3.1.3 How to Create Characters for the Script - Character Categories and Protagonist Definition

Character Categories in Microdramas

So, generally, in our microdramas, what types do the characters or roles in the story fall into? They fall into these types: Protagonist, Antagonist/Opponent, Companion/Partner, Love Interest, and then Others. Other NPCs, right?

Correct Understanding of the Protagonist

What does Protagonist mean? The main character, right? Male lead, female lead.

Many students would say, isn’t the protagonist the one with the most screen time? The most handsome/beautiful one? Understanding it that way is mostly not wrong, but from a creative perspective, it’s incorrect. We define the protagonist as the Perspective Character, especially in microdramas, where all stories are Classic Narratives.

Core Characteristics of Classic Narrative

What is Classic Narrative? One character, one perspective, one storyline, linear narrative. Let me emphasize Classic Narrative again, I won’t write it on the board. One character, one perspective, one line, linear narrative, telling one event linearly—this is called Classic Narrative. Microdramas are all linear narratives. Occasionally inserting a flashback doesn’t change this; that’s just to provide prior information, intersperse memories. That’s not time manipulation; students, don’t worry about that.

The Single Protagonist Principle in Microdramas

All microdramas are Classic Narratives, which consequently means there is essentially one protagonist. That is, your traditional thinking that a story should have a male lead and a female lead is wrong. There is only one protagonist. It can be male, or it can be female, but there’s only one, understand? In microdramas, there is only one protagonist because there is only one perspective. The definition of the protagonist is the person who takes everyone through the story, or rather, experiences this story. You must be clear about who the protagonist of your story is. For male-oriented content, it’s male; for female-oriented, it’s female.

Relationship Between Protagonist and Immersion

This is easy to understand in Classic Narrative because the audience projects onto the protagonist. We said last lesson that microdramas require strong wish-fulfillment (YY). So, who do they project onto for that YY? Obviously, it’s this protagonist. Therefore, this protagonist must take the audience through the story, so their immersiveness is crucial.