Risky plot move?

[M. Blaekr]

So I had this idea, but I am unsure if I should implement it.

The idea is to have the position of Protagonist shift to a different character (but the old one isn't gone)

This idea seems risky to me, mainly because I fear the old main character would distract the audience from the new main character.

Are there any stories (any medium) where the role of protagonist shifts to a new character even though the old holder of that role is still around?

 

[Precise Calibre]

I know of a few stories which do this, the most prominant to come to mind being the "Fire and Ice" series by George R.R. Martin. He hops around from character to character constantly, portraying scenes from opposing sides quite often. It might be worth noting, however, that he does this with clear breaks in the story, whether it be chapters ot dividers or similar. Never jump from one PoV to the other in the middle of a narrative block in my opinion.

 

[M. Blaekr]

Know of any that do it as a one-time deal? Jumping back and forth would make it a bit of a theme, no?

It's cool, just not what I was wondering about. A change in protagonist may change the story to the point where people don't care anymore, which is why I am apprehensive at the idea.

And I don't mean during a random point. My old protagonist would disappear/die (in body) and the new protagonist would pick up where he left off after an "intermission" period (a few years).


I am hesitant to say "like in Star Wars" where Luke picks up after the failure/betrayal of Anakin, but that sort of protagonist shift, where the new main character is definitely prominent in his superior role in the story and the old character is still around (antagonist or otherwise)

 

[Ursa major]

To be fair, it is not exactly clear who the protagonist is, or is meant to be, in A Song of Ice and Fire.

(As I understand it, the protagonist is not the same as the POV character, but the character with whom we most empathise. And he or she may not be the hero/heroine.)

It does not help that, as a series, some well-thought-of characters can go missing for a whole book. For instance Tyrion, who many think is GRRM's favourite character (but given that GRRM is tricksy, who who really knows) is absent from at least one whole book. And then there are arguments amongst the readers as to which characters they like and dislike. For instance, one reader's hero may be another reader's naïve patsy.


Anyway, to (partly) cover my ignorance, I'll quote something from Wiki (Protagonist - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):

Sometimes, a work will offer a particular character as the protagonist, only to dispose of that character unexpectedly, as a dramatic device. Such a character is called a false protagonist. Marion in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) is a famous example.

When the work contains subplots, these may have different protagonists from the main plot. In some novels, the protagonists may be impossible to identify, because multiple plots in the novel do not permit clear identification of one as the main plot, such as in Alexander Solzhenitsyn's The First Circle, depicting a variety of characters imprisoned and living in a gulag camp, or in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, depicting 15 major characters involved in or affected by a war.

 

[Murtagh's_Muse]

I think the idea has some definite possibility. Particularly if the new protagonist is someone the reader is already familiar with. I would suggest either trying to alienate the original pro a little first or cram in a lot of endearing features of the new pro relatively early after the shift.

 

[Mouse]

Can I say Stardust? Starts out with Dunstan. Ends up with Tristran. (Why did they change his name for the film?)

 

[MaraFox006]

I think you can do it, if you do it correctly. It could turn out good!

 

[Somni]

I can't remember any titles, but I am certain that I have read books where the protagonist changes. I have a particular feeling that one focussed on a character to start with and as he aged the focus shifted to his apprentice or son.

 

[HareBrain]

I can't remember any titles, but I am certain that I have read books where the protagonist changes. I have a particular feeling that one focussed on a character to start with and as he aged the focus shifted to his apprentice or son.

You've just reminded me of one -- Deliver Us From Evil, by Tom Holland. I think that was the first time I'd read a book with an unexpected one-off protagonist change, and I think it enhanced the book overall (with hindsight) but was a little confusing and offputting when the change was done. It has to be handled carefully.

 

[MeriPie]

I've got a dodgy situation too... I'm going to have to POV shift for one chapter, because the first person narrator is incapable of narrating. Hopefully it won't be too confusing, but I can't think of any other way to achieve the right effect.

I think it's fine so long as you make it clear what's happened. Have a different style, maybe, that follows the character?

 

[J-WO]

A Canticle For Liebowitz changes protagonists two or three times- then again, there's centuries between each one so I suppose it has to!

 

[TheEndIsNigh]

Not quite sure what you mean by switch.

Do you mean the essence of the character switches from one body to another?

I think this is quite common and has certainly been done before. Star Trek had it happen a few times.

There was a film not that long ago where the hero tried to do away with an ancient evil that took over the body of the nearest human when it's old host died. He lured the fiend to an isolated spot and shot the baddie knowing he himself would be taken over as the only person around. He had poisoned himself first so knew the evil would die when he died. Trouble was the thing switched to a snake or something so he failed.

Anyway why worry - Be the first if you think your tale has something different to offer as a story.

 

[Dang]

I was once contemplating a story which ends with the loss of the protaganist. Book 2 would continue with a different protaganists (one of his companions) who seeks to uncover what happened to him. The idea was then for a third character to take over book 3 and be joined by the previous two protaganists. I know this idea may be slightly different to your intentions as I would be implementing this on a single voice per story; changing only three times with the potential to integrate all three as diffent POV in book 4 should I ever reach that stage.

Orson Scott Card does this in the Enderverse

 

[Dang]

There was a film not that long ago where the hero tried to do away with an ancient evil that took over the body of the nearest human when it's old host died. He lured the fiend to an isolated spot and shot the baddie knowing he himself would be taken over as the only person around. He had poisoned himself first so knew the evil would die when he died. Trouble was the thing switched to a snake or something so he failed.

If you're thinking of Denzel Washington in Fallen I believe there was a nearby cat the demon jumped into.

Unfortunately Denzel's career didn't survive

 

[Quokka]

Although it's unusual I certainly think it's been done before (as has everything ). From memory Le Guin does it within the Earthsea series, with one book from a different characters perspective but with the main character still present and I'm sure PK Dick has done it in his books for short scenes.

It's interesting to be able to describe a character from another's perspective and the differences there may be. You might risk a reader not liking or empathising with the new view as much of the old but there will probably be readers that go the other way. So imo whether it works or not will still come done to the writing.

 

[anthorn]

Kate Elliot did this in her Crossroad trilogy. Begining with one person and then killing that person off.

 

[J Riff]

Well, think about a play, or a screenplay. Often dialogue is similar to this kind of writing, and the viewpoint can change rapidly and often.

 

[Toby Frost]

There's always Psycho, whose apparent protagonist is then murdered a fair way into the film.

The Anthony Hopkins version of Zorro also had a protagonist handing his job to a new recruit. This would make an interesting central theme to a story.

 

[ValerieJLong]

Dave Eddings did it - there's the Belgariad, six books in a sequence, with more than one main character, but mainly it's focusing around one char, Garion. Eddings wrote more or less the same story again twice, once from the viewpoint of Belgarath, once from the viewpoint of Polgara, each time unveiling new, interesting aspects of the same plot. That's one way to do it - in different books.

Changing from third person narrative to first person is another option to draw the reader to a certain new character. The old one may still be around, but seen through new eyes.

Shifting perpective within the same book - I've read such quite often. Usually there's at least a new chapter for the change of POV.

What about the classical LOTR? When the fellowship splits up, there are different subplots to follow. This couldn't be done without.