The Faceless Villain: What to do When Your Protagonist Is the "Bad Guy"

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Not every story has a villain at its center—sometimes the problem is the protagonist.

For a lot of writers, the hardest-to-write conflict is the Person vs. Self conflict. Quite often, the antagonist is a physical being the protagonist can physically fight. But in a PvS conflict, there's no one plotting against the protagonist. The antagonist is something to overcome, such as depression, or grief, or a self-destructive streak that’s core to who the protagonist is and a flaw they need to fix by the end of the novel.

These stories are more challenging, but there’s no “Big Bad Guy” causing all the trouble.

But like any good conflict, even if your protagonist is dealing with a difficult personal issue, they'll still have an external antagonist to reckon with.

 
They aren't sitting in a room trying to will themselves not to be depressed/grief-stricken/addicted. That’s a boring story with no plot or narrative drive. Even in a PvS conflict the protagonist has goals and a plot.

(Here's more with What's the Problem? The Four Classic Conflict Types)  

Enter what Kristen Lamb calls, “the proxy antagonist.” This is the person who represents the personal problem the protagonist is dealing with.

• If it’s depression, it might be a parent telling the protagonist that all they need is sunshine and positive thinking.
• If it’s addiction, it might be a friend who likes to party and keeps dragging the protagonist to clubs.
• If it’s grief, it might be a house full of memories that won’t let the protagonist move on, but a spouse won’t let them throw anything away.

For example, let's say your protagonist is struggling in her life, but isn't trying to seek help or acknowledging her depression. She's still going to have a goal of some type driving the story, even if that's to get everyone off her back and leave her alone. She’ll act in ways to achieve that goal. Something external.

The book isn't about "a woman who finds treatment for her depression." That's her character arc or the theme. The inner journey. What she does to deal with and treat her depression is the plot. If she's not doing anything but hiding in her room and ignoring the world while people try to help until she gets better, odds are you have a premise but no plot yet.

Regardless of the conflict type, all plots need goals so the protagonist has something to work toward. And someone or something is going to be in the way or trying to keep them from those goals.

Maybe it's Mom who doesn't notice she's hurting and makes the situation worse. Maybe it's friends who keep calling and she keeps blowing them off. Maybe it's someone who knows what she's going through and recognizes her “I’m fine really, I’m just tired” is all an act. Maybe it's her own behavior. Something.

If your protagonist knows she's depressed and wants to get better, then healing becomes the goal. But it still might not be enough, because with plots, you want a goal with conflict that creates stakes and rising tension.

Perhaps she wants to get better so she can go to her daughter's wedding, or see the Eiffel Tower. She wants to get better because...why? Even if it's "to get her life back" (a pretty common goal in a story like this), then what does that entail? What specifically needs to happen for that?

In this case, the depression itself is creating trouble in her life, but it's still not doing anything to directly oppose anything from a plot standpoint. It's a cause holding her back from what she wants for sure, but what does she want? And what are the obstacles to overcome that aren't “her depression.”

(Here's more with 7 Ways Your Characters Can Screw up Their Decisions)    

Something is in the way of her getting better. Getting her life back means getting treatment, reconciling with estranged loved ones, proving she can hold down a job. Whatever steps and events symbolize what "healing" means.

To heal, the protagonist will have things to do. Therapy. Medication. Lifestyle change. But the protagonist will also have issues the depression is causing. Her behavior will likely make her act in ways that lead her away from healing and her story goal.

Who is helping her engage in that negative behavior? Who is aiding her in her depression? Who represents “depression and the damage it can cause” in the story?

That’s your proxy antagonist, and the one working against what your protagonist wants and needs, even if they’re acting “to help” her.

It's Kind of A Funny Story is an example of a Person vs. Self conflict. The protagonist is depressed, is seriously thinking about suicide, and calls the suicide hotline. This leads to him checking himself into a psychiatric hospital to get well. His experiences in the hospital lead to his recovery, and he can get on with his life.

But that's not all the book is about. That would be boring from a fiction standpoint. There's a choice he has to make, a realization he has to have, sacrifices he has to accept. Hence you have plot, even though he’s struggling with a PvS conflict.

(Here's more with How to Use Conflict to Show Character Development)    

The story question driving the book isn't "will he get well?" but "Will he figure out the problem so he can get well?"

It's subtle, but it's the difference between watching someone go through a rough patch, and rooting for someone struggling with a problem and wanting them to win. The goal matters.

If your protagonist is facing a personal issue and not a flesh and blood antagonist, look for the things in their life that are affected by that issue. Find the goals and obstacles connected to it. Odds are the book isn't just a study of someone with X issue, but the things that issue affects and the choices that person makes to overcome or survive that issue.

(Here's more with The Inner Struggle: Guides for Using Internal Conflict That Make Sense)    

EXERCISE FOR YOU: Take five minutes and look at the characters in your story who help the protagonist “be worse” in some way. Who are the enablers? Who is leading them toward bad decisions and dangerous actions? Who doesn’t have their best interests at heart?

Do you write with Person vs. Self conflicts? What challenges have you faced, and what did you do to overcome them?

*Originally published February 2012. Last updated October 2023.

Find out more about conflict, stakes, and tension in my book, Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means).

With in-depth analysis and easy-to-understand examples, Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means) teaches you what conflict really is, discusses the various aspects of conflict, and reveals why common advice on creating conflict doesn't always work. It shows you how to develop and create conflict in your novel and explores aspects that affect conflict, as well as clarifying the misconceptions that confuse and frustrate so many writers.

This book will help you:

• Understand what conflict means and how to use it
• Tell the difference between external and internal conflicts
• See why conflict isn't a "one size fits all" solution
• Determine the type of conflict your story needs
• Fix lackluster scenes holding your writing back

Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means) is more than just advice on what to do and what not to do—it’s a down and dirty examination and analysis of how conflict works, so you can develop it in whatever style or genre you’re writing. By the end of this book, you’ll have a solid understanding of what conflict means and the ability to use it without fear or frustration.

Available in paperback and ebook formats.

Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, including The Shifter, Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The Shifter, was chosen for the 2014 list of "Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read" from the Georgia Center for the Book.

She also writes the Grace Harper urban fantasy series for adults under the name, J.T. Hardy.

When she's not writing novels, she's teaching other writers how to improve their craft. She's the founder of Fiction University and has written multiple books on writing.

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