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Q&A How unadvisable is it to flip the protagonist into a villain?

You readers are invested in your character. There are multiple things they like about him, right? Those things cannot just disappear - that would leave your reader angry, frustrated, and feeling be...

posted 6y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:19Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34257
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:17:43Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34257
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T08:17:43Z (over 4 years ago)
You readers are invested in your character. There are multiple things they like about him, right? Those things cannot just disappear - that would leave your reader angry, frustrated, and feeling betrayed by you. The character's Fall needs to be believable.

And after the Fall, there's the question of Redemption. Your readers are invested in the character, right? They empathise with him. They'd hope for Redemption for him. What about your new protagonists, then? Do they acknowledge any of this? Do they hope for anything other than your old protagonist's death? Do _you_ offer him a chance of redemption? (The character doesn't have to accept that chance - he can choose to turn away from it. The moment of choice would be powerful either way.)

Most importantly, is your new antagonist as complex a character as he was before his Fall? If you flatten him out, you will lose readers.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-03-13T16:54:07Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 12