Protagonist Examples

A protagonist is the main character in a text. While the protagonist is often the "good guy," that does not have to be the case. The protagonist can be a bad person.

A protagonist in a story has some type of problem or conflict. In many stories, the protagonist has an antagonist-someone or something that is in conflict with the protagonist.

1. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is the protagonist. She has a conflict because she must enter the games and fight.

2. In Charlotte's Web, the protagonist is Wilbur. He has a conflict because he might be eaten!

3. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet are the protagonists. Their conflict is with their families-they love each other but their families do not.

4. In MacBeth, MacBeth is the protagonist. He and his wife have murdered the king, and their conflict is that their secret is getting out-and they have internal conflict because they feel guilty.

5. In the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris is the protagonist. His conflict is that school is boring, so he skips-but has to make sure he doesn't get caught!

6. In the movie The Little Mermaid, Ariel is the protagonist. Her conflict is that she is in love with a human and her father doesn't understand.

7. In the story "Little Red Riding Hood," Red Riding Hood is the protagonist. Her conflict is that the wolf wants to eat her, and she must figure out that he is not her grandmother!

8. In the story Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennett is the protagonist. While she has several conflicts in the story, one main one is that she has feelings for Mr. Darcy, but he has wounded her pride.

9. In The Wizard of Oz, the protagonist is Dorothy. Her main conflict is that she wants to get home to Kansas-and she faces many other conflicts and problems along the way.

10. In The Secret Garden, the protagonist is Mary. Her main conflict is that she is trying to find love and belonging in a new home with her uncle after her parents are killed.