Total Drama BLOG

Antagonist vs Villain

Ayo! This is Rainy Days, coming back from the long looong resting time I had. No worries. I was just busy with life and stuff.

Anyway, the reason why I reunited us here today (or maybe tonight, because it's nighttime here in Uruguay) is a subject that had me a little bit annoyed for a while.

So, I was watching a video about High School Musical and a person complained about how people see Sharpay as the antagonist, when she gained her place in the show fairly and then the protagonists stole her and her brother's place. The thing is that, Sharpay IS the antagonist. So I'm pretty sure the person who commented this was trying to say "villain". But no, it's not the same thing.

A villain is someone who uses bad mediums to achieve goals. An antagonist is a person who goes against the protagonist goals (could be intentional or unintentional). And for your enjoyment, I brought some examples for you:

In season one, Gwen was the protagonist and Heather the antagonist. Because Heather makes Gwen's path to the finish line harder. But also, Heather is a villain, because she uses questionable methods to do that. And Heather is against Gwen just as much as she is against anyone else in her way.

Now in season three, it isn't that clear who's the protagonist until the end. At the beginning, Courtney and Gwen were the protagonists, while Heather was the antagonist. But at the final episodes, we see that the main protagonist was Heather (because she was always around: either being hit by Leshawna, comforting Courtney, fighting with Alejandro, confronting Courtney) and the antagonist was Alejandro (because he was against Heather's goal of winning the million).

BUT WAIT! If both are villains, how can both be antagonists, yet Heather is also a protagonist? That's because we see the first half from the perspective of Gwen and Courtney, two good girls who know Heather's not the most likeable person, but don't really know Alejandro, so they don't give him that much attention (in the way of being aware from him, because Courtney gave him A LOT of romantic attention). Now the second half, we see it from the perpective of Heather: the villain who nobody trusts, fighting all by herself with an enemy that is everybody's friend. No one believes her, because she treated everyone like trash in the earlier seasons. That's when she turns into a protagonist: when we, the public, see the story through her perspective.

So, that means that a character can change from being a protagonist to being an antagonist? Of course, it all depends on the point of view. In Al's point of view, Heather would be the antagonist, because each character is the protagonist of his or her story.

Can a character be villain and an antagonist at the same time? Yes, but it's not necessary. Not all antagonists are villains, and not all the villains are antagonists.

A villain can not be an antagonist? Yes. Let's say Scott for example, in Revenge he was against Mike, but not the other protagonist, Zoey. He didn't do anything bad to her. In All Stars, he didn't affect the protagonists at all, yet he made his way with unkind methods, what makes him a villain, but not necessarily an antagonist.

Can the main villain be a protagonist at the same time? Yes. Yet Heather is both a villain and an protagonist in the second half, she isn't the main villain, it's Alejandro. So who would be a great example of being the main villain and yet being the protagonist? Mal. All the plot is around him more than Mike. And yet we see Mal through Mike's perception of him, Mike is the antagonist in All Stars. Not because Mike is the one who brough Mal, but because he's against Mal's will. And since all the story evolves around Mal, he's the protagonist. And since he's the protagonist, the main character that dares to go against him is an antagonist.

Now is your turn: What do you think about this subject? What examples could you add?

See you all later!

Rainy