Munday heroes and villains
Today, we invite you to tell us about the hero(s) and the villain(s) of your canon. If you prefer the terms protagonist and antagonist, that works too. Specifically, we want you to tell us about how your protagonist and their primary enemy/opposition are similar and how they are different from each other.
What virtues do they both share? What flaws? Are they polar opposites in all things, or more alike than they want to admit? Is their relationship a straightforward one of hatred, or is tangled up with friendship or love or a past connection? What do they mean to each other? Why are they working at cross-purposes?
My two protagonists are Marcelina Benitez and Emil Delos Reyes. The two of them have a string of antagonists, which are actually better described as agents and personifications of the institutions they fight against. However one figure that looms large in their lives is that of Carlos Quijano, a former schoolmate who turns into a sort of professional/social nemesis.
These three starring characters are all strong-willed, passionate, charismatic, intellectual, and capable of fighting for their beliefs or the welfare of those they care for. They have very decided beliefs about the world as it is, or perhaps in Marce and Carlos' cases, as if should be. These kids start off also as myopic, impulsive, easily angered (but they express this in different ways), and in need of a serious rude awakening to the world around them.
The differences? Marce starts off with a wretched life story, the boys were born into privilege. She allies herself with the 'fringe' of student society, while Emil and Carlos jump into the well-moneyed academic elite. Marce is a left-leaning idealist who wants to end the status quo of a pseudo-feudal society, Carlos is very much on the right, conservative and has benefited from the system, while Emil is just plain hedonistic and lost. Marce goes to school to learn to change the world, while Emil and Carlos just want their degrees. Marce does not know how to express love, Emil loves too much, Carlos mistakes love for utility. Marce likes to ask "what is ideal?", Carlos likes to ask "what works?" while Emil likes to ask "why not?"
In many ways Emil and Carlos are foils. They have the same capacities for leadership and trouble, but what saves Emil is his capacity for benevolence and to form convictions. Carlos is stuck on utilitarianism---which for him means sticking with the system.
The trio have a very complicated relationship in their student days. It starts off with the two boys being best friends and firmly against Marce, who they perceive as a rabble-rousing troublemaker due to her activism. Yet there is no getting out of each other's faces: Emil is Marce's debate partner, and the trio have a lot of friends in common. A twist of history leads Emil to begin questioning the world around him and taking action against social ills. He throws in his lot with Marce's fellow activists. Marce resents this, having personal reasons to despise Emil (he had a part in the disappearance of her mentor), while on the other hand Carlos is not happy to 'lose his friend to the radicals'. Eventually Marce comes to forgive Emil and to see him as her partner and equal in debate as well as their social mobilization work. Carlos pretty much declares war on the duo from this point on, since oftentimes their projects and endeavors are at cross-purposes, and their perspectives even more so. He eternally blames Marce for 'turning Emil's head'.
The rift continues past graduation and post graduation, spilling over into their professional lives. Marce and Emil become lawyers, still fighting the system. Carlos is a businessman who has invested a lot in his ties with the powers-that-be. At different times, Marce and Emil meet Carlos in the courtroom.
Marce's relationship with Emil progresses from out and out hatred to a full-blown romantic relationship and marriage. Despite Emil's past with Carlos, she is never at any point obliged to feel anything more than civility to her former schoolmate. For her, Carlos is simply in the background; oftentimes there are more important enemies to fight. For Emil, Carlos is the friend he wishes he could have done things over with. He is convinced that if he had handled their rift differently, they could still be friends. He tries to extend the proverbial olive branch, but is usually unsuccessful. Carlos has nothing but contempt for Marce, convinced that she is fighting useless crusades. He tries to have little to do with her once they both leave school, but he can't resist jeering at her when she does get unwanted publicity for her work. He also has contempt for Emil, and shows this by constantly rubbing it in his face that he could be 'living the successful life' wherever he wanted, instead of fighting to balance his legal work and raising a family.
Marce and Emil will always be at cross purposes with Carlos, for as long as there social issues to fight.
What virtues do they both share? What flaws? Are they polar opposites in all things, or more alike than they want to admit? Is their relationship a straightforward one of hatred, or is tangled up with friendship or love or a past connection? What do they mean to each other? Why are they working at cross-purposes?
My two protagonists are Marcelina Benitez and Emil Delos Reyes. The two of them have a string of antagonists, which are actually better described as agents and personifications of the institutions they fight against. However one figure that looms large in their lives is that of Carlos Quijano, a former schoolmate who turns into a sort of professional/social nemesis.
These three starring characters are all strong-willed, passionate, charismatic, intellectual, and capable of fighting for their beliefs or the welfare of those they care for. They have very decided beliefs about the world as it is, or perhaps in Marce and Carlos' cases, as if should be. These kids start off also as myopic, impulsive, easily angered (but they express this in different ways), and in need of a serious rude awakening to the world around them.
The differences? Marce starts off with a wretched life story, the boys were born into privilege. She allies herself with the 'fringe' of student society, while Emil and Carlos jump into the well-moneyed academic elite. Marce is a left-leaning idealist who wants to end the status quo of a pseudo-feudal society, Carlos is very much on the right, conservative and has benefited from the system, while Emil is just plain hedonistic and lost. Marce goes to school to learn to change the world, while Emil and Carlos just want their degrees. Marce does not know how to express love, Emil loves too much, Carlos mistakes love for utility. Marce likes to ask "what is ideal?", Carlos likes to ask "what works?" while Emil likes to ask "why not?"
In many ways Emil and Carlos are foils. They have the same capacities for leadership and trouble, but what saves Emil is his capacity for benevolence and to form convictions. Carlos is stuck on utilitarianism---which for him means sticking with the system.
The trio have a very complicated relationship in their student days. It starts off with the two boys being best friends and firmly against Marce, who they perceive as a rabble-rousing troublemaker due to her activism. Yet there is no getting out of each other's faces: Emil is Marce's debate partner, and the trio have a lot of friends in common. A twist of history leads Emil to begin questioning the world around him and taking action against social ills. He throws in his lot with Marce's fellow activists. Marce resents this, having personal reasons to despise Emil (he had a part in the disappearance of her mentor), while on the other hand Carlos is not happy to 'lose his friend to the radicals'. Eventually Marce comes to forgive Emil and to see him as her partner and equal in debate as well as their social mobilization work. Carlos pretty much declares war on the duo from this point on, since oftentimes their projects and endeavors are at cross-purposes, and their perspectives even more so. He eternally blames Marce for 'turning Emil's head'.
The rift continues past graduation and post graduation, spilling over into their professional lives. Marce and Emil become lawyers, still fighting the system. Carlos is a businessman who has invested a lot in his ties with the powers-that-be. At different times, Marce and Emil meet Carlos in the courtroom.
Marce's relationship with Emil progresses from out and out hatred to a full-blown romantic relationship and marriage. Despite Emil's past with Carlos, she is never at any point obliged to feel anything more than civility to her former schoolmate. For her, Carlos is simply in the background; oftentimes there are more important enemies to fight. For Emil, Carlos is the friend he wishes he could have done things over with. He is convinced that if he had handled their rift differently, they could still be friends. He tries to extend the proverbial olive branch, but is usually unsuccessful. Carlos has nothing but contempt for Marce, convinced that she is fighting useless crusades. He tries to have little to do with her once they both leave school, but he can't resist jeering at her when she does get unwanted publicity for her work. He also has contempt for Emil, and shows this by constantly rubbing it in his face that he could be 'living the successful life' wherever he wanted, instead of fighting to balance his legal work and raising a family.
Marce and Emil will always be at cross purposes with Carlos, for as long as there social issues to fight.