What’s the difference between a viewpoint character and a protagonist?

15/2/2021

Every novel has a viewpoint character and a protagonist. However, they’re not necessarily the same person, at least not all of the time. Here’s a quick guide that explains the differences.

Major characters aren’t always protagonists

Stories usually have multiple characters, and often have more than one major character. However, just because a character has a major role does not make them a protagonist.

Stories can be narrated by different characters in a book. Whoever’s head the reader is in is called the viewpoint character. However, just because a character is narrating a story does not make them a protagonist or a major character.

Protagonists

We can think of protagonists as having a MACRO role.

The protagonist is the person whose experiences drive the story. The novel revolves around them. Readers are usually more connected to them than any other character.

It’s their choices and motivations that affect the direction of the story.
It’s they who are thwarted by obstacles.
It’s they who we root for as they attempt to find resolution.

Viewpoint characters

We can think of viewpoint characters as having a MICRO role.

The POV character is the person whose internal experiences drive a scene or chapter.

Through them we access the detail of a scene.
It’s through their lens that we perceive what’s going on in the moment.
We know what they see, hear, believe, feel and report.

Is the protagonist always the viewpoint character?

No, the viewpoint character and the protagonist can be different characters. While your protagonist might often be the POV character, one doesn’t always equal the other.

A POV character can be the protagonist, the antagonist, a major secondary character, a minor character, or a bystander who makes but one appearance. As long as it’s their head we’re in, and they who are reporting the scene through their experience of it, they’re the viewpoint character.

Your protagonist, however, is always your protagonist, whether they’re in a scene, doing something else somewhere else, or lying unconscious in some back alley.

Applying the terminology: An example

I’m using Linwood Barclay’s Parting Shot to illustrate the distinction between viewpoint character, protagonist, main character and secondary character.

The protagonist is Cal Weaver, a private investigator. It’s his experience that drives the story, his decisions that affect the direction it takes, his journey we invest in. Is he the viewpoint character, too? Often but not always.

Barry Duckworth is a major character, and he narrates multiple chapters in the book. He is therefore sometimes the viewpoint character but never the protagonist.
Jeremy Plimpton is a major character and the prime suspect. He is the person Cal is charged with protecting and is often present, yet not a single chapter is offered through his viewpoint. Cal is always the narrator in scenes and chapters where he appears.
Cory Calder is a secondary character and the antagonist. He pops up more later in the book as the plot thickens. There are three chapters in which he is the viewpoint character, despite his secondary role.

Here's a breakdown that shows you how Barclay weaves multiple viewpoint characters into the first 17 chapters of the book.

Chapter 1
POV character: Cal Weaver
Role: Protagonist
Narration style: First person
Notes: We start the book by meeting our protagonist, Cal. The first-person narration style places the reader firmly in his head. We’re in his mind, experiencing his thoughts, emotions and senses with him.

Chapter 2
POV character: Barry Duckworth
Role: Major character
Narration style: Third-person limited
Notes: We meet new viewpoint character, a detective called Barry. His chapters are always narrated in third-person limited. There’s a smattering of free indirect style – third-person narration that has the essence of first person – such that even though the pronoun used is ‘he’, the reader still sees, hears, thinks and feels along with Barry. Multiple chapters are offered from this major character’s viewpoint.

Chapter 3
POV character: Cal Weaver
Role: Protagonist
Narration style: First person

Chapter 4
POV character: Barry Duckworth
Role: Major character
Narration style: Third-person limited

Chapter 5
POV character: Cal Weaver
Role: Protagonist
Narration style: First person

Chapter 6
POV character: Barry Duckworth
Role: Major character
Narration style: Third-person limited

Chapter 7
POV character: Cal Weaver
Role: Protagonist
Narration style: First person

Chapter 8
POV character: Barry Duckworth
Role: Major character
Narration style: Third-person limited

Chapter 9
POV character: Cal Weaver
Role: Protagonist
Narration style: First person

Chapter 10A
POV character: Monica Gaffney
Role: Secondary character
Narration style: Third-person objective
Notes: The reportage feel of the prose means it’s only just obvious that we’re experiencing the world through Monica’s lens.

