How to Write a Story with Dual Protagonist

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A question I get asked all the time is can you create a story with two protagonists? The short answer is of course, yes. But there’s a few different ways to do it. And you need to have a clear understanding of the type of Dual Protagonist story you are writing if you want the end result to work.
So what does a dual protagonist story look like? And how can you incorporate this idea into your own story? Today I will answer these questions and give you a practical look at writing Dual Protagonists.
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[@TylerMowery]

Get Practical Tools to Write Your Great Screenplay: www.practicalscreenwriting.com

[@adrianw.a.9384]

It's confirmed. Tyler is a psychic. I just started working on a story with two protagonists!

[@sadyoshhours2769]

Me too lmfao

[@lifeisgolden7608]

@lilmil me too lmfao

[@Torihappyness]

Mines an animated series.

[@adrianw.a.9384]

@@Torihappyness keep working on it! Much luck to you

[@puchopro1103]

Same

[@dlumyoung09]

I think Marriage Story would be another good example of a "Conflicting Protagonists" story.

[@jagbirsingh5791]

You can add Heat on the list.

[@mu5314]

smart......just smart

[@janhalouzka8582]

Name more iconic duo than Tyler and philosophical concept, I will wait

[@Seven71987]

King Clawthorne and Vee Noceda

[@jessegoonerage3999]

It can also be worth considering when writing from 2 perspectives can hurt your story. Nerdwriters video on passengers is a good example on how revealing everything to your audience can negatively impact tension and suspense. Its also worth considering what your story is about. Often writers like to have 2 or more characters at the centre because they havent really thought about the theme of their story, and who is fundamentally more important to conveying that theme. Too many perspectives can also make a story harder to follow. If we follow tim going to the store to buy some milk thats pretty clear, but if we also have to follow patricia arranging a divorce, it can become more difficult to follow along with the story.

[@francescovecchione3106]

I got so addicted to your content that I see this video literally 30 minutes after its release. Holy shit! I surprised myself!

[@nicholaspitti8171]

3:30 different than each other same goal. 4:00 take action to change the story 5:20 understand both

[@dir.george5458]

This is such a coincidence as I’m working on a story with two protagonist also haha

[@willadkins1354]

That’s not ironic, that’s coincidental.

[@dir.george5458]

@@willadkins1354 you're very right

[@mai_hai2274]

Hey how's it going? If you want to tell it to someone I'm here!

[@sofiberchenko5525]

My second protagonist was always like important, but I felt frustrated to make her another main character, because the story itself is more focused on my other character.

[@WoolgathererCinema]

I’m currently working on outlining an 80s buddy action screenplay & I was really having a bit of trouble with it. You really came in the clutch today. Thanks!!!

[@EaZiiDuzzIt105]

I'm doing a kind of buddy action screenplay but with one character being a woman and their relationship being lovingly platonic!

[@odwa2026]

I've actually been trying to find a vid like this u really been helping wit my writing ur a good guy man

[@user-bp4ys3xp1x]

I just want to say thank you as your channel helps not just me but a lot of aspiring authors. Wish you the best man.

[@RM-uy3yp]

I feel like the romance genre does a great example of the duel protagonist narrative. E.g. Pride & Prejudice, Notting Hill etc.

[@MinaF99]

Both those stories don’t have duel protagonists

[@benjaminread5287]

Good to see another video, simple and informative. I still need to catch up on the podcast, hard to find the time to listen 😂.

[@honnashankara3681]

You kinda read my mind.. This gives a lot of perspective! Thanks for this

[@munashemhungu3219]

You been a great help my guy.

[@rodannnkekw2866]

NEEDED THIS. THANKS!!

[@ai-man212]

LA Confidential is my favorite example of dual protagonists. The two cops start out hating each other. In the end they join forces.

[@theversacelife5232]

I GASPED THANK YOU I’ve been trying to find advise on dual protagonist for so so long omg you’re a saint

[@byakugan2173]

Scenes from Sleuth and Mysterious Skin. Nice.

[@TheNeonWerewolf]

Yesss!I've been writing a 2 protagonist story, but I haven't seen anyone talk about this.

[@FennyFoxx]

Thanks for the video, I’m working on becoming a writer someday and one of my ideas is to create a story involving two protagonists.

