Class

the dramatic progression which builds the Obstacle Character's pressure on the Main Character to change

The Obstacle Character is defined by its relationship to the Main Character. The Main Character represents the audience's position in the story which, in a sense, represents our sense of self within our own minds. When we consider changing our outlook in regard to a particular issue, we entertain an alternative viewpoint which we examine thoroughly before either adopting or rejecting. The Obstacle Character represents that alternative point of view. In stories, as in our own minds, this alternative view is seen from where we are positioned currently. After all, when it comes to changing something about who we are, we don't just make that change without first trying to understand what kind of person we would become and trying to anticipate how it might affect our situation. Over the course of the story, as the Main Character grows, the Obstacle Character must keep pace to provide alternative perspectives on all the key experiences the Main Character encounters. In this way, the best possible argument for adopting the new viewpoint is made, and the current and alternative paradigms can be judged fully against each other. This is how we arrive within ourselves to a point of change, and how the Obstacle Character drives the Main Character to the same point. For the author, the Obstacle Character Throughline is the progression through all of the issues which come up while providing alternative perspectives to the Main Character's currently held views. For an audience, the Obstacle Character Throughline simply describes the kinds of activities and concerns addressed by the Obstacle Character as he moves through the plot. The broadest description of the Obstacle Character's impact in a specific story -- Everything that emanates from what the Obstacle Character does and represents which primarily relates to his impact alone, as opposed to specific relationships he has with other characters, can be said to be part of the Obstacle Character Domain. There are four different Domains in the structure of any story, represented by the combination of each of the four Classes with each of the four throughlines the Objective Story Throughline, the Subjective Story Throughline, the Main Character Throughline, and the Obstacle Character Throughline. The Obstacle Character Throughline describes, in the broadest single term, what the Obstacle Character represents and the area in which the Obstacle Character operates within the story.