Can I make my main character an antagonist?

by sajid
(Mymensingh,Bangladesh)

Question: I'm trying to write a story about a psycho killer who thinks himself a vampire. He's the main character.


My story goal is to let him kill and escape.Is that possible?

Answer: If you are writing the story from the point of view of the killer, that would technically be a happy ending. The challenge you would have would be how such an outcome would fit with the morality of the reader. Do you really want to make such a character into a hero? Do you want your reader to cheer at the end, or throw away the book in disgust? Or do you want to make some kind of social commentary, such that the reader can see the killer's escape as a tragedy for the world?

If you are writing from the point of view of someone else, perhaps a policeman, this would probably be a tragedy or tragi-comedy. A tragi-comedy would result if the killer escaped but the point-of-view character ends up in happier state. A tragedy would result if the killer escapes and the POV character sees this as a personal failure.

Another possibility: write from the killer's POV, but let him be punished for his crimes and immoral acts, thus creating a tragedy.

Yet another possibility: write from the killer's POV but have him be redeemed in the end, thus creating a happy ending that will sit well with the reader.

As you can see, you have a lot of options here. You need to decide what message you want to convey and let that determine your decision.

Best of luck.

Click here to post comments

Join in and submit your own question/topic! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Character Invite.