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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/25044
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I have a main character, I'm attempting to disguise this fact. But it is tricky. Out of nowhere, the character rises up as a successful military leader. The events that lead up to that are plausible enough, but the focus on that military victory and the character leading it will be likely to brand them the main character. And with that comes the expected safety and attachment of plot armour.

Question being how to prevent the plot armour.

**Methods:**

One idea is to de-emphasize their main character status, have the story told mainly from other characters' PoVs after the battle.

Another way is to set up a secondary main character (or more than one), give the impression the present one can be replaced (as has happened before).

Or just give the impression this is the kind of story where the main character can die, whether at the end or sooner.

A final method, would be to have the main character isolated from other character deaths. You don't put them in the thick of it where everyone else is dying, so it stands out that the main character is still alive, but have them in safe places where death is rare. This makes sense for a military general character. When death and danger does suddenly come to them, you can make it feel much more dangerous (where the emphasis isn't on being the big damn hero, but on surviving).

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If others could give advice on this, I would be much obliged.

Original score: 7