What are your thoughts on narrative protagonists and main protagonists in fiction?

[Eldoria]

Narrative Protagonists and Main Protagonists in the Fiction​

Sometimes authors don't use the main protagonist's POV as the reader's lens, but rather use another character's POV as the reader's lens to understand the story's conflict. In this case, I differentiate between the main protagonist and the narrative protagonist. The main protagonist is the main character who drives the main conflict in a story. Meanwhile, the narrative protagonist is the character from whom the reader understands the story's conflict.

For example, in a famous work like Sherlock Holmes, instead of using Holmes as the POV, the author often uses Dr Watson as the POV. From Dr Watson, readers can feel the emotions, empathy, and even failures in uncovering the mysteries of investigations, but this contrasts with Holmes's consistent success in solving mysteries. Therefore, from Dr Watson's POV, we can understand Holmes's genius in solving mysteries. From this, we can see that the story's conflict is actually driven by Holmes as the main protagonist, while Dr Watson plays more of a narrative protagonist who serves as the reader's lens.

Another example is Akame ga Kill, where the main protagonist is Akame (even the manga/anime uses her name as the title) as the driving force behind the story's conflict, but the story instead uses Tatsumi's POV as a newcomer character. Even in the anime version, Tatsumi died, and Akame lived until the end.

If we observe how Sherlock Holmes and Akame ga Kill use the main character's name as the title of the fiction but don't use the main character as POV, but use the narrative protagonist as POV through another character, this makes these fictions unique.

We can conclude that not every fiction uses the main protagonist as the POV. The author can use a narrative protagonist in narrating the story. The use of this narrative protagonist will enrich the reader's perspective and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the story's conflict. In fact, sometimes the use of the main protagonist's POV is reduced, and the main protagonist becomes more like a mysterious or mystical figure whose presence/shadow is present in every plot. She/he is the driving force of the story, but is no longer the reader's lens to enter the fictional world. My question is:

1. What are your thoughts on the main protagonist and narrative protagonist in a story?
2. Do you enjoy stories that use the POV of another character (narrative protagonist) besides the main protagonist?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Another example is Akame ga Kill, where the main protagonist is Akame (even the manga/anime uses her name as the title) as the driving force behind the story's conflict, but the story instead uses Tatsumi's POV as a newcomer character. Even in the anime version, Tatsumi died, and Akame lived until the end.​

As someone who read the manga instead of watching anime, hard for me to agree or understand the point. Even though it is called Akame ga Kill, Akame is nowhere near being the driving force. Or at least that's how I saw it. So I don't know about it.

 

[JayDirex]

This reminds me of marketing 101:
1.When you talk about yourself it's advertising
2. When someone else talks about you it's PR.

Authors, such as myself, will use multiple POVs, 1. To give a broader perspective to the reader and 2. TO GLAZE the MC/protagonist. After all the protagonist can't tell you how awesome they are, but someone else can state how amazing/awful/beautiful/terrible the MC is
Even though, to be honest every POV in every story is an unreliable narrator.

 

[expentio]

I have a deep-seated aversion to "false" protagonists.
Anyone familiar with the anime "Plunderer"? That one featured a girl as "protagonist, even going so far as making the synopsis about her. Turns out, she was only the one observing the real MC. The Plunderer. Her whole thing was either being damsel in distress, or cheering/crying from the sidelines.
I felt betrayed. For once, I gave it a chance, because I have a preference for female protagonists. This is a similar offense as to put a female character on the cover that got nothing in common with the MC. And that girl was barely a character aside from her viewpoint function. Which brings me to the point that she made the whole story kinda dumb. If a story features the empty husk of a character, it's a bad one. This only aggravates as she's a focus point. We not only know that she is not really a character of importance to the story, we get shoved headfirst at this fact, as that character, as our focus is what we're always staring at. This pointless character who reminds me of the fraud that tried to get me invested.

 

[DireBadger]

The Narrative Protagonist betrays the author's inability to create a compelling protagonist.

Maybe they can create a compelling story, but their characterization is weak. And I include Sherlock Holmes in this judgment.

