Male Protagonists and/or Antagonists – Strong or Weak?

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  • July 31, 2008 at 4:46 pm #74189
    AlexG
    Keymaster

    This installment of Inside the Writer's Studio will revolve around Male Protagonists and/or Antagonists – Strong or Weak?  Of course, when I say strong or weak, obviously I mean physically as a counterpoint in his relationship to the primary female character.

    As for including a physically strong male character I've found over the course of time, only with some notable exceptions (Hi-Standard and DCM) have tackled this subject.

    Even if you, personally, are unwilling and/or unable to write about one, which would you rather see in a story?

    “I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
    ~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

    July 31, 2008 at 7:35 pm #74190
    Seldom
    Participant

    That depends a lot on the story!

    The male characters in my stories are always physically weaker relative to the main female character, but they vary as to absolute size and strength.

    July 31, 2008 at 8:28 pm #74191
    TC2
    Participant

    Well, since I like to include male protagonists as love interests for the story, I like to portray them in a unique way.

    I would never do a character that DCM did with Mr. Slade becoming as muscular as Tetsuko, but when it comes to making male characters.

    Usually, when my female character is not in her muscled up form he is physically stronger than her and serves as the protector and guardian.  However, when the female character transforms and starts to grow into her gigantic, hyper muscled state.  That's when she obviously becomes physically superior and the male character is weaker and no longer in a dominant role.

    So it's a balancing act, no one character is ever in full power.  The female character needs the male character to take care of her when she is weakened back to her normal self.  The male character needs the female character to tackle situations that require an immense amount of strength.  I feel that this approach gives a nice balance that I enjoy seeing in stories.

    August 2, 2008 at 12:35 pm #74192
    The Highlander
    Participant

    It doesn’t really matter whether the male is stronger or not, but how he behaves. I'm fed up with stories where the only men are either huge muscle-bound Neanderthals or tiny wimps. Why can't we have normal, caring men in our stories, who can stand up for themselves without being a violent thug? Most men in real life are stronger then their partners, but still live happily as equals. Why can't the same be true then the woman is stronger?

    August 2, 2008 at 1:04 pm #74193
    JimmyDimples
    Participant

    When I first discovered this site, and the strong female story genre around here, I had to admit I was put off not by the fact that the protagonist men were weaker in body than the protagonist women, but were weaker in spine, heart, and spirit as well.  And was a total doormat to the female, who more often than not bullied, demeaned, and dehumanized him.

    In counter to that (and just to see how the community here would respond), I wrote my first story where the guy was a total shrimp, but had ego, brains, and determination not to be put down.

    In my current stories, I usually start with the guys physically stronger than the females.  But when the females pick up the new strength and size, he has to figure out how to handle it.  An example is in Part 5 of Cheery Cherry, where Cherry's boyfriend Jack finally tracks her down, and try to get him to face her when she's now bigger, heavier, and stronger than he is.  And he still stands tall to reassure her and comfort her when she's having a crying jag over her out-of-control growth.

    And in For Their Own Good, the Francis family are pretty average in their size and strength… but seem pretty dinky compared to the Goliath-tall and triply-heavy Eugenians.  But they scramble to keep their heads in the invasion.

    And my Tetsuko fanfic Like a Weed?  Okay, Les Safer was a shy, scrawny, easily-put-down geek, but he eventually learned to step up to the plate, particularly at Tetsuko's final confrontation with the bad guys.

    In short, I'm open to either physically strong or weak guys, as long as they've got the strength in heart, mind, soul, and spirit to meet their challenges.

    August 2, 2008 at 1:30 pm #74194
    Pug
    Participant

    As a fan, I think it comes down to  two things
    A) Whether or not I have to work to maintain suspension of disbelief, and
    B) whether or not I can identify with the male character.

    As far as A) goes – I have a much easier time believing in something that makes women bigger, healthier, and of course sexier without other side effects than I do in something that does all that to women *and* causes men to lose mass without side effects – which is usually the case if that second 'the men shrink' clause is active – and frankly, 'no other side effects' is kinda integral to the story, because the kind of affectionate woman one hopes to see in stories like this is *going* to stop if she realizes she's actually causing harm – if she's not, she's a monster no matter how sexily she's written.