[@singaravelsudeeksha281]

I liked it in 'Agent Carter' series when they showed us Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa (although the main characters were Agent Carter and Jarvis) as there personality were very different from each other and relatable to us... I just wish we would soon get season 3 with Jack alive in it and get a solution to the cliffhanger... BTW, Tyler, how did you post this video at the same time I going to write a story with dual protagonist??? Could you even post a video for multi protagonist and how not to mess up a story/script with multi protagonist? Thank you so much Tyler :)

[@vivekchoudhary9301]

Watching from India 🇮🇳

[@akhilshajan7375]

Mallu

[@kunalpradhan9225]

@@akhilshajan7375 Chaudharys aren't mallu.

[@therohanexperiment2993]

@@kunalpradhan9225 he didnt say he way

[@user-rp8wg7nl5n]

🇰🇷 🌍

[@vivekchoudhary9301]

@@akhilshajan7375 I am from Uttarakhand

[@alexman378]

Dude, how do you do this? How? I’m writing a story right now with more than one protagonist and I was wondering what I could do to make it better, and here you come with this video. Why is it that when I always have some doubts and questions you come out with the exact video I need?

[@midorikia]

Great conclusion.

[@siddhant9818]

Good stuff man.

[@Mangofdestiny7]

now i'm wondering how to write three co-protagonists

[@KenyaWright]

This is a great channel for writers

[@aaronaquila1872]

Cobra Kai is a great example of Dual Protagonists

[@erickinsey7268]

Without spoiling the prestige there are. More than 2 protagonist

[@kemusephking5163]

I loved it!!!

[@trinktmalnent7744]

Searched for such a video a short time ago... and also watched the prestige a short time ago... it's scary...

[@benjaminread5287]

It's amazing that's what it is. Gotta love Nolan.

[@commonsense5199]

When you mentioned about giving too much of the spotlight on one character over the other. That is one my fears when it comes to writing including my fears of make each character the same person. I want characters the same I want to make each character original and distinct personalities. is okay that some of the characters that are lighthearted and some angry without making them too similar. Like let's say I write a superhero team for a tv show like the number 7, is it too many protagonists? or does a team have to be a "Five-man Band" and I want to know how the interaction and relationship feels natural and organic.

[@Aidenfilmsfriends]

glad i got this after finalizing my second draft about two protagonists lol

[@charliewilde7011]

I bet one of the first movies with two protagonists I watched was the Brokeback Mountain.

[@soulman888]

What about say in Cloud Atlas with multiple protagonists/antagonists? Or is there just the one soul (denoted by the shooting star birthmark) running through the whole movie? Thanks for your content Tyler! Always love it!

[@constancegoldwing5867]

Hey Tyler, what about multiple POV's? (in books). I know we are primarily talking screen plays here, however as a lot of the narrative rules apply in novel formats too, I was wondering what your take on this subject is regarding say, Game of Thrones. Book 1 for example. Eddard Stark is a clear protag, but is Tyrion, John and Caitlin also? Bran, Arya, Sansa and Dany have less 'screen time' in the books but I am wondering how the rule of duel/multiple protags applies or if there is only one clear one when multiple storylines are happening through different character viewpoints.

[@zzzzz7523]

Could you make a video of how and where can we sell our script? Thankss

[@ManasCITY]

My favourite example of dual protagonist is Naruto and sasuke

[@nickbarber100]

You should have done Boss Baby! One of my favorite kid's movies ever.

[@orangewarm1]

Interesting topic. There's a theory there can only be one protagonist. Eg if you watch Heat, you might think there are two, but actually, the protagonist is Vincent Hanna. If you watch The Departed you might think there are two, but actually the protagonist is the Matt Damon character. Tropa de Elite also has a similar thing.

[@saltyghostcrow]

Is it possible to write about four main protagonists for a story? I know Sense 8 had eight protagonists but would four main protagonists be easy to manage?

[@saucysoy2682]

May you do a video showing how to write a good movie trilogy??

[@Shan17992]

Malayalam film 'Ayappanum Koshiyum' has two conflicting protagonists and the makers had done it so well that we would be confused at many places to root for which one. Throughout, the film constantly questions our morals and righteousness as an audience. A great cinematic experience. The film is available in Amazon Prime.

[@seriouslyyyyy]

I'm a telugu guy....i have seen it malayalam.....the performances of both actors are top knotch....and clever screen writing too....

[@bonafide4874]

How do you know if you need two protagonists, though? Or vice versa, if you need to cut out a 'protagonist'? As in, when does it help to use/ have two protagonists and when does it help/ is important to only have one over having two?

