A Different Look at Main Character Dynamics

June 11, 2005

Most everything in Dramatica is based around the idea of the quad. Now this quad can be referred to in a number of ways:

• Knowledge, Thought, Ability, and Desire
• Mass, Energy, Space and Time
• Potential, Resistance, Current, and Outcome

But it can also be appreciated by the relationships between items within the quad. You can have Dynamic Pairs (those that oppose each other), Companion Pairs (those related horizontally) and Dependent Pairs (those related vertically).

It just so happens that the first four essential questions, the ones dealing with the Main Character Dynamics, also share these relationships.

First we have the Main Character Resolve which evaluates Dynamic Pairs. The Main Character and Impact Character are dynamically opposed within the quad (if the MC Domain is Universe, the IC Domain will be Mind. If the MC Domain is Psychology, the IC Domain would be Physics). The question targets one half (the MC Resolve) but in choosing the answer to that, you are implying the other half.

Next, we have the Main Character Growth which evaluates Dependent Pairs. If the MC Domain and the OS Domain are in a Dependent relationship, the Growth will be to Start. If the MC Domain and the OS Domain are not in a Dependent relationship, then the Growth will be to Stop. So if the MC Domain is Mind, and the OS Domain is Physics, then it will be a Start story. If the MC Domain is Psychology and the OS Domain is Mind, then it will be a Stop story.

After that comes the Main Character Approach which evaluates Companion Pairs. You can think of the quad here as upper hemisphere and lower hemisphere. If the Main Character occupies the top hemisphere (Universe or Physics) then he is a Do-er. If the Main Character occupies the bottom hemisphere (Mind and Psychology) he is a Be-er. Internal or External?

So where does that leave the last Main Character Dynamic - Mental Sex?

Well, it turns out there is one more way of looking at a quad - as individual Pieces or as a Whole. You can either look at a quad in terms of the four seperate pieces and how they relate to one or another, or you can look at how they all relate together as one complete entity.

If you examine the quad in terms of individual Pieces then you are talking about Male Mental Sex - focusing on the parts that make up the whole. If you examine the quad as a Whole, or to put it more clearly, holistically, then you are talking about Female Mental Sex.

Fascinating isn’t it?

Those four Dynamic questions examine the Genre level (Domains) from the context of Character and evaluate how all those pieces and relationships are established within a story.

Not sure how it would help you in writing, but still it’s another great example of the completeness of quad theory. Incidentally, Chris has some great thoughts about how American culture is blended when it comes to this sort of appreciation of a quad. Since we’ve named ourselves the United States we are both a Union (Whole) and a bunch of States (individual Pieces).

Coming up next…where does that leave the next four questions?