Turning protagonists into antagonists for fun

[blad3mast3r he/him]

I love this topic.

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

To turn Shallan into an Antagonist, we simply have to change History a Bit.

 

1. Shallan's Father Learns that his Wife has a Lover, and kills them both in a Fit of Rage, Shallan sees this, and is Broken.
2. Shallan kills Her father the same way she did in the Book, but he had recently been given a Shardblade from the GhostBloods.
3. Her Family sends her to Jasnah to steal a Soulcaster. 
4. The Ghostbloods Intervene, and take control of her Family.
5. Normal WoK unfolds. Except for Pattern. She gets an OdiumSpren instead.
6. On the Wind's Pleasure, the Ghostbloods blackmail Shallan into helping Kill Jasnah, BEFORE she learns of Adolin.
7. In an attempt to Escape, Jasnah soulcasts the Boat, and survives, knowing Shallan is a Ghostblood.
8. Shallan meets up with Tyn, and go to the Shattered Plains. Becomes Veil, ect. 
9. After a time, Jasnah arrives, and Shallan assassinates her to Hide her secret Ghostbloodness.
10. Shallan learns that Amaram killed Heleran, and Kills him. She declares a Personal war on the Sons of Honor.
11. She learns that Kaladin truly Killed Heleran, and Starts assasinating members of Bridge 4.
12. She corrupts Moash, they Kill Elokhar. Kaladin fails to Defend him.
13. Shallan Discredits Kaladin. Dalinar is killed on the shattered plains by Szeth.
14. Shallan helps Navani cope, and Runs Alethkar until a New king is Chosen. She ensures that Mraize is Chosen.
15. ect. ect.

All throughout this, her Odium spren is convincing her that she is doing good, that she's a Knight Radiant, and so on.

[kari-no-sugata]

I would disagree on the first two.

 

1. This may have described Shallan in the first book, but she's since learned how to be confrontational and assertive. She doesn't fold when Kaladin challenges her, nor when Mraize makes some subtle threats concerning her family. She's rather grown in that regard.

Umm. Are you agreeing with me or disagreeing with me or just not following my argument since that's what I said:

"When we're introduced to Shallan..."

 

"Interestingly, some of the changes she goes through in WoR reduces some of the above "poor antagonist" problems. In particular the first one - she learns to deal with confrontation and when arguing with Kaladin at their meeting in the pinnacle she thinks she's finally over it (lucky Kaladin ^-^)."

 

Also, as FeatherWriter so beautifully demonstrated in her Renarin write-up, an antagonist doesn't necessarily need any of those traits. Renarin doesn't have any of them, and yet he is still an antagonist. Antagonist is often confused with villain, so I can see the confusion there.

I'm quite well aware of the difference between an antagonist and a villain. I named the thread deliberately that way.

 

I was only considering ways in which she could intentionally become an antagonist though, yes. Essentially that was the problem I was trying to solve: Shallan is a major protagonist in the books and is working with the other protagonists already (for the most part) so I was considering ways this could be flipped around. Yes, she doesn't need to be evil to intentionally be an antagonist but she would need will and motivation, which is what I was discussing.