In Animation – The Villain DEFINES the Hero | By Paul Liberti

All of the characters in animation stories – are connected.

One of the great lessons we learn in Animation Character Creation – is that all of the characters in animation stories – are connected.

The Hero and the Villain balance good and evil in the story and must balance each other. The story’s antagonist defines the protagonist’s limits and vice-versa, and the depth of the Hero’s strength is defined by the villain’s strengths – and weaknesses.

When given the opportunity, you must learn all you can from all the characters in a story as they must balance each other out. If the Hero can easily conquer the villain, there is no story. Often it can look bad for the Hero – but with some conquering of their weakness, they define their storylines.

There is always a story ‘payoff’ promised to the audience that we must understand comes directly from the balance of those characters. Learn and understand your character and how it fits in with the others as the story unfolds.

This Character Balance carries over to audiobook narration, Video Game Characters, and all character acting. In any story – discover everyone in the story that your character balances against – The villain, the love interest, the Hero, the best friend – and you will begin to find your story arcs and have a strong balance as you start telling your story.

Paul Liberti
https://paulliberti.com/
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