Conflict is always found in story and is the dilemma that is getting in the way of the hero’s goal. Conflict creates tension for the character and puts him in danger.
Conflicts occur in stories with enough regularity that it is possible to distinguish and list these conflicts:
– Brains vs. Brawn: intelligence against brute strength
– Rags to Riches: personal struggle for achievement
– Good vs. Evil: set equal forces against another
– Role Reversals: through the eyes of the “other” and experience how they live
– Courage and Survival: disaster that must be overcome
– Peacemakers: “good” protects the weak and stands up for what is right
– Tempting Fate: hero goes against established order of things (maybe for good, maybe for personal gain)
– Fish out of Water: Character is transported to a different time or place and must learn to adapt
– Ship of fools: Several fully defined but distinct characters must navigate an adventure together
– Buddy Stories: A focus on strengths and contrasts of characters to overcome adversity and become friends
– Love Stories: romantic relationships that focuses on the trials that bring two people together or tears them apart
– Quest and Journeys: hero go through time or place to achieve goal and finds himself changed in the process
In features, there will be multiple conflicts. A primary conflict with secondary and tertiary conflicts found as a results of subplots.
I watched Despicable Me and How to Train your Dragon and identified the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary conflicts found in the stories. Click the image above to see my analysis.
Lesson about Conflict was from Ideas for the Animated Short by Sullivan, Schumer, and Alexander.