How to Make a Great Anti-Hero | The Mandalorian

people love the mandalorian for many reasons whether it's the gritty action the wacky side characters or the heart melting moments with baby Oda there is plenty to love about this TV series so much in fact that nobody is talking about one of the key ingredients to the show's success and that ingredient is how the writers make their antihero likeable and the way they do it is by fleshing out their main character at the midpoint of each episode if you've never heard of the midpoint don't worry today I'll explain what it is and how it functions and I'll be using the mandalorian as a teaching example just to be clear I'll be focusing on episodes 3 through 6 so consider that your spoiler warning now the midpoint is not to be confused with what you learned in high school geometry class that's not the midpoint we're talking about rather what we're looking at is a plot point that occurs around the 50% mark of a story that's where it happens but locating the midpoint isn't enough we need to understand how it functions in a story and what is its purpose now unfortunately for writers defining the midpoint can be tricky because there are so many definitions out there for instance the popular screenwriting guide save the cap describes the midpoint as a false victory or a false defeat and this means that your heroes will probably have some success here maybe they win a battle or they find something they were searching for but because there's still another half to your story you can't have a complete victory or a complete defeat here save the cat also suggests that the stakes are raised at the midpoint meaning that your protagonist should have more to gain and more to lose at this point in the story another writing guide called story engineering suggests that the midpoint should do other things as well in this book Larry Brooks says the midpoint should reveal new information and this can be something like a villains plan or an important piece of character backstory something that changes our understanding of the story and causes the characters to shift their focus Brooks also says that the protagonist should go from being reactive to proactive at this point meaning that instead of having your story dragged the main character around like a does in the first half that character should now go on the attack and actively pursue a goal then there's one more definition and this one comes from James Scott Bell in his book write your novel from the middle he describes the midpoint as a moment where a character is forced to look at himself and ask himself questions like who am i and who do I want to become this to me is the most important definition of the midpoint and that's because most stories are about character change usually in the first half of a story the main character is flawed and causing problems as a result of that flaw then at the midpoint they often have a moment of clarity they reflect on who they are and then they take that first step toward becoming a different person the third episode of the mandalorian is a great example of this in the first half mando returns to his employer to drop off baby Yoda and collect his payment when he hands over the kid he asks what will happen to the child but he doesn't get a satisfying answer eventually mando returns to his ship with a new job but right as he's about to take off he has a moment of midpoint clarity he notices that one of the knobs on his ships control panel has been removed by the child and this is a touching moment for both the audience and for mando who reflects on his time with baby Yoda and ultimately decides to save the kid from his client this is a moment of high emotional impact and in my opinion this is where the show went from being good to great also notice here that mando not only chooses to be a better person at this midpoint he also goes on the attack after being relatively passive up till then episode 4 follows a similar pattern here we see mando and baby Otis seeking out a planet where they can lay low they end up settling near a village where the locals have recently been attacked by Raiders these villagers request mandos help but at first he's reluctant to get involved and by the way am I the only one who got a seven samurai vibe from this episode let me know in the comments below if you were thinking the same thing anyway after agreeing to help the locals mando realizes that he's up against more than just bandits turns out that the bad guys have an Imperial Walker and mando ends up suggesting that everyone should just pack up and leave but when the locals explain how much the village means to them mando has another moment of mid-point clarity he decides to help them and his motivation has a to do with his own past and how he was once a child growing up in a war zone that motivation humanizes the man beneath the helmet and it makes us like him a lot more now the midpoint in Episode five doesn't have significant impact like the previous two but that's okay not every midpoint needs to build a heavy emotional connection between the audience and main character sometimes it's enough just to show off how a character operates if you remember in this episode mando teams up with a wannabe bounty hunter to catch an assassin at the midpoint mando discovers the assassins latest victim and he is soon attacked himself this particular moment doesn't show mando making any heavy decisions but we do witness his bounty hunter skills on display particularly his ability to strategize in the face of danger it's also worth noting that he shifts from search mode to attack mode and thus becomes proactive you can also argue that the midpoint here is a small victory seeing as they locate their target and can now finish the job these examples show how the midpoint can push your character in a new meaningful direction when it comes to anti-heroes writers often have to do extra legwork to keep the audience invested even in episode 6 the writers of the Mandalorians still use the midpoint to remind us why we should care about mando they do this by showing how mandos moral code shines in comparison to the moral codes of those other mercenaries that he teams up with whether you realize it or not moments like these are what keep audiences coming back week after week after week so the next time you're enjoying the story pay attention near the 50 percent mark keep an eye out for a false victory a revelation or a shift toward character change and ask yourself if you're beginning to like the main character more if that's the case chances are the writers did their job thank you for watching and if you're interested in picking up any of the books I mentioned in this video check the links in the description below also be sure to check out my other videos hit the like and subscribe buttons and if you don't mind share this video with a friend and as always if you are a writer remember to keep on writing

Channel: Writer Brandon McNulty

Views: 11,140

Keywords: The Mandalorian, Midpoint, antihero, anti-hero, the mandalorian analysis, baby yoda, mando, how to write anti hero, how to write an anti hero, writing antiheroes, writing, writing advice, mandalorian essay, mandalorian video essay, mandalorian breakdown, star wars, how to use a midpoint, plot structure, screenplay, screenwriting, story structure, save the cat, how to write characters, how to write character arcs, creative writing, story structure analysis, novel, plot, story, anti, hero

Id: DjzWr51HHjM

Length: 6min 30sec (390 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 26 2019