I’m thinking main character Sidekicks and Sherlock Holmes comes to mind… mulling it over, more later.
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Amadeus? - is mozart the protagonist in that one?
@mlucas cool!
yea i’m trying to give the MC perspective the feeling that the MC is not the hero or has any particular obsession to solve the big problem, but that nonetheless the MC can fall into a pivotal role in shaping the world of the problem. i think that is an important perspective to feel right now, and more relatable than the usual hero perspective. its like the ivanka trump perspective or the huma abedin perspective lol.
there is something about michael clayton that feels close, i.e. the role of the fixer, someone in a secondary position to the ride (even though i get that arthur eden is not the protagonist)
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Manchurian candidate?
The Insider - Lowell Bergman is IC to Jeffrey Wigand’s MC; but Bergman is also the protagonist trying to break the whistleblowing story.
Wigand is steadfast MC along for the ride, waiting waiting waiting for his info to start breaking the news.
Bergman flips the bit when out of options to break the story and he realizes he has to basically take a page from the Wigand playbook and blow the whistle on CBS corporate’s pressure/self-censorship to the nytimes to get Wigand’s story out without legal permission.
Fight Club
Tyler Durden is the IC and the Protagonist
The Ed Norton character is the MC
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Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Source: http://narrativefirst.com/analysis/star-wars-the-force-awakens.
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Influence Character as Protagonist movies:
(in addition to ones listed above)
- Inside Man with Denzel Washington
- Terminator Reese is Pro, Sarah is MC
- The Lives of Others (the writer is the IC/Protagonist)
- The Yellow Birds - a great film I just saw at Sundance based on the book and starring young Han Solo as new recruit in Iraq. Very Platoon like (mom, CID officer are co-protagonists)
- Come to think of it, Platoon is probably the same - (Barnes/Tom Berenger is IC/Protagonist)
- The Bucket List (Freeman is IC Pro)
- Brokeback Mountain (Jack is IC Pro)
- Casablanca is almost IC Pro (depending on how you see Ilsa & Laszlo’s combined influence on Rick)
- Eastern Promises pretty sure Viggo is IC Pro
- Election Witherspoon is IC Pro
- The Fugitive - Tommy Lee Jones is IC Pro (though you can also see he & Harrison as co-Pros)
- How to Train Your Dragon - Stock is IC Pro
- Sideways Jack is IC Pro
I think that’s it, but if I find anymore I’ll list them here!
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Isn’t John Book an IC/pro in Witness?
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Yes he certainly is. Thanks!
Mistborn: The Final Empire. Kelsier is the perfect example of this.
I’d say in The Princess Bride Westley is the IC Protagonist.
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Tangentially related: taking the concept further, some examples of the rare “the mc is neither the protagonist nor the antagonist AND the ic is also neither:”
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Cooler
ET in ET: The Extra Terrestrial.
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̶W̶e̶l̶l̶,̶ ̶A̶t̶t̶i̶c̶u̶s̶ ̶(̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶I̶C̶)̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶t̶a̶g̶o̶n̶i̶s̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶"̶T̶o̶ ̶K̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶ ̶M̶o̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶b̶i̶r̶d̶.̶"̶ ̶H̶o̶w̶e̶v̶e̶r̶,̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶L̶o̶g̶i̶c̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶r̶i̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶M̶o̶t̶i̶v̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶q̶u̶a̶d̶.̶
̶
̶S̶o̶u̶r̶c̶e̶:̶ ̶"̶T̶o̶ ̶K̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶ ̶M̶o̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶b̶i̶r̶d̶"̶ ̶D̶r̶a̶m̶a̶t̶i̶c̶a̶ ̶F̶i̶l̶e̶,̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶.̶
My mistake. Arthur Radley is the IC.
Atticus isn’t the IC. He doesn’t affect Scout’s central worldview. That would be Boo Radley, her mysterious neighbor.
Melanie has a recent blog post, The Dramatic Triangle, which is fascinating – a different way of explaining some well-known Dramatica concepts.
One section deals specifically with the topic of this thread, the Influence Character who is also the protagonist:
A variation of this is for the protagonist to also be the influence character, rather than the main character. Then, he would be fighting against the antagonist in the overall story, but he would also be trying to change the beliefs of the main character, who is the third corner of the triangle.
In this arrangement, we would not be seeing things through the eyes of the protagonist, but through the eyes of the main character. We stand in the shoes of the main character and watch the protagonist/influence character, but be personally challenged to change our beliefs by him.
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Cool way to emphasize a change of thought, without it getting lost in the edit!
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I just walked in the door, while the husband was watching The Legend of Tarzan movie. The Samuel Jackson character was following everyone who had jumped down a mountain to a forest top. He was definitely the MC (at least for that scene) Tarzan seemed the IC at least for that scene. You might want to check the movie out.
OMG. Haha you beat me to it.
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