Why You Should Avoid Bored Protagonists (& When Not to)

It's usually a bad idea to have a bored protagonist (or viewpoint character). Often a bored protagonist means a bored reader, and perhaps even more often than that, it means that the writer didn't take the time to think about what the character should be doing. It's lazy writing.

It's also just problematic because it means there is no active, present goal. And/or there is no active, present antagonist. Which usually leads to scenes "flatlining" (no rising action). This will slow the pacing down (and not in the good way), and if it takes up a lot of word count, will bring the story to a grinding halt. A lack of goals and antagonists creates a domino effect that usually results in a lack of everything else related to a strong plot--a lack of conflict, a lack of progress, a lack of crises, a lack of tension.

Perhaps just as bad, is often the character's boredom segues into terrible play-by-plays, where nothing meaningful happens.

Boredom in a protagonist is typically a lost opportunity. Even if nothing "important" is happening in the plotlines (which is something that should give you pause in and of itself), the protagonist could still be doing something minor that is important to him or someone he cares about. This reveals character, and is therefore more interesting than him wasting time doing mundane things or doing nothing. Something as simple as giving him a hobby he loves, is better than boredom.

9/10 you do not want a bored protagonist.

But . . . as always, there are exceptions. These are the 1/10 situations.

So let's go over those.

First, a bored protagonist can work well just before a big change happens--most often that big change is the inciting incident. This is typically difficult to pull off though, because normally this means the protagonist (or viewpoint character) is starting the story bored, and that typically doesn't work well as an opening (see my reasons above). Nonetheless, it can be done.

In Glass Onion, Detective Blanc starts off bored with life during the pandemic. But his boredom and restlessness is interrupted by a new case at the end of his first scene.

It's also worth noting that the writers made great efforts to make his boredom interesting and entertaining to the audience. Rather than him watching grass dry, they stuck Blanc in his bathtub playing Among Us, which he ironically sucks at, online with his friends. This isn't exactly a scene I'd expect to see of the world's best detective. Info is flawlessly dropped that he's been more or less soaking in the bathtub for a week; he denies this while the camera zooms out to show stacks of books and other items around the tub. Interesting. Entertaining.

However, I must also point out, that while this is the first scene with the protagonist, it's not the first scene of the story--there is a prologue before this that hooks and reels the audience in. So that's an option that can work well to offset the "boredom problem" too.

In Midnight Sun--which I can't exactly "recommend" (it's rather overwritten and I only read the opening)--Edward starts the story bored with his life, and continues this way until the inciting incident hits him like a battering ram. The opening is meant to establish his boredom before Bella unknowingly knocks his world upside down several pages later. Meyer, nonetheless, still gives us some entertaining opening lines:

"This was the time of day when I most wished I were able to sleep. High school. Or was purgatory the right word? If there were any way to atone for my sins, this ought to count toward the tally in some measure. . . . Perhaps this could even be considered my form of sleep--if sleep were defined as the inert state between activity."

(There is a lot more I could say about Midnight Sun, but that takes me into a different topic.)

From both of these examples, we can note that just because the protagonist is bored, doesn't mean the audience needs to be too.

If the character is going to be bored for a long time, this is often a great time to use summary. Don't make your audience suffer with her.

The exception to this is if what the character finds boring is what the audience finds interesting and exciting.

There is a popular anime called One Punch Man--I haven't watched the series, but I know the premise, and I did see just the first episode--and the main character is a superhero, who is bored of being a superhero. While he is doing things the audience would consider extraordinary, the protagonist is disinterested. This irony is used to create humor. So something like that is possible to pull off.

Another time boredom can work, is when that boredom leads to conflict. Sherlock Holmes can be insufferable to John Watson when he doesn't have a case. In the BBC version, he shoots a gun carelessly in their home, putting Watson on high alert. He leaves an experimental mess in the kitchen, a decapitated head in the fridge, and buys no groceries. He picks a fight with John after reading his blog. These all bring conflict into their relationship.

Perhaps the best reason to have a bored protagonist, is to show a need for change--which of course, you as the writer must deliver (and usually deliver on it sooner than later). It's a moment to emphasize what the character is lacking in her life before the opportunity (or in some cases, problem) arrives, and she can make a difference, either in herself or in the world.

In Luca, it's clear in Act I the protagonist is tired of his life, and he gets the opportunity to change that when he meets Alberto, who wants to own a Vespa and travel the world. Luca decides he wants this for himself, too. Similarly (though working as a setup for a negative arc), in Death Note the protagonist, a genius, is insufferably bored . . . until he finds a notebook that can kill people, leading him to exact "justice" on the world.

In a strange way, this situation is the opposite of the character having everything she wants and enjoying life (see Barbie and Shrek) before the antagonistic force upends it, and yet, in plot, it functions in almost the exact same way. The difference is that usually the dissatisfied protagonist is provided an opportunity for something more, while the satisfied protagonist is provided a problem that can lead to something less.

In either situation, you want to promise to the audience there will be a change. Blanc (and Sherlock) will get a case. Edward will meet Bella, and Luca, Alberto. Light will find the notebook the "grim reaper" (shinigami) dropped. (Barbie's life will be ruined with thoughts of death, and Shrek's with fairytale creatures.)

So, while it's almost always best to not include boredom in your lead characters, it can work well when used the right way.