The Contagonist

Hello everyone, Winnie Griggs here.

I recently came across a term for a story character type that I’d never heard before – Contagonist. Of course I’d heard of protagonists and antagonists and knew what those meant, but what in the world was a CONtagonist? 

So I immediately had to do some research to discover what this was. First, if you’re like me and haven’t heard this term before, let’s define it. A Contagonist is a term coined by Dramatica which is a software package for writers. 

They define it as …the character that balances the Guardian. If Protagonist and Antagonist can … be thought of as "Good" versus "Evil," the Contagonist is "Temptation" to the Guardian's "Conscience."  It’s like one of those cartoons you see where there’s an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other - the contagonist is the devil which represents temptation.  

So where the antagonist is in direct opposition to the protagonist, the contagonist doesn’t necessarily want to oppose or harm your protagonist, they simply provide a hinderance by placing temptations and/or obstacles, be they deliberate or otherwise, in your protagonist’s path. In fact the Contagonist could actually be your protagonist’s close friend or a loved one.

One example I’ve seen used a lot when I researched this is that of the Wizard from The Wizard of Oz.  The Wicked Witch is the antagonist, the one who is diametrically opposed to Dorothy. The Wizard, unlike The Wicked Witch, is not opposed to Dorothy per se and has no animosity toward her. But he does get in her way, sidetracking her pursuit of her goal to return home to Kansas.

Another often used example, and this one surprised me, is Darth Vader. I’d always viewed  him as the antagonist but the real antagonist of the movies is the Emperor. Darth is the contagonist because he isn’t out to destroy Luke per se, (and we learn why in the second movie). Rather he constantly tries to tempt Luke to join him on the dark side. He even poses obstacles for the Empire in several instances.

I came up with an example on my own 😊 when I re-watched  the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. The contagonist I found (or at least one of them) was in the character of Elizabeth’s father, Governor Swann.  Obviously he has his daughter’s best interests at heart.  And he is squarely in the camp of the ‘good guys’.  Yet he provides obstacles to the path of true love since he believes that the best interests of Elizabeth include marriage to the dashing Norrington rather than the lowly blacksmith’s apprentice.  So, because of his paternal interference, our heroine faces the unenviable dilemma of choosing between her heart’s desire and pleasing her father.

As you can see, the contagonist can be a very powerful character archetype, especially when it comes to improving the pacing and upping tension in your story. They can provide the conflict, opposition and tension when the antagonist isn’t on the page, they can send your protagonist down wrong paths and rabbit trails, and they can tempt your protagonist to “come out and play” rather than keep their eye on their goal.

So let’s discuss. Unlike me, were you already familiar with this character type? Can you think of some additional examples? Do you have a favorite contagonist character?

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