Can my antagonist be my protagonist's alter ego?

Due to my protagonist’s back story he struggles with self esteem. He needs to achieve his goal. An inner voice tells him he is not up to the task and may as well give up. Does that make the inner voice his antagonist?

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Am I correct in assuming that your protagonist and main character are the same person? Because personal issues like self-esteem or a combative inner voice are definitely in the realm of the Main Character Throughline.

In which case I think you’re asking if your Influence Character could be the voice in his head. Short answer is yes! The Birdman film with Michael Keaton does this.

Just FYI, the protagonist / antagonist represent the opposing elements of Pursuit and Avoid when it comes to the Overall Story Goal. It’s a detached, bird’s eye view of what ails everyone in the story. But the Main Character and Influence Character Throughlines represent dynamically opposed perspectives on personal issues. How these things overlap (i.e. is my MC also the protagonist, or does he have a different Story Goal function?) is up to you.

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I think the inner voice/alter ego needs to be its own character within the protagonist player rather than just the protagonist being unsure of himself.

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Yes Gregolas, I have personified his inner voice/alter ego. His name is Les, because he is always encouraging the MC to think less of himself than he really is. The MC has a goal to reach and Les is constantly telling him that he will never reach it.

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I should have said protagonist not MC, although in this case they are the same.

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When I first read your comment I rebelled at the thought of the MC’s alter ego/ inner voice being the impact character. Someone else is a role model to the MC and shows him the way he needs to take. This I surmised must be the impact character. Allowing your words to ferment in my mind, I now realise you are correct. The character that most influences my MAC is his alter ego. That makes him according to Dramatica theory the impact character. Many thanks for your assistance.

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