 

[JayDirex]

I have a deep-seated aversion to "false" protagonists.
Anyone familiar with the anime "Plunderer"? That one featured a girl as "protagonist, even going so far as making the synopsis about her. Turns out, she was only the one observing the real MC. The Plunderer. Her whole thing was either being damsel in distress, or cheering/crying from the sidelines.
I felt betrayed. For once, I gave it a chance, because I have a preference for female protagonists. This is a similar offense as to put a female character on the cover that got nothing in common with the MC. And that girl was barely a character aside from her viewpoint function. Which brings me to the point that she made the whole story kinda dumb. If a story features the empty husk of a character, it's a bad one. This only aggravates as she's a focus point. We not only know that she is not really a character of importance to the story, we get shoved headfirst at this fact, as that character, as our focus is what we're always staring at. This pointless character who reminds me of the fraud that tried to get me invested.

1. Waifu covers are standard. Regardless if the character on the cover even gets a few lines of dialog. The whole point was to get you to click.
2. "damsel in distress, or cheering/crying from the sidelines" = Author poorly copying cliche shonen tropes, and probably being rewarded for it in reader counts.

 

[LiteraryWho]

The value of the "Narrator protagonist" is to offer a view at a character who is meant to feel alien/outside the reader. Holmes and Watson being a perfect example. Yes, you aren't an English doctor from the late 1800's, but you are substantially more alike to him than you are to a mystery obsessed super genius (with a morphine addiction). It also offers a natural reason for a character to need things explained to them (which is helpful for readers who need things explained to them).

 

[DireBadger]

meh, it still feels like a lazy narrative shortcut to avoid too deep an introspection into a challenging character viewpoint. I much prefer "There, but for the grace of god, go I" rather than creating an overly-complex character and dropping the ball on simpler characters to explain their quirks.

 

[SoftMoustach]

Narrative Protagonists and Main Protagonists in the Fiction​

Sometimes authors don't use the main protagonist's POV as the reader's lens, but rather use another character's POV as the reader's lens to understand the story's conflict. In this case, I differentiate between the main protagonist and the narrative protagonist. The main protagonist is the main character who drives the main conflict in a story. Meanwhile, the narrative protagonist is the character from whom the reader understands the story's conflict.

For example, in a famous work like Sherlock Holmes, instead of using Holmes as the POV, the author often uses Dr Watson as the POV. From Dr Watson, readers can feel the emotions, empathy, and even failures in uncovering the mysteries of investigations, but this contrasts with Holmes's consistent success in solving mysteries. Therefore, from Dr Watson's POV, we can understand Holmes's genius in solving mysteries. From this, we can see that the story's conflict is actually driven by Holmes as the main protagonist, while Dr Watson plays more of a narrative protagonist who serves as the reader's lens.

Another example is Akame ga Kill, where the main protagonist is Akame (even the manga/anime uses her name as the title) as the driving force behind the story's conflict, but the story instead uses Tatsumi's POV as a newcomer character. Even in the anime version, Tatsumi died, and Akame lived until the end.

We can conclude that not every fiction uses the main protagonist as the POV. The author can use a narrative protagonist in narrating the story. The use of this narrative protagonist will enrich the reader's perspective and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the story's conflict. In fact, sometimes the use of the main protagonist's POV is reduced, and the main protagonist becomes more like a mysterious or mystical figure whose presence/shadow is present in every plot. She/he is the driving force of the story, but is no longer the reader's lens to enter the fictional world. My question is:

1. What are your thoughts on the main protagonist and narrative protagonist in a story?
2. Do you enjoy stories that use the POV of another character (narrative protagonist) besides the main protagonist?

Personally I really enjoy switches like this; I think the light novel for Sword Art Online did it really well. it often makes me enjoy the main protagonist more by being able to see how they are perceived from a new perspective.

---

Soul Smith

 

[JayMark]

Yes, why wouldn't I? I'd be limiting my options if I didn't.

 

[Zagaroth]

Option 3: It's always about execution. It can be done well, it can be done bad. I have no preference, given that the execution is good.

Though this can also be done by using multiple PoVs.