What do Tyrion Lannister, Darth Vader, and Hermione Granger have in common?
Not much, you might think. Except, from a storytelling point of view, they all share one crucial feature – all three of them, in their different ways, are internally conflicted characters.
Most stories involve a protagonist locked in conflict with an antagonist or fighting off some external threat. But, while external conflicts are essential for keeping the narrative going, internal conflicts are often what gives a story its emotional power.
With internal conflict, your reader won’t just find themselves asking whether your characters are going to be able to overcome the external obstacles in front of them, they’ll also be forced to wonder what choices your characters are going to make. Are they going to do the right thing? Are they going to conquer their own demons? Will their own flaws prevent them from achieving the story goal?
Creating rich, complex characters is one of the vital steps for writing compelling historical fiction, and internal conflict is, in turn, one of the best ways to build rich, complex characters.
How, then, do we create internal conflict? Well, using Tyrion, Hermione, and Lord Vader as examples, I’ve put together a short guide below.
Conflict between relationships and duty – Darth Vader in Star Wars
He’s the classic sci-fi movie villain. Whether it’s his terror-inducing mask, his unhealthy obsession with the dark side, or his tendency to apply a choke-hold to anyone who dares question him, there’s many a reason to be terrified of this character.
But Darth Vader is far from one-dimensional. It’s not just his frightening features and manner that make him so compelling, but the niggling hope in the audience’s mind that he might just turn away from the dark side and become a force for good.
Thanks to some clever characterisation from George Lucas and the other writers, Darth Vader finds himself torn between his connection to his son, Luke, and his role as chief enforcer for the Empire. From the moment he reveals his paternity, we’re left wondering whether he’ll switch sides.
This is an excellent way of creating internal conflict. The best conflicts are often between one’s perceived duty or role and something much more personal, like loyalty to a family member or a romantic connection.
Conflicting core values – Hermione in Harry Potter
Another great way to setup internal conflict is to create a clash between a character’s core values. Hermione Granger in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series is an excellent example of this.
Hermione thinks following the rules is inherently good. For her, it’s a core value. But she’s also on the side of right – she wants to see justice done, and sometimes the two come into conflict.
In the Chamber of Secrets, Hermione is forced to break the rules by brewing Polyjuice Potion so that she, Ron, and Harry can disguise themselves and learn the truth about a series of attacks on Muggle-born students. Hermione’s instinct is to protect the Muggle-borns, but brewing the potion is against school rules, leading her to remark that it would be “dangerous, very dangerous,” to do so.
This conflict makes her unpredictable – the reader can never be sure whether she’s going to fully go along with Harry and Ron’s schemes. It also becomes a source of growth for her as a character. Over time, her belief in the inherent goodness of following the rules is balanced out by her experience of needing to break them in order to stop bad things from happening. She becomes more flexible and questioning of authority.
Conflicting needs – Tyrion Lannister in A Song of Ice and Fire
George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series is full of complex, conflicted characters, and none more so than Tyrion Lannister. His condition – dwarfism – has rendered him something of an embarrassment to his family, who also blame him for his mother’s death during childbirth. Throughout the books, he’s treated abominably by his power-hungry father, Tywin, and his sister, Cersei, who – between them – ultimately try to condemn him to death.
Yet Tyrion remains loyal to the Lannisters for much of the story. He depends on his family for the things he loves – money, wine, and women – and for his status. Because of that status and a rare act of support from his father, he’s able to find a role in which he excels – Hand of the King – and see a glimpse of his own potential.
Tyrion is trapped between conflicting needs – his need to fulfil his potential in the political arena, coupled with his taste for wealth, wine, and women, versus his need to break free from his family’s hatred and bullying. He can’t have the former without his family’s patronage. Yet his family is also the cause of his suffering. It’s a conflict that makes for captivating reading, as we’re never quite sure at what point he’s going to crack.
From these three examples, you can see some of the best methods for creating internal conflict: conflict between a character’s core values, conflict between a character’s duty and their personal relationships, and conflict between a character’s needs. Don’t hesitate to mix it up, though. How about a character whose core values conflict with a relationship, or one whose duty conflicts with their needs? Any combination will work if done well.
When you’re starting to outline your characters in the planning phase, do yourself a favour and write a separate section for internal conflicts. Think about your character’s background, core values, their relationships, and the expectations on them arising from their duty, obligations, or profession. And then think about how these might work together to cause conflict. If you can do it half as well as JK Rowling, George RR Martin or George Lucas, you’ll keep your readers coming back for more.
For tips on how to create rich, complex characters in historical fiction, check out our guide, Top tips on writing historical fiction from 64 successful historical novelists, here.
