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Revision as of 17:05, 10 September 2012

This article is about the literary term. For the pharmacological term, see receptor antagonist. For other uses, see Antagonist (disambiguation).

An antagonist (from Greek ἀνταγωνιστής - antagonistēs , "opponent, competitor, enemy, rival") is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend. In other words, 'A person, or a group of people who oppose the main character, or the main characters.' In the classic style of stories wherein the action consists of a hero fighting a villain/enemy, the two can be regarded as protagonist and antagonist, respectively.

The antagonist may also represent a major threat or obstacle to the main character by their very existence, without necessarily deliberately targeting him or her.

Examples in both film and theatre include Sauron, the main antagonist in The Lord of the Rings, who constantly battles the series' protagonists, and Tybalt, an antagonist in Romeo and Juliet, who slays Mercutio and whose later death results in the exiling of the play's protagonist, Romeo. However, despite the antagonist often being classified the "bad guy", the antagonist can be a good person (one notable example being Macduff from Macbeth)

References

"Antagonist". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
About.com, Literature: Contemporary "Antagonist." Online. October 18, 2007.
The antagonist may not always be a person or persons. In some cases an antagonist may be a force, such as a tidal wave that destroyed a city, or a storm that is causing havoc, or even the conditions in a certain area that is causing a problem. An antagonist also may or may not create obstacles for the protagonist. See "The Elements of Literature". rscc.cc.tn.us.

v t e Narrative
Character	Antagonist Archenemy Character arc Character flaw Characterization Confidant Deuteragonist False protagonist Focal character Foil Gothic double Hamartia Hero Anti Byronic Tragic Narrator Protagonist Stock character Straight man Supporting character Title character Tritagonist Villain
Plot	Ab ovo Action Backstory Origin story Chekhov's gun Cliché Cliffhanger Conflict Deus ex machina Dialogue Dramatic structure Eucatastrophe Foreshadowing Flashback Flashforward Frame story In medias res Kishōtenketsu MacGuffin Pace Plot device Plot twist Poetic justice Red herring Reveal Self-insertion Shaggy dog story Stereotype Story arc Story within a story Subplot Suspense Trope
Setting	Alternate history Backstory Crossover Dreamworld Dystopia Fictional location city country universe parallel Utopia Worldbuilding
Theme	Irony Leitmotif Metaphor Moral Moral development Motif Deal with the Devil Conflict between good and evil Self-fulfilling prophecy Time travel
Style	Allegory Bathos Comic relief Diction Figure of speech Imagery Mode Mood Narration Narrative techniques Hook Show, don't tell Stylistic device Suspension of disbelief Symbolism Tone
Structure	Act Act structure Three-act structure Freytag's Pyramid Exposition/Protasis Rising action/Epitasis Climax/Peripeteia Falling action/Catastasis Denouement/Catastrophe Linear narrative Nonlinear narrative films television series Premise Types of fiction with multiple endings
Form	Drama Fabliau Flash fiction Folklore Fable Fairy tale Legend Myth Tall tale Gamebook Narrative art Narrative poetry Epic poetry Novel Novella Parable Short story Vignette
Genre (List)	Fiction Action fiction Adventure Comic Crime Docu Epistolary Ergodic Erotic Historical Western Mystery Nautical Paranoid Philosophical Picaresque Political Pop culture Psychological Religious Rogue Romance Chivalric Prose Saga Satire Speculative fiction Fantasy Gothic Southern Horror Magic realism Science Hard Utopian and dystopian Underwater Superhero Theological Thriller Urban Nonfiction Autobiography Biography Novel Creative
Narration	Diegesis First-person Second-person Third-person Third-person omniscient narrative Subjectivity Unreliable narrator Multiple narrators Stream of consciousness Stream of unconsciousness
Tense	Past Present Future
Related	Dominant narrative Fiction writing Continuity Canon Reboot Retcon Parallel novel Prequel / Sequel Genre List Literary science Literary theory Narrative identity Narrative paradigm Narrative therapy Narratology Metafiction Political narrative Rhetoric Glossary Screenwriting Series of works Storytelling Tellability Verisimilitude

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