So, I’ve had this short story bubbling around in my head for a while, and I finally got around to scratching down a few of the details before they become lost to the vanishing ether of this echoing chamber of a brain I’m cursed with. As I was putting together some of the character details, a thought occurred to me. What makes a character the “protagonist” of a story?

This question came to me just as I was attempting to mark one of my characters as the protagonist of my story. I have two characters in this story that are “central” actors. One is the narrator and, essentially, the “main character” in just about every respect. She is a strong female character who grows very noticeably through the story. From her perspective, you understand her thoughts, motives, and reasoning.

However, the other central character is a male who is, for all intents and purposes, the “hero”. In the climax and resolution, he is the character that rights and wrongs and saves the day. But for much of the story, he is an important, yet a purposefully “background” character. His actions are not at the forefront of the story, but they are obvious in the telling of it from the female lead’s narrative. His existence is really only suggested through much of the story. Even though he truly shines at the end, he is never really the focus.

So, which one is the “protagonist”? According to Wiktionary, a protagonist is described as “[t]he main character in a literary work or drama”, as well as “[a]n advocate or champion of a cause, or course of action”. Well, that’s all well and good, but my female lead may be the “main character”, but is in no way a champion of any cause or course of action. My male lead IS the champion, but isn’t really a main character in the strictest sense of the term.

So, maybe I have a unique situation where the two characters together form an amalgam protagonist? Neither one would carry the story independently. It definitely requires both of them. In a sense, I suppose, they are both the “hero”.

Am I picking nits by attempting to label one or the other — or both — as the protagonist? Should I forgo this discussion and simply move on to actually writing the story? Is this even important to focus on? Could my own perception of the definition of a protagonist be essential to my ability to tell a logical and compelling story? Curiouser and curiouser. I’d love to hear other thoughts on this.