[@bunnysenpai7471]

Okay what about game of thrones now. I am halfway through season 1. So far the stark family seems the protagonist. Jon snow seems to have his own sub plot on the wall. And each family member either acting as a supporting character in some scenarios, also take up major and important roles, have their own quests too. Is game of thrones a collection of sub plots with each having it's own protagonist messed together in an overarching story. Or an extremely complex story with multiple protagonists

[@riiddisbuk2496]

I've been thinking of writing something like this for a while. But because of my stress, anxiety and all forms of mental illness I have, I can't write them well ;(

[@eklipser2627]

Anybody can answer, but when writing a story with two protagonists how can they follow the 3 act structure? They are literally on two different sides of the same coin. Does the first protagonist have a disaster in the first act followed by the other second protagonist having a disaster in the second act? Do they each have their own disaster throughout the same acts at the same point? Any advice is appreciated

[@refriedboogie]

Candi wants to find Velouria and help him. Mr.Grieves wants to find Velouria as well. One is the adoptive mother and the other is a tortured soul. One seeks their son and the other wants answers. Ultimately they want peace at any cost since they have nothing to lose.

[@refriedboogie]

Candi was turned into a demon via satanic rituals. She was later turned into a vampire when a family of vampires took her under their wing.

[@VegimorphtheMovieBoy]

I got a bit overly ambitious with my first feature and thought I was creating four protagonists. The third and fourth don't show up as much as the first and second. Would that mean they're secondary protagonists or just supporting characters?

[@MajorJack92]

Mortal Engines has "four protagonists" from what I rememebr. You should check it out

[@Seven71987]

I have reworked my version of Owl House King & Vee (Scrappion King & Scrappion Vee) to be more unique co-protaganists.

[@mistrae7]

If I have two protagonists, should I write in first person POV or second person POV?

[@ravishankarvenus7029]

Pease, how to write a road movie, please? Thank you

[@baxterjaye3984]

Do these same rules apply when I want to write a story with, say, four protagonists?

[@noahyumuk4702]

Perfect example for conflicting Protagonists is Death Note

[@wannabewriter]

saw this in recommended and thought "Wow it would be cool to write a story with conflicting protagonists." I was then shut down.

[@zyxer3610]

Instantly thought of arcane when reading the title

[@juju10683]

Is Lethal Weapon a duel protagonist story or is Danny Glover’s character just a mentor character for Mel Gibson’s character?

[@BrandonNinja]

Conflicting protagonists is what I'm doing.

[@SkyHakym]

Would buddy comedy movies like Monsters Inc/University (or any movie driven by partnership like Mystic River/Sherlock) not count as dual protagonist movies because the spotlight is just a bit more on one protagonist than their buddy? Indeed, the line is quite blurry (and I suppose that’s the lesson to take away- that these dual protagonists movies aren’t built on different foundations from a traditional story).

[@polar6066]

im having an issue where i feel my history has no protag at all lol everyone else has their storyline then the dude is just, there, blank. i was thinking about making something out of that in a meta way but idk

[@jirayu350a]

Should we only have one philosophical conflict in the movie or not?

[@carpetcatco]

When you got 2+ protags... :')

[@quieracollins5127]

What about romance??

[@josephlomingo3106]

Is it necessary for both protagonists undergo the same character arc?

[@greggeverman5578]

Probably not.

[@CharroArgentino]

Same goal is not the same as same arc, both can walk the same path but reach different conclusions at the end, even if they achieve the same goal, their growth would be different.

[@InSomiON]

Two protagonists are Jack and Ashi, right? They were having different style and point of view about life and Aku.

[@scheduledmaintanence1616]

Is this the concept of friendship?

[@doublelizard767]

Yerv? Is that you?

[@GustavoSilva-ny8jc]

0:09 Kick Freud and put Jung there (and maybe Nietzsche on the other side)

[@anshumanroy1551]

Love from India 🇮🇳

[@anshumanroy1551]

Yep

[@mn-ru4li]

OMFG!

[@nuthing8893]

It's almost as if u stalking me...been working on something similar for the past month

[@user-xg7cr6ky9m]

Meanwhile over here I'm writing a story with 3 protagonist-

[@trafalgarlaw8373]

I would say the original definition is very bad. A protagonist in a story is much more defined by being the audience/reader's entry point/POV, even if they are a passive character. Very often in stories the villains/antagonists are the ones actively causing trouble and moving the plot, that doesn't make them the protagonist. The protagonist generally is who the audience follows through the story.

[@pedronevesurias2318]

My story has like eight fucking protagonists... 😐🤔

[@film_magician]

Dude, you're wrong about shawshank. It's Red's story. 100%. He's the hero.

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

It's Andy's story told through Red. Red is the perspective character. That doesn't make him the character driving the story.

[@quieracollins5127]

Bride wars 😂