Active Characters
The most definable characteristic of an active protagonist is that they make active decisions or take direct action that furthers the plot of the story. In other words, the plot is happening because of the main character. Events unfold or become more complicated because of decisions that the protagonist makes, often to pursue their goal. Some examples of active choices are:
- Defying orders or the status quo
- Betraying other characters
- Devising plans or strategies
Imagine if Harry Potter never chose to leave the Dudley’s house to pursue being a wizard. Or if Katniss Everdeen never chose to take Prim’s place in the Hunger Games. Readers would have a completely different experience with the story.
Even the most locked away and suppressed characters can make decisions. Look at Bertha Mason—Rochester’s secret wife he hides in the attic in Jane Eyre. She is one of the most suppressed characters of all time, yet she still makes active decisions, such as setting Rochester’s bed on fire and sneaking down into Jane’s room.
The point is, giving your protagonist an active choice to make moves the story forward, shows their personalities, and also stimulates character development.
Character Development
If you want to create a story where readers can whole-heartedly connect to your characters, you’ll want to include character development in your story. However, growth and development are dependent on a character’s experiences and how they act (not just react) after those events. Action gives your protagonist an opportunity to make mistakes, make the right choices, make difficult choices, or get back up after failure. Their actions show what kind of person they are and, as the story progresses, the way they adapt or change their actions is an indicator of their growth.
Bookish Example:
Throne of Glass series: If we look at the arc of this series, we can see how Aelin’s choices have developed her character. At the beginning of this series, Aelin goes by Caelena—a selfish assassin whose only goal is to win the King’s Tournament so she can survive. That’s a long way off from the end of the series, when she sacrifices herself for her friends and her kingdom. As the series goes on, she develops her character based on the choices she makes: choosing to reveal that she is the heir to her kingdom, choosing to pursue her magic, choosing to make friendships, all of which lead to her sacrifice at the end. That sacrifice—the ultimate symbolization of her character development—would not have been possible, or even meaningful, if she had not made the choices she did along the way.
Plot Development
Equally as important, your protagonist’s active choices should lead to the development of the plot. The choices they make should have a direct effect on the events in the story. It’s all about cause and effect. Your character makes a choice that leads to an action that leads to a reaction, and this can have either a positive or negative effect. Katniss Everdeen makes a choice to volunteer in place of her sister, thus jumpstarting her story. That decision leads her into every other decision that she will make throughout the novel.
However, it’s important to note that your protagonist cannot possibly make every decision, nor should they. In life, we get put in impossible or undesirable decisions and there’s nothing we can do about it, so don’t feel pressured to have your MC devise every plan or defy every order. The key is to understand their character and know where their skills would make them the best to make a plan or when their desires would make them defy an order. Have them make decisions where they can.
Takeaway
The major takeaway here is that to give your character agency, you want to give them choices. Have them take action or make a decision. Choices can tell readers a lot about your character’s personality and their values and desires.
Passive Characters
If active characters are all about choices, then passive characters are defined by not making active choices or taking actions that directly influence the plot. Passive characters are instead moved along by other characters or the events of the plot itself. In other words, the plot is happening to the character. Some examples are:
- they always listen to orders or go along with the status quo
- looks to others to devise a plan
- appeases all other characters, regardless of their desires
I had a client who couldn’t figure out why her main character didn’t feel as authentic as they did in her first book. After a closer look, we figured out that it was because the main character didn’t have agency. At the beginning of the story, her main character met up with another secondary character, and for the rest of the story, the main character just followed around the secondary character. I had to remind the author that the story really wasn’t about this secondary character, and while that character was important, the focus on their actions was actually suppressing the main character’s ability to make their own decisions. It really wasn’t in the MC’s personality to go with the flow, so not only was the lack of decisions suppressing her agency, but it wasn’t staying true to her character either.
Note that every character might not be an active character—especially minor characters. It’s okay to have some passive characters, but you generally don’t want a passive protagonist.
Bookish Example
If you are intentionally creating a passive character, you’ll want to make sure that it purposeful.
One of my favorite examples is James Herondale in The Last Hours series by Cassandra Clare. For half of the series, James is enchanted by a magical bracelet that convinces him that he is in love with Grace Blackthorn. However, readers know that he is truly in love with Cordelia Carstairs, though because of the enchantment he is under, James does not act on his love for Cordelia. In this situation, James is being a passive character—Grace is controlling his actions, rather than allowing him to freely choose who he loves. This passivity is done for a purpose—to create tension that makes readers want to throw the book across the room because they know James would not be acting so passively if he wasn’t under the spell.
As the story goes on though, James’s love for Cordelia grows so strong that he is able to break the chains of his bracelet and gain back his agency. This broken chain symbolizes the strength of James’s will (and his love), which in the end, is the lesson James was supposed to learn to succeed in his story goal.
In this example, his passivity highlights part of his character and also acts to further the plot.
