Antagonist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An antagonist is a character or group of characters, or, sometimes an institution of a happening who represents the opposition against which the hero(es) or protagonist(s) must contend. In the classic style of story wherein the action consists of a hero fighting a villain, the two can be regarded as protagonist and antagonist, respectively.
Writers have also created more complex situations. In some instances, the story is told from the villain's point of view, and any hero trying to stop said villain can be regarded as an antagonist. Such antagonists are usually police officers or other law enforcement officials. In the film K-19: The Widowmaker, an American film about a Soviet Cold War submarine crew, the crew, enemies of the United States, are depicted as protagonists, creating something of a paradox.
More often, stories simply do not have characters that are readily identifiable as most heroic or villainous. Instead, the antagonist becomes that character, group, or metaphysical force which provides the chief obstruction to the protagonist(s) of the story. Note that the antagonist is not necessarily human; often, the forces of nature or psychological elements provide this element of opposition. For example, Final Destination features a metaphysical, though possibly sentient, personification of death which tries to kill people in gruesome "accidents" as part of some large plan.
