Talk:Protagonist

message: User:AussieGenesis has added Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War as an example of a villainous protagonist. Since the core characters of the Avengers series are the Avengers, I'm inclined to consider their primary foe in any one of their films the antagonist rather than the protagonist. It would be different if they'd set up the story to present it from Thanos' point of view, so that viewers experienced all the action as his story, but that isn't the case. One or more Avengers is in almost every scene, while Thanos is absent from many scenes depicting their predicaments and their efforts to defeat him. In my view, it's their story, so Thanos isn't the protagonist. What do others think? Largoplazo (talk) 12:16, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I've no knowledge of Marvel stuff, but as well as well-sourced examples from literary theory, what is needed in the article is better sources for what 'protagonist' actually means: is it (a) the central character in the way the story is told; (b) the character whose needs and wants drive the action of the plot; (c) the hero or morally virtuous character seeking resolution; (d) the character who is closest to, most affected by, or causing, the inciting incident; (e) the point-of-view character or narrator. Often all of these coincide, which can lead to confusion. I think most people nowadays would opt for (a); (c) is usually seen as distinct, with examples of antihero protagonists; I recall reading books or essays on writing where protagonist is defined as (b) or (d), so as in John Clark's example above in some usages, the 'protagonist' may have a small role or not even appear.  The OED definition is 'The chief character in a dramatic work. Hence, in extended use: the leading character, or one of the main characters, in any narrative work, as a poem, novel, film, etc'. I wonder if there is literary analysis of something like The Collector or Day of the Jackal where this is clarified. --Cedderstk 12:09, 3 July 2020 (UTC)

text: Considering Thanos's goals are what drive the plot of the movie, how is it "ridiculous" to consider him anything other than the antagonist?  Without Thanos's quest, there are no infinity stones to protect and no movie.  Everything moves to react to his actions.  That clearly makes him the protagonist and the Avengers the antagonists.  The only thing that's ridiculous, here, is your dismissal of AussieGenesis's point.  Izuko (talk) 16:34, 10 October 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: Every film in the MCU series is about one or more Avengers and one or more nemeses they have to deal with. Endgame is about the Avengers dealing with their current threat, Thanos. That he's the enemy because he has goals, evil goals that drive him, distinguish him from perhaps no other villain in all of the history of fiction, including Loki, Ronan the Accuser, Red Skull, Aldrich Killian, Voldemort, or the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (whereas she was the protagonist in the novel Wicked). These characters' goals "drive" the action insofar as they drive the attempts by the heroesthe protagonist, in the case of a single heroto stop them. Largoplazo (talk) 20:15, 10 October 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Thanos 

message: There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Yu Narukami which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you.  —RMCD bot 12:05, 11 October 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Move discussion in progress 

message: A discussion is taking place to address the redirect :Tetartagonist. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 March 27#Tetartagonist until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Jalen Folf (talk) 01:19, 27 March 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Tetartagonist" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: There should be Examples of Protagonist. 107.119.45.60 (talk) 03:43, 30 March 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: @107.x, seeing the recent edit history here, perhaps it would be best to propose any edits here first. - wolf 06:16, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

text: Then you ought to be content because there are examples. Largoplazo (talk) 08:50, 30 March 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Examples