What Is “Antagonism” in a Story?

If you know anything about storytelling, you know conflict is essential. By understanding how antagonists are used in screenwriting, we can better handle story conflict in our own scripts. In this article, we’ll introduce all the different opposing forces a writer can choose from, how they work, and how to decide which one best suits your story.

A Quick Definition of Antagonism

What does “antagonist” mean? It usually means the story’s protagonist (central force) runs into trouble. Screenwriters have many different ways to use various obstacles to oppose their protagonists.

We’ll look at more examples of antagonists in films like Kill Bill and The Birds to see how screenwriters work with them, but first, let’s define the term “antagonist” itself.

What Is an Antagonist?

An antagonist is the force in a story that opposes the protagonist. It can be human, natural, or supernatural. The word “antagonist” comes from the Greek “agonizesthai,” which literally means “to struggle against.” Every protagonist needs some kind of antagonistic force. But that doesn’t mean the force has to be another character. A hero’s main obstacle might be the environment, an animal like a man‑eating shark, an idea, or their own flaws.

Common traits of antagonists:

• Feed off the protagonist (parasitic to the protagonist)
• Often malicious
• Block the protagonist’s progress

Writers also call the antagonist the “opponent” or “hostile force.” In his breakdown of Sideways, Edson makes an important point: the antagonist doesn’t have to be a villain (at least not in the typical sense); it can be anything that opposes the protagonist. In Sideways, the main antagonist is a character who only appears in two scenes, but her influence on the protagonist is omnipresent.

The relationship between protagonist and antagonist is key to storytelling. It’s not just “you can’t have one without the other.” In the long run, there’s no “one size fits all.” It’s more like: “Who or what is the perfect, most challenging obstacle for my hero?”

Let’s look more closely at this relationship.

What Are the Protagonist and Antagonist?

The protagonist and antagonist are in a symbiotic relationship. A good way to explore the antagonist may be to examine their opposite: the protagonist.

Let’s use the following framework to get familiar with protagonists, including their types and traits.

Here’s how conflict arises and is resolved between a protagonist and an antagonist:

Protagonist: Character A wants thing X.
Antagonist: Character B wants thing Z.

Things X and Z are opposites.

Let’s plug those variables into The Lion King.

Protagonist: Simba wants justice for his murdered father.
Antagonist: Scar wants absolute power over the Pride Lands.

Notice how these two desires directly oppose each other? That’s because the struggle between the protagonist and the antagonist is the most common example of character conflict. The moments when these characters and their wants clash are called the climax.

Examples of Antagonists in Film

Film may attract villains, bad guys, psychopaths, and bullies more than any other medium. In many movies, the antagonist is more interesting and/or more memorable than the hero. To quickly get a sense of some of the best bad guys, here are some examples of antagonists in films:

• The Joker in The Dark Knight
• Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back
• Saruman in The Lord of the Rings
• Voldemort in Harry Potter
• Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs
• Scar in The Lion King
• Hans Gruber in Die Hard
• Captain Hook in Peter Pan
• Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds
• Agent Smith in The Matrix

All these antagonists are essentially evil—but here’s the important part: not all antagonists are villains. We’ll get to non‑evil antagonists in a moment, but first, let’s break down the “bad guy.”

What Types of Antagonists Are There?

Just as there are many types of protagonists, writers also have several types of antagonists to choose from. When planning any narrative (novel, play, video game, screenplay, etc.), it’s important to know what your options are, how they work, and which one best fits your specific story.

Here’s a rough breakdown of the main types of antagonistic forces:

• Villain
• Anti‑villain
• False antagonist
• Hidden antagonist
• Inanimate antagonistic force
• Internal antagonist
• Heroic antagonist

Of course, there’s overlap between these types. But each also offers a unique style of opposition. Like pairing wine with food, writers should understand the characteristics of each. Let’s start with the most common: the villain.

Antagonist vs. Villain

It’s commonly assumed that every antagonist is a villain. While many are, there are other kinds of antagonists too. Villains are simply the most common and memorable.

Most villains are evil by nature. These characters embody a worldview that’s diametrically opposed to the protagonist’s. Villains will go to any lengths to obstruct the protagonist’s progress.

A classic example of a villain is the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Everything about his character is meant to instill a sense of evil in us. The Joker and Batman mirror each other like two sides of the same coin.

The Joker is committed to sowing chaos in Gotham. His entire existence is framed as a counterpoint to the story’s protagonist, Batman.

Another similar example is Saruman in The Lord of the Rings, who stands in the Fellowship’s way on their journey to destroy the One Ring.

Although we know Sauron is evil from the outset, we’re not initially sure what role Saruman will play. But when his evil plans are revealed, we see that he’s the Fellowship’s most direct, character‑based obstacle.

Heroic Antagonists

Heroic antagonists are almost always used to oppose an anti‑hero. What is an anti‑hero? We can define an anti‑hero as “a narrative protagonist driven by self‑interest… who often feels rejected by society and proceeds down a self‑destructive path that leads to isolation or death.”

Frank Abagnale in Catch Me If You Can is a great example of an anti‑hero, but he’s also someone we empathize with on an emotional level. We’re drawn to his intelligence and we feel the pain he experienced in his childhood.

Abagnale’s main antagonist is Carl Hanratty. As Carl tries to catch the con man Abagnale, we as the audience largely align with Carl’s moral perspective.

Carl is portrayed as sensitive and well‑intentioned, which helps us connect with him even though we don’t actually want him to catch Frank.

These two characters oppose each other in a cat‑and‑mouse game. Carl is willing to believe that Frank can show virtue. In the scene that follows, the conflict between them reaches a peak.

