the reader. It’s all part of that cause/effect trajectory that keeps a story moving forward.
For a good demonstration of the qualities of antagonists, I again turn to Heyer’s Venetia. While an unalloyed irritant arrives on the scene to throw Venetia’s world in chaos, this woman, Mrs. Scorrier, is not a true antagonist.
In fact, the truly brilliant aspect of these characters in this novel is that they are invariably people who believe they have Venetia’s best interests at heart. In order of their introduction in the novel, they are:
- Edward Yardley—a staid and boring aspirant to her hand that she’s known all her life. He is a classic Heyer character who thinks he knows best about everything, and is incapable of believing that anyone could think differently. His motives are genuine; his actions infuriating.
- Lady Denny—close family friend who genuinely loves Venetia, but whose misapprehension about the state of Venetia’s feelings and the possible consequences of Damerel’s intentions lead her to instigate the parting scene previously quoted.
- Uncle Hendred—another well-intentioned individual who uses his influence to avert what he (and several other of the players) sees as a disastrous course of action for Venetia, and succeeds only in making her utterly miserable.
These characters all have in common knowledge that has been kept from Venetia, a scrupulous belief in the power of social acceptance, and every true care for Venetia’s future happiness. That they invariably thwart her ability to be with the man she loves, and thus instigate her most dramatic actions, makes them antagonists rather than allies.
Venetia’s allies are a bit thinner on the ground. In fact, there’s really only one: Aubrey, her brother—who wholeheartedly but absentmindedly sees and supports her love for Damerel. Note that this imbalance sets up the inevitable success of the obstacles to romance over smoothing its path. This creates fertile ground for the necessary beats (to be discussed in the next module).
Allies also need to be complex
A character who is unfailingly positive and supportive of one or other of the protagonists can become boring and flat. An effective ally could be genuine in wanting to promote the happiness of the protagonist, but have a misconception, an error in judgment, or a failing that renders them unavailing in their efforts.
To be effective, allies can’t always be right, or on hand when things go wrong. If they are, they become like a deus ex machina. A friend who’s always there to get the protagonist out of a scrape saps the drama. But a friend who gets into their own scrapes and creates drama for the protagonist is a wonderful complication.
Your turn
The worksheet attached can help you brainstorm the necessary allies and antagonists to bring your story to life. If you already have these, use the worksheet to increase their complexity and subtlety.