Every story’s plot comes down to the relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist. These two characters make the story, so whatever is tying them together in conflict has to be strong for both of them. The two must be marked by each other in some way. Even before the protagonist takes any action against the antagonist, no other character involved in the conflict could possibly take the lead role. He has already been singled out. The same goes for the antagonist. No other force could possibly undo the protagonist in the same way as the antagonist can.
Don’t leave this task to the external conflict alone. Logical reasons explaining why each character can’t turn away are vital. However, the plot can only be emotional if something in the internal conflict compels them to battle. The best way to do this is to give both characters something in common.
Already, your protagonist and antagonist probably have one thing in common. They must be in conflict over the Want, or there is no story. Either they are both after the same thing, or one wants something that the other cannot allow. Even so, the relationship can never be more than Hero vs Villain unless they share more points of internal conflict. The protagonist and antagonist must be tailored to suit each other. This will make each of them the particular opponent for the other, each the only one that is truly dangerous to the other.
Shared Points of Internal Conflict
There is nothing more deeply disturbing to the protagonist than to recognize something of the enemy in himself. Not only does he then questions his motives and actions, but a possible “wrong path” comes to light showing what he could become.
Explore these possible connections between protagonist and antagonist through the points of the Internal Conflict Triangle.
Wound
Shared traumatic backstory is the strongest tie between protagonist and antagonist. Voldemort killed Harry’s parents. The Emperor turned Luke’s father into Darth Vader. Katniss’s father was killed because of the way of life inflicted by President Snow. Most Man Vs. Nature stories start out with a prologue showing the protagonist loosing a loved one to the type of natural disaster they become obsessed with. Every time the protagonist faces the antagonist, not only is there the threat of physical danger, but the reopening this past Wound.
Fear
Before the protagonist realizes the weakness of his own Fear, it is often discovered and exploited first by the antagonist. It takes the protagonist longer yet to discover the same weakness in the antagonist, and having the same fear himself can make it harder for him to use it.
Don’t forget that the antagonist has an internal conflict as well. Understanding it is the best way, for your protagonist and for you as the writer, to find out his weaknesses.
Lie
A protagonist that shares a Lie with the antagonist is in greatest danger of going down the wrong path. He will be his own worst enemy, and unless he recognizes this Lie for what it is, he can never have a happy ending. The antagonist may be the one to bring this shared Lie to light, using it to shake up the protagonist in telling him that they are not so unalike as he would like to think. This sort of event can easily lead to the Midpoint and a “mirror moment” (as taught by James Scott Bell) where the protagonist reevaluates where he stands in his internal conflict.
Flaw
The protagonist may be most blind to this kind of similarity with the antagonist, though it will likely be what he hates the most about him. It might take the intervention of another character, a friend or mentor, to make him see this. (Well suited to the “ally attacks” plot point employed by Libby Hawker.)
Want
As I’ve mentioned above, this connection will always be present as it is the strongest link between the internal and external conflicts. Why the characters are after this goal is explained mostly by the Wound and Fear points of internal conflict, the Motivation corner of the Triangle.
Need
The antagonist is potentially the best teacher for the protagonist if they share this connection. By learning about the antagonist, he can learn about himself and see what’s really important and what he needs to do to overcome the same obstacles that were the downfall of the antagonist. At the same time, struggling through his own internal conflict may shed light on solutions in the external conflict in how to best defeat the antagonist.
Bring in the External Conflict
The protagonist’s inner journey is triggered by the introduction of the antagonist and the external conflict. The struggles of overcoming both of these conflicts, the places where they intersect, will form the central conflict. Each time the stakes are raised, there will be an additional push of stress on both. The protagonist’s usual way of dealing with problems won’t work against the antagonist. These methods were probably effective in the past, which is why they became entrenched, but when faced with the antagonist, they become a vulnerability. Only through the inner journey can they be reformed and brought to the external conflict as a strength.
The antagonist is not just the story’s bad guy, he is the protagonist’s bad guy. If the antagonist does not strike a nerve in the protagonist, they are not well matched and there is no central conflict. This is why an antagonist must suit the protagonist; just any scary villain won’t do. Their connection must be personal. This will make the effects of the protagonist’s Wound deadly. He must reopen and heal his Wound if he is to survive the conflict with the antagonist, but at the same time, perhaps nothing less could have brought him to do this.
However you choose to develop your characters, they have to fit your story and they have to fit together. No two characters are more important in this way than the protagonist and the antagonist. These two characters are more alike than you think, certainly more alike than they would care to admit.
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