    Not that a good writer can't get me worked up despite that – I think I have every story MarkNew has written, but all in all I'd rather women getting more formidable than men waning, and I think you can get the same imbalance that is fun in these stories without either women becoming giantesses or men becoming decrepit shades – <G>.

    B) although I personally am a pretty big man, in both healthy and unhealthy ways, the characters personality is more important than his physical size as far as my empathizing with him goes. Like most people, I have days when I am bloody brilliant, and days where I would shoot myself if only I had the energy, but most days are in between, both and neither at different times. Anyone can be spineless or brave in certain contexts – as long as they have an actual personality, with the inconsistencies we all carry, I think most readers will happily enjoy and empathize with a well drawn out character better than a stereotype, whether the stereotype is that of a hero or a wimp.

    Pug

    August 2, 2008 at 5:08 pm #74195
    1st_Tsurugi
    Participant

    My male protagonists (I say that as though I've written more than one story) are usually weaker in terms of sheer brute force, however, as I don't like domination stories or things of that nature, they will often have some other attribute that can even the score.  Things like some sort of super power, superior fighting technique, a sword  :).

    But sometimes, the score can't really be evened  😉

    August 15, 2008 at 12:50 am #74196
    ratlaf
    Participant

    My initial reaction is: Isn't that why we're all here?  To imagine what it would be like if the woman(women) in our lives were physically superior to their men.

    After thinking a bit i realize it's a bit more complex than that.

    Me personally, all my women characters are vastly stronger than their male counterparts.  However my male characters aren't weak characters, otherwise their women wouldn't find them attractive…

    I do have several stories where the male character is physically strong and/or a match for their women. 
    – In "4400 Circus Man" the male character is a circus weightlifter who in the present day would be a contender for the Mr. Olympia, yet his woman is still much stronger than he is. 
    – In "MightyMuscleMaiden" when the female main character is in her petite state her man can carry her around as easilly as she can, no matter what her muscle size.  Something she enjoys as much as being exponentially stronger than her man.
    – "Deep Cover Op" features a love interest who again would be a Mr. Olympia contender, being suddenly attracted to the main female character, after she bests him in the strength and muscle department.
    – "The Door"'s main character is a natural martial artist, so skilled that his woman's strength advantage is barely enough to best him.
    – In the "XX Factor" (still unwritten), the main character will be a college hockey player, a total jock, who causes every 20th woman who comes within 20 feet of him to, over 20 days, grow 20" taller and 20 times more muscular.  He begins with the physical superiority and the story will deal with how he and the women around him deal with the changes that take place.

    Follow the link in the footer of my posts to read my stories…!

    All in all I try to keep my male character strong in personality and confidence, while making my women the physically superior of the two. 

    For me that's why I'm here…

    August 15, 2008 at 5:01 am #74197
    Robert McNay
    Participant

    I prefer seeing some equality between the male and female characters in my stories. I think it makes for a richer relationship, an inherent respect between them.

    That's why wrote the Vampire stories I posted the way I did. Being a vampire, you know Lillyia is superhuman in her strength, though you don't quite know just how strong she is. So, I made Craig a human extreme bodybuilder. His confidence and power impressed Lillyia and earned her respect, then her trust and emotional commitment to him. She then gifted him some her power, increasing the equality between them.

    IMO, it makes for a much more mature and believable dynamic between Craig and Lillyia.

    Kind of the dynamic I wish I could find with a woman.  ;D

    September 14, 2008 at 12:18 am #74198
    Mark Newman
    Participant

    In the early days of Amazon stories the male characters always seemed to be 5'1" and 105 lbs.  I'm glad those days are over.

    I like the male characters to be as normal as possible so that, as Pug says, I can identify with him.  It makes the contrast with the stronger or superstrong female more personal, more real, and ultimately more arousing for me.

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