{{Short description|Character of a work actively opposing the protagonist}} {{About|the literary term|the pharmacological term|Receptor antagonist|other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} [[File:Massalitinov and Knipper in Hamlet 1911.jpg|thumb|right|King Claudius, the antagonist, is married to Queen Gertrude in William Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''.]]
An '''antagonist''' is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.<ref name=":0">[http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryterms/g/antagonist.htm About.com, Literature: Contemporary "Antagonist." Online. 18 October 2007.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614175143/http://contemporarylit.about.com/cs/literaryterms/g/antagonist.htm |date=14 June 2011 }} *{{cite web |url=http://grammarist.com/usage/protagonist-antagonist/ |title=Protagonist and Antagonist definition |date=23 February 2011 |publisher=Grammarist }} Retrieved 25 March 2015. *{{cite web |url=http://www2.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm |title=Glossary of Literary Terms |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326062735/http://www2.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm |archive-date=26 March 2015 }} Retrieved on 27 March 2015. *{{cite web |url=http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/drama_glossary.html |title=Glossary of Drama Terms |publisher=Online Learning Center }} Retrieved on 27 March 2015. *{{cite web |url=http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/antagonist.htm |title=Antagonist – Definition for Fiction Writers |publisher=About.com |access-date=27 March 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304194545/http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/glossary/g/antagonist.htm |url-status=dead }} Retrieved on 27 March 2015.</ref>
==Etymology== The English word antagonist comes from ({{etymology|grc|''{{wikt-lang|grc|ἀνταγωνιστής}}'' ({{grc-transl|ἀνταγωνιστής}})| opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, rival, which is derived from ''anti-'' ("against") and ''agonizesthai'' ("to contend for a prize"}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=antagonist&searchmode=none |title=Antagonist |publisher=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=28 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{OED|antagonist}}</ref>
==Types== ===Heroes and villains=== {{More citations needed section|date=September 2017}} The antagonist is commonly positioned against the protagonist and their world order.<ref name="Gunderman 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Gunderman |first1=Hannah C. |date=May 2017 |title=Blurring the Protagonist/Antagonist Binary through a Geopolitics of Peace: Star Trek's Cardassians, Antagonists of the Alpha Quadrant |journal=The Geographical Bulletin |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=52–53}}</ref> While narratives often portray the protagonist as a hero and the antagonist as a villain, like Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort in ''Harry Potter'', the antagonist does not always appear as the villain. In some narratives, like Light Yagami and L in ''Death Note'', the protagonist is a villain and the antagonist is an opposing hero.
Antagonists are conventionally presented as making moral choices less savory than those of protagonists. This condition is often used by an author to create conflict within a story. This is merely a convention, however. An example in which this is reversed can be seen in the character Macduff from ''Macbeth,'' who is arguably morally correct in his desire to fight the tyrant Macbeth, the protagonist.
Examples from television include J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman) from ''Dallas'' and Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) from ''Dynasty''. Both became breakout characters used as a device to increase their shows' ratings.
===Other characters=== Characters may be antagonists without being evil – they may simply be injudicious and unlikeable for the audience. In some stories, such as ''The Catcher in the Rye'', almost every character other than the protagonist may be an antagonist.<ref name="Bulman 2007">{{cite book |last1=Bulman |first1=Colin |title=Creative Writing: A Guide and/or Glossary to Fiction Writing |date=2007 |publisher=Polity Press |isbn=9780745636870 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaD4cWyrl_kC&pg=PA17 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Another example of this occurring is through Javert in Victor Hugo's ''Les Misérables'', in which Javert displays no malicious intent, but instead represents the rigid and inflexible application of the law, even when it leads to moral and ethical dilemmas.
===Aspects of the protagonist=== {{Main article|Antihero}} An aspect or trait of the protagonist may be considered an antagonist, such as morality or indecisiveness.<ref name="Bulman 2007" />
===Non-personal=== An antagonist is not always a person or people. In some cases, an antagonist may be a force, such as a tidal wave that destroys a city; a storm that causes havoc; or even a certain area's conditions that are the root cause of a problem. An antagonist may or may not create obstacles for the protagonist.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/ElementsLit.html |title= The Elements of Literature |publisher= roanestate.edu |access-date= 29 April 2013 |archive-date= 30 December 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171230010159/http://www.roanestate.edu/owl/ElementsLit.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>
Societal norms or other rules may also be antagonists.<ref name="Bulman 2007" />
==Usage== An antagonist is used as a plot device, to set up conflicts, obstacles, or challenges for the protagonist.<ref name="Bulman 2007" /><ref name="smiley 2005">{{cite book|last1=Smiley|first1=Sam|title=Playwriting: The Structure of Action|date=2005 |orig-year=First published 1971 by Prentice-Hall|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=0300107242|pages=133–134|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uiXZxECZ8YQC&pg=PA143 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Though not every story requires an antagonist, it often is used in plays to increase the level of drama. In tragedies, antagonists are often the cause of the protagonist's main problem, or lead a group of characters against the protagonist; in comedies, they are usually responsible for involving the protagonist in comedic situations.<ref name="smiley 2005" />
== Antagonist-design techniques == Author John Truby argues that a true opponent not only wants to prevent the hero from achieving his desire but is competing with the hero for the same goal. According to John Truby, "It is only by competing for the same goal that the hero and the opponent are forced to come into direct conflict and to do so again and again throughout the story."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Truby |first=John |title=The anatomy of story: 22 steps to becoming a master storyteller |date=2008 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-86547-993-7 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=46–47 |oclc=281139315}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Literature}} * {{annotated link|Archenemy}} * {{annotated link|Boss (video games)}} * {{annotated link|Villain}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Antagonists}}
{{Fiction writing}}
Category:Antagonists