Today, we’re going to talk about contagonists. While you might be unfamiliar with this term, by the end of this post, you’ll probably realize that the contagonist is actually a quite common character in fiction.

We all know about the protagonist and the antagonist… but what is a contagonist? Put simply, a contagonist is kind of a combination of the protagonist and antagonist. He’s a good guy… but he’s also a bad guy.

Basically, a contagonist is someone who might be on the MC’s side, but he and the MC don’t exactly get along. In fact, in some cases, they might hate each other’s guts. But, for some reason or another, they’re stuck together working against the antagonist.

Like the other supporting characters, a contagonist can take on more than one role. He can also be a sidekick, a child character, a love interest, or even a mentor. He can be portrayed more as a good character who’s been a little misled, or a bad character who happens to be fighting on the good side. However, at his core, he’s a contagonist who clashes with the MC.

Let’s take a look at a few things to consider when writing a contagonist:

1. Antagonist stand-in

While your antagonist should provide much of the conflict in the story, he won’t always be present for every scene. So having a contagonist who is there for most scenes is a perfect way to add conflict. As we’ll look at in the next few points, this conflict can arise for various reasons, but the main thing is that there is conflict.

Think about it this way… the MC is already stressed out trying to defeat the antagonist and wrestling with their internal conflict. So it would be nice if they could have some downtime when they’re not fighting the villain—it would be great if they were surrounded by supportive friends.

However, when the MC gets back to their “safe space” (home, headquarters, hideout, etc.), the contagonist is still around. The MC has no rest, even when away from the antagonist because the contagonist adds to their worries, doubts, fears, dangers, and obstacles.

In the Bible, we find that Nebuchadnezzar acts somewhat as an antagonist and contagonist. In fact, sometimes he’s pretty much the villain. However, other times, he’s not quite antagonistic towards Daniel. But even then, Daniel still has to be careful because, after all, Nebuchadnezzar is the king, and has the power to kill him if he wishes.

In the movie “Do You Believe?,” the gangster, Kriminal, isn’t quite the antagonist. But he’s not exactly a good guy, either. While it’s clear that he and his brother, Percy, are close, it’s also clear that Kriminal will do whatever is necessary to achieve his goal. Kriminal’s actions to get back his money provide many obstacles to various MCs… even ultimately causing the climatic car crash at the end.

2. Lie vs. Truth

When writing a contagonist, you’ll need to pinpoint his belief. Typically, the contagonist will believe a Lie, but even that can vary. If the MC is a Flat Arc, the contagonist will pretty much always believe some kind of Lie that’s opposite the Truth. However, if the MC is a Positive Change Arc, there are several other options.

• Opposite Lies

This is when the MC believes a Lie (like “I can never be worthy”), and the contagonist believes another Lie that’s on the other end of the spectrum (like “I am worthy”). Neither believes the actual Truth (like “I can be worthy, but only by the grace of God”), but their Lies are still opposed to each other. These types of Lies can often provide needed conflict in the story.

• Similar Lies

Sometimes, both the MC and the contagonist will believe a Lie that’s similar, but one is to a bigger extreme. For example, if the MC’s Lie is “I can never be worthy,” the contagonist’s Lie might be “No one can ever be worthy.”

• Identical Lies

Other times, the MC and the contagonist might have the exact same belief. At first, it might seem that they should be best friends because of their beliefs in the same Lie. However, it’s possible that believing the same Lie could bring about more conflict. Like if both the MC and the contagonist believe the Lie that “Only I am worthy,” that could cause a lot of strife between them.

An example from the Bible of characters who believe the Lie is Job’s friends. While Job may have been out of line in demanding an answer from God, his friends were even more off by suggesting that God was punishing Job for his sins.

In the movie, “Inside Out,” Joy’s Lie is that Sadness is never a good thing, and is totally useless. And, as the movie goes on, we see that Sadness actually holds a similar Lie, believing that she herself is useless. However, after Joy realizes the Truth, she shows Sadness her own worth so that they can save Riley together.

Those are the main types of Lies that a contagonist can believe, but I also want to mention that it is possible for a contagonist to believe the Truth. This usually occurs when the MC acts as their own antagonist, like in the story of Jonah in the Bible.

If Jonah had listened to God and obeyed, there would have been no storm, no sailors, and no big fish. However, because of God’s belief in the Truth (after all, He is Truth), he sends those difficulties Jonah’s way to put him back on the right path. So not exactly antagonistic, but since God was obstructing Jonah’s goal, it can be counted as contagonistic.

3. Opposition

Whatever Lie (or Truth) the contagonist believes, he will be in opposition to the MC and/or his goal. At the very least, their relationship will be strained for some reason or another. This could be because of opposing beliefs, opposing goals, or even events in the past that caused a rift between them.

