Films and shows, as outrageous as they can be, still operate under believable human motivations. If a character’s reasons for acting don’t translate understandably to the viewer, the story could be disregarded as unbelievable, even if it’s set in a galaxy far, far away.

But what can a screenwriter do to compel the audience that a character’s motivations are strong enough to motivate momentous action? What could make our hero leap off cliffs, face dragons and take down space tyrants?

In Robert McKee’s Story, the established screenwriter describes this subject as “the principle of antagonism”:

A protagonist and his story can only be as intellectually fascinating and emotionally compelling as the forces of antagonism make them.

He describes four values that take a character to the end of the story: the Positive (the ideal), the Contrary (a somewhat negative situation), the Contradictory (the complete opposite of the ideal) and the Negation of the Negation (a doubly negative situation).

Examples from Story:

POSITIVE: Love (the ideal—what the character ultimately desires); Justice; Truth; Success; Freedom

CONTRARY: Indifference (not hate but still negative); Unfairness; White lies/half-truths; Compromise; Restraint

CONTRADICTORY: Hate (opposite of love); Injustice; Lies; Failure; Slavery

NEGATION OF THE NEGATION: Hatred masquerading as love (a more sinister version of hate); Tyranny; Self-deception; Selling out; Slavery perceived as freedom

Obviously, to end at the positive would signify a happy ending, whereas ending anywhere else (ironically or not) would present a bittersweet or tragic end. The order of progression through each element need not necessarily move from slightly negative to the worst. McKee cites Casablanca as a story that starts with an entirely negative situation (living with tyranny and self-loathing) and works back to a positive end.

But these guidelines in crafting antagonism still act as a supplement to the creative prowess of the screenwriter. How best to make the audience want for the character desperately what the character wants? In order to do this, we tap into basic human needs and desires, and create antagonism around them: quest for love, survival, saving a loved one, bringing down tyranny, getting off the island…

Do you have tips for creating antagonism to believably drive a story? Share your wisdom with others in the comments below.

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