Chapter 10B
POV character: Monica Gaffney
Role: Secondary character
Narration style: Third-person limited
Notes: In this section, we’re drawn deeper into Monica’s emotional experience – a third-person-limited narration through which we access her thoughts.

Chapter 10C
POV character: Albert Gaffney
Role: Secondary character
Narration style: Third-person limited
Notes: We shift to a new viewpoint character, that of Albert Gaffney (Monica’s father). The limited narration allows us to access an emotional response (e.g. ‘He steeled himself’).

Chapter 11
POV character: Barry Duckworth
Role: Major character
Narration style: Third-person limited

Chapter 12
POV character: Cal Weaver
Role: Protagonist
Narration style: First person

Chapter 13
POV character: Trevor Duckworth
Role: Secondary character
Narration style: Third-person objective
Notes: Now we’re in the head of Barry’s son, Trevor. The third-person narration style is objective for the most part, but firmly rooted in Trevor’s experience.

Chapter 14
POV character: Brian Gaffney
Role: Secondary character
Narration style: Third-person limited
Notes: The POV character is now Brian, Monica’s brother. The author enhances the third-person limited narration with free indirect speech (e.g. ‘It sure was nice to get out of the hospital. Even though his family had come to see him, the visit had stressed him out.’) to narrow the narrative distance between the reader and the character, and root us in Brian’s head.

Chapter 15
POV character: Barry Duckworth
Role: Major character
Narration style: Third-person limited

Chapter 16
POV character: Cal Weaver
Role: Protagonist
Narration style: First person

Chapter 17
POV character: Barry Duckworth
Role: Major character
Narration style: Third-person limited

It goes on until the final chapter wraps up with Cal’s first-person viewpoint. We are in his head as he recalls critical information that enables him to put it all together and verbally reveal whodunnit to his audience.

There are 65 chapters in total, each with distinct viewpoint characters narrating the scene. As each viewpoint character takes a turn, they show us what’s happening through their actions, emotions, thoughts and senses.

The characters – major and secondary – play a variety of key roles.

Some, the Plimpton family members for example, enrich the fabric of this fictional world by exposing the dirt beneath the shiny surface, and seeding clues that could provide motive.
One places obstacles in Cal’s way that thwart his (and our) understanding of who the guilty party is and threaten his and Jeremy’s safety.
Some are Cal’s allies. They ground the story and provide authenticity. For example, Barry and his police procedural work.
One – Jeremy, the suspect in Cal’s charge – helps us root for Cal because a deeper exploration of his character enables us to doubt his guilt and support Cal’s quest to discover the truth.

But there is only one protagonist. It is Cal’s job throughout to discover who did what, and why.

Even when he’s not in the scene, and therefore not the viewpoint character, he’s driving the direction of the story, the goal of which is to understand how a young girl came to die.

Summing up

The key is not to confuse the terms ‘major’, ‘protagonist’ and ‘viewpoint’. Those attributions don’t mean the same thing. To summarize:

A novel can have multiple viewpoint characters, each taking a turn to narrate part of the story. Their viewpoints will enrich the tale but their overall goals don’t underpin it. The viewpoint character could be the protagonist, the antagonist, a major character, or a secondary character. As long as they’re narrating, they’re the viewpoint character.

A novel will usually have only one protagonist. They might be the viewpoint character throughout, in which case we only ever see the world through their lens. Or they might be temporarily absent and allow others to tell a part of the tale and share their emotions and experiences.

A novel will usually have other major and secondary characters whose experiences are central to the story. They might get a chance to narrate the story and therefore be the viewpoint character, or their experiences might be narrated by someone else.

About Louise Harnby

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.