However, there are two ways that a contagonist can oppose the MC:

• Accidentally

Yes, while the point of a contagonist is to obstruct the MC in some way, they’re not always doing it on purpose. In fact, they might like the MC and want to help them. But their actions—done with good intentions—might have bad results.

We see this in the Bible with Peter and Jesus. While Peter quite clearly loved Jesus and wanted to follow Him, he often had the wrong way of doing things. From rebuking Jesus, to ordering Him around, to cutting off someone’s ear, Peter appears to be very protective of Jesus. However, he seems to forget the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, and has come to earth for the purpose of dying.

This is also found in the book (and movie), “Sense and Sensibility” in the character Lucy Steele. While her choices are sometimes questionable, it appears that she was quite sincere in her friendship with Elinor. However, she little knew that her engagement to Edward was actually the main cause of Elinor’s unhappiness.

• Purposely

Of course, we usually find that contagonists oppose the MC on purpose. As I said before, this could be for various reasons. But their relationship with the MC will most likely be filled with some level of disgust, spite, bitterness, envy, or hate. Some contagonists will even go out of their way to obstruct the MC’s goals—perhaps simply because of their dislike for the MC.

In the Bible, we find that Esau is an example of this. While Jacob cheating him out of his birthright and blessing wasn’t exactly the right thing to do, Esau had the wrong reaction to it. In fact, these events ended up separating the brothers for years. And even when they finally reunited, it appears that their relationship was never quote the same.

In the movie, “Zootopia,” Nick Wilde is somewhat of a sidekick/contagonist. In the beginning, however, he takes on characteristics that border on antagonistic. Resenting Judy for her personality, beliefs, job, and also for the fact that he’s stuck with her, he tries to obstruct her as much as he can. However, as we see later, he eventually finds himself sticking up for her and truly helping her.

4. Similarities

So, if the contagonist acts so antagonistic towards the MC, why on earth is he on the good side? Typically, the contagonist and the MC will be stuck with each other for some reason. They might be relatives, or forced to work together to achieve their individual goals, or a higher authority puts them together.

While they might not like each other very much, the contagonist and MC still have some things in common—in fact, these may be the very reasons they don’t like each other. Perhaps their personalities are similar, or they have the same goal, or they believe the same Lie. Perhaps they have regard for one character (such as a sidekick or love interest)—or disregard for another character (such as the antagonist). Perhaps they both respect their mutual leader or mentor. Perhaps they have similar interests or hobbies.

Whatever the similarities are, the MC and the contagonist might choose to ignore them at first. However, by the end of the story, they may come to recognize and even appreciate those similarities.

In the case of Abraham and Lot, they were stuck together simply because they were family. While Abraham didn’t agree with Lot on some things, he put up with him. But Lot’s selfish choices sometimes caused Abraham inconveniences, such as when he chose the best land, or when he got captured because of his choice to live in Sodom.

In the movie, “Monsters University,” Mike and Sully pretty much hate each other’s guts at first. However, they’re forced to work together to win the Scare Games to achieve their goal of getting back into the university. While both share the trait of being incredibly stubborn, neither of them wants to acknowledge it at first (for obvious reasons).

5. Ending

There are many different ways that the contagonist can finish off their story, depending on their arc. If they’re a Flat Arc, they will graciously receive the MC as he comes to believe the Truth. If they’re any kind of negative arc, they will eventually betray or otherwise obstruct the MC so much that it will be their own downfall.

The most common ending for a contagonist, however, is for the Positive Change Arc character. Usually, the contagonist will end up becoming good friends with the MC, and they will learn to work together and help each other overcome various obstacles.

In the story of David, we find that Joab was a very confusing contagonist. At times, he was very loyal to David, but it also seems that he did his own things. He sometimes disobeyed David’s orders, yet other times gave him wise advice. Sadly, in the end, he betrayed David by following Adonijah, and Solomon eventually had him killed.

In the movie, “The Prince of Egypt,” Aaron was quite opposed to Moses for much of the story, even going so far as to mock and ridicule him. However, by the end of the story, we see that he is spurred on by Moses’ courage, even taking his own step of faith. The brothers’ relationship ends in a much better place, with hope in the future that they might even become as close as Moses and Rameses once were.

Here are a few more contagonists from the Bible:

1. Ishmael

2. Simon the sorcerer

And here are some examples from fiction:

1. Rolf, Briosa, Alistair, Cassidy, Fergus, etc. (“The Baker Family Adventures”)

2. The Scot; Maria (“The Mountain Fortress: Escape to the Outback”)

3. Buzz Lightyear (“Toy Story”)

4. Mr. Brown (“Paddington”)

5. Wilbur Robinson (“Meet the Robinsons”)

Comment below your favorite contagonist!