Can A Rock Be an Antagonist? By Jim Hull

questions
#1

A rock can be an Antagonist, if the Author attributes some reactive responsibility to the inanimate object. They need to Prevent. And they need to Reconsider. says Jim Hull

From what I’ve read in the dramatica theory book. Every archetypal character has to characteristics, an action characteristic and a decision characteristic.

When creating complex characters I believe the action and decision characteristic can be assigned to different players. Meaning, the rock can play the action characteristic of prevent, while an assistant to the captain on the ship maybe suggest that the crew reconsider sailing in the turbulent waters because the rock could damage the ship. In other words the member of the crew speaks for the rock when it comes to playing the role of reconsider.

The rock prevents

Unless someone represents the rock or speaks for the rock, it won’t come across as a character,

A member of the Persian crew named Darius urges the other characters to reconsider

I don’t mean to negate what you’ve said @jhull. I just needed more clarity on what you mentioned in your blog post.

In addition, the rock may not the role of prevent for the entire narrative but only for that dramatic circuit/unit or scene and then that role or prevent could be handed over to an the crew of an enemy ship for example a Greek ship.

After the handoff, the crew of the Greek ship could start hurling cannons at the Persian ship that was trying to navigate between the rocks playing the role of preventing the Persian ship from reaching it’s destination.

Darius who urged the Persian crew to reconsider is a double agent and he too begins to slaughter the Persian crew when the Greek ship starts firing cannons and so Darius would play the role of prevent too once the Greeks start firing.

#2

Has Cast Away been analyzed? Surely Wilson embodied some dramatic elements despite being inanimate.

1 Like
#3

Cast Away actually has two characters on the island-- Chuck Noland and Wilson (the soccer ball). Even though Wilson cannot talk, Chuck voices the alternative perspective to his own. You’ll notice that time on the island is equally spent between the four throughlines. Stranded on a deserted island is the OS throughline. Obsessed workaholic is the MC. Stoic sidekick is the IC. And the strained relationship is the RS. So, even though there isn’t another PERSON on the island, the storyform necessities are nicely handled.

Found here:
http://dramatica.com/questions/section/general-questions/all

#4

How does the rock alter its approach during the subsequent Act? The purpose of objective character elements is to evaluate their different approaches within the context of four different Acts.

Trust me—if that approach is not shifting, while maintaining the same motivation—that “character” is not an Objective Character.

2 Likes
#5

@jhull I want to ask. Does that mean objective characters cannot perform a handoff of a character element? Where the rock plays the role of avoid in one act and hands it off to another character in the next act?

#6

How is the rock exhibiting a motivation towards Avoiding or Preventing in terms of Understanding? Or Doing? Or Obtaining? Or Learning?

It isn’t.

Most likely your example crew member Darius is the one who avoids or prevents the crew from hitting the rocks.

1 Like
#7

Very true. Darius is the one who exhibits prevent and avoid not the rock.

I need clarity on this question, based on your explanation it seems like the same player has to stay alive in the objective story for all the acts?

Can an objective character die and have someone else take up their role?

Can objective characters hand off elements in a following act?

Basically how do handoffs and killing off an objective character affect the OS story?

#8

I think this is covered in the theory book – someone else can definitely take over a role. It doesn’t require death – for example, in The Matrix once Morpheus is captured Neo takes on the Protagonist (Pursue & Consider) role.

2 Likes
#9

@mlucas in the OS story, do the action and decision characteristics have to appear in the same archetypal player of you can create complex characters by giving the role of pursue to one player and the role of consider to another character?

#10

Correct, you can make complex characters. Pursue and Consider don’t have to be in the same player. Google “dramatica complex characters” and you’ll see lots of good advice.

Personally, I’ve found that I usually have to “discover” the OS elements in my characters. Assigning them ahead of time (before writing the story) seems to be mostly a waste of time because they come out differently than I thought.

Pursue, Consider, Avoid and Reconsider (Protagonist & Antagonist elements) are exceptions though. I find it extremely useful to help orient my characters around the Story Goal with those elements, and I can usually get these correct from the beginning.

The other exception, once I know my storyform, are the Crucial Elements – these need to go with my MC and IC players. However, since they’re the most deeply meaningful elements in the story I usually can’t see how they work until I’m well into writing it! I just kind of assign them and say “those don’t make a lot of sense now but I bet they will later”.

2 Likes
#11

I find I can assign the motivation set before I right. I like to assign the other 32 elements once I’ve got my plot progression figured out.

1 Like