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The Big Bad, by definition, is the primary antagonist of a story built around the defeat of a primary antagonist. If defeating the Big Bad isn't the end of the story, then either that person wasn'...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T09:50:51Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39029 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
Chris Sunami
·
2019-12-08T09:50:51Z (about 5 years ago)
The Big Bad, by definition, is the primary antagonist of a story _built around the defeat of a primary antagonist._ **If defeating the Big Bad isn't the end of the story, then either that person wasn't the Big Bad or this isn't actually a Big Bad story.** _That doesn't mean it might not look like one_. Both _Black Panther_ and _The Last Jedi_ use variations on this effectively. In each movie, the figure who initially presents as a stereotypical "Big Bad" is displaced as primary antagonist by a more ambiguous, nuanced, and ultimately more threatening villain. A direct threat of force and power is replaced by a new threat that targets the hero at a more emotional level.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2018-09-19T20:06:44Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 2