# Can the antagonist be the romantic interest? **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [July 10, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/can-the-antagonist-be-the-romantic-interest/387 "2015-07-10T05:49:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![emgee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c67d28/32.png) [@emgee](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/emgee)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 5:49am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/can-the-antagonist-be-the-romantic-interest/387/1 "2015-07-10T05:49:54Z")
Is there a reason I can’t do that? Am I correct that I can change which player the antagonist is later on in the story? ---
**Author:** ![LunarDynasty](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/lunardynasty/32/2515_2.png) [@LunarDynasty](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/LunarDynasty)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 9:56am UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/can-the-antagonist-be-the-romantic-interest/387/2 "2015-07-10T09:56:08Z")
Protagonist and antagonist are tricky terms because in pop story culture they’ve a lot of baggage. In Dramatica, they’re used simply to describe how characters function, not how the audience should feel about them. So yes, an antagonist can be a romantic interest. ---
**Author:** ![jhull](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex010/user_avatar/discuss.dramatica.com/jhull/32/3_2.png) [@jhull](https://discuss.dramatica.com/u/jhull)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 4:59pm UTC](https://discuss.dramatica.com/t/can-the-antagonist-be-the-romantic-interest/387/3 "2015-07-10T16:59:02Z")
@LunarDynasty is right - Dramatica is more precise when it comes to these terms. When Authors think of a romantic interest as an Antagonist what they’re really looking at is an Influence Character - who functions as an “antagonist” to the Main Character’s personal growth.