In Catch Me If You Can, we see a clear example of how the protagonist and antagonist oppose each other: Frank is the anti‑hero protagonist, and Carl is the heroic antagonist.

The Natural World Strikes Back

Characters typically face internal conflict (within themselves) or external conflict (with the world or other characters). Both are great options, and internal and external conflict together can energize your story.

While rarer, there are stories in which the antagonist is an environmental force. This kind of environmental antagonism is rooted in the classic “man vs. nature” conflict.

Think about the disaster film genre and how filmmakers find ways to turn nature against us. Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, tsunamis, and so on are all great forces to pit your protagonist against. Films like this remind us that, even if we sit at the top of the food chain, we can’t actually control the natural world around us.

A powerful example of “man vs. nature” or more accurately “woman vs. nature” in film is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best films: The Birds.

In this Hitchcock classic, Melanie Daniels and the people of Bodega Bay are inexplicably attacked by crazed birds. The “birds” represent the hostile force of nature, while Melanie is the story’s protagonist.

This conflict is so effective in part because it’s completely unexplained on many levels. The conflict takes on a supernatural feel and stimulates the audience to speculate about the subtext.

The Anti‑villain

We’ve already mentioned the anti‑hero, a protagonist who doesn’t act heroically. As we said, the opposite of an anti‑hero is a heroic antagonist. So what is an anti‑villain?

Have you ever watched a villain’s climactic monologue about their goals and reasons and thought, “Hang on, this person kind of has a point”? If so, you’ve probably been watching an anti‑villain.

An anti‑villain is a character who does bad things for good, or at least understandable, reasons. Take Roy Batty in Blade Runner. For all intents and purposes, Batty is the film’s antagonist, wreaking havoc on Earth in his quest to find Tyrell.

But when we hear why Batty is doing what he’s doing, it makes sense. His lifespan is brutally short, and he wants to ask his creator for more time. The pain he feels is understandable.

The False Antagonist

The false antagonist poses this question: “What if your bad guy actually isn’t bad at all, and has been a good guy the whole time?”

That might sound vague. A false antagonist is a character who presents as an antagonist for part of a film or series but ultimately turns out to be on the protagonist’s side. Usually, this type of antagonist arises because information is withheld from both the protagonist and the audience. Think of Severus Snape in Harry Potter. For most of the series, both Harry and the audience believe Snape is a villain, maybe even a potential Death Eater.

But when it’s revealed that Snape has in fact been protecting Harry ever since his mother died, everything is turned upside down.

Snape isn’t the only false antagonist in the Harry Potter series. Sirius Black also fills this role in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Sirius is initially depicted as an evil villain who played a key role in the death of Harry’s parents.

Gary Oldman’s performance heightens the illusion, with broken teeth and a wild, manic gaze. This is a man who looks every inch the classic villain.

But as the film progresses, we learn that Black is actually one of Harry’s closest allies, and for the rest of the series he proves to be an important friend and mentor.

Harry Potter shows us the usefulness of the false antagonist. This type of character keeps the audience on its toes while subtly teaching us not to judge by appearances.

The Hidden Antagonist

The hidden antagonist is the opposite of the false antagonist. Here, a character we initially believe to be benevolent turns out to be the villain.

A quintessential example is Coraline, in which the protagonist discovers another mother and father. At first, the “Other Mother” and “Other Father” seem to have everything Coraline’s real parents don’t: they’re attentive, fun, and caring.

But as the film goes on, it’s revealed that Coraline’s new parents are not what they appear to be at all, and in fact have sinister motives.

CoCo also has a great hidden antagonist. At the beginning of the film, Miguel is obsessed with the late, famous musician Ernesto de la Cruz.

When Miguel thinks he’s discovered that Ernesto is his great‑great‑grandfather, he’s overjoyed, understandably. When he goes to the Land of the Dead to visit him, everything seems to be going well.

But Miguel soon learns that Ernesto actually murdered his real great‑great‑grandfather and, most importantly, that he’s a fraud. This leads to a heartbreaking scene:

As Coco demonstrates, hidden antagonists create powerful dramatic moments filled with shock, betrayal, and deep emotional pain. These are feelings you might want to avoid in real life, but they make for terrific cinema.

The Internal Antagonist

In a sense, we all have an internal antagonist. The internal antagonist is the embodiment of the old saying: “There are two wolves inside you; you must feed the right one.” This is when the protagonist feeds the wrong one—making self‑destructive choices that lead to their own downfall.

This is a recurring theme in many of Darren Aronofsky’s films. In Black Swan, Nina is pitted against newcomer Lily, but in reality, it’s Nina’s own obsessive nature that pushes her over the edge.

The Whale also features a protagonist who is his own worst enemy. Charlie is eating himself to death, and despite the pleas of people who care about him, he won’t (or can’t) stop.

Aronofsky’s films are often considered difficult to watch, largely because of his use of internal antagonists. It can be painful and frustrating to watch a character destroy themselves. Facing an external enemy, even if the protagonist loses, can still be a noble and entertaining battle.

An internal enemy is often tougher, more subtle, and unfortunately, very real.

What Is a Secondary Antagonist?

In most stories, there’s only one protagonist. Antagonists, however, can be numerous. In some films, there’s one primary antagonist and several secondary antagonists.

One of Quentin Tarantino’s best films, Kill Bill, features a primary antagonist (Bill) and several secondary antagonists (the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad).

A useful way to think about secondary antagonists is as mini‑bosses you encounter in a video game before you reach the final boss.

In Kill Bill, the Bride has to face these mini‑bosses before she can finally reach the final boss.