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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34910
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I disagree that the protagonist can be a true man-behind-the-curtain, only giving orders to other characters. Yes, this character knows more than the the other characters, but is this character undergoing tension and growth?

It seems that the characters that are being given the orders are the real protagonists. An example from fiction is James Bond. M gives him orders, but James is the protagonist.

In the Laundry Files books, especially the early ones, Bob Howard (the protagonist) is constantly being given orders and mentoring by people/beings that work behind the scenes, but he is still the protagonists.

The protagonist is a fictional creation. He isn't necessarily the hero, nor is he necessarily the character giving the orders. He is the character that is undergoing dramatic tension and (hopefully) growth. He is the character that the reader (again, hopefully) cares about. By this definition, he _must_ be visible to the reader.

Even giving hints, it is rare that a character working behind the scenes will be developed enough for me to care about. The only one that I can think about is Mike from Robert Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."

As for changing protagonists, there are many ways to do this. Some writers do this every book, some do this when the original protagonist has become too powerful (in some way) to fit the role the author wants. Some do this when they want to explore a new part of a world.

One of the later Miles Vorkosigan stories jumps to Miles' mother as a character and you learn more about her marriage to her father than you ever expected. By doing this it explores things that could not be explored if the writer had still used Miles or his brother as protagonists.

Original score: 2