Samurai Jack
This type of hero is embedded in a specific story. He or she is hunted by the enemies for some reason. They are either constantly moving from one adventure to another or struggling to stay hidden. Tension and suspense are important attributes to this protagonist because you always need to keep the threat of being permanently caught over their head until the finale. I guess you can have them get temporarily caught once or twice, but you can only use this trick so many times before it gets stale.
What are some ideas when your hero is hunted?
- No matter how strong they are, you need their enemies to be stronger in some fashion. This can be physical or mental. If they’re already powerful enough to win then they have no solid reason to be on the run. You can go with lack of confidence, fear, or something internal, but they can go for only so long. If you want to have an extended story then you need your hero to evolve into someone powerful enough to face his pursuers.
- Give them something that acts as a symbol of hope. A weapon, piece of information, or a location that will end their life on the run. This creates more of a story instead of simply running from one encounter to another. An alternative here is to make them on the run because they have this item already. Maybe they’re looking for a way to use whatever is wanted or destroy it.
- Allies can be very important to this hero. Deep relationships are a danger to him/her, but that doesn’t mean other characters can’t be involved. Some people might try to help whether they’re wanted or not. Others might be single scene/chapter appearances to carry the hero along. Some of these characters can meet lethal ends because of their associations, which will throw some guilt into the hero’s life. There is also the possibility of creating an enemy of the main enemy who steps in to go on the run with the main hero.
- Try not to mix up escaping for survival for cowardice. The hero can fight back at first and defeat smaller threats before continuing on. If you have him/her run from every fight then it becomes doubtful that they will ever step up to the main threat. Even if it’s verbal standing up for themselves, there should be a spine on this character. After all, they’ll need to have some level of courage to continue traveling instead of giving up.
- I mentioned that the reason can be anything, which is true. Save a loved one, destroy an enemy, discover a treasure, a prophetic destroyer, and the list keeps going. Even though it can be anything, try to put some thought into the reason. This is what drives both the hero and the villain, so it should have some depth. I recommend writing about the ‘target’ from the perspective of the hero and the villain before starting the actual story.
So, what do you think about hunted heroes? Any favorites?
Legends of Windemere 
I love this kind of hero. There’s so much scope for them to learn and develop not to mention opportunity to play with motives, friends lovers and all sorts of other influences that may give the person backbone or knock their confidence. Great fun to read and great fun to write too.
Cheers
MTM
LikeLike
Thanks. I’m actually on the fence about a hero like this when I think about it for long-term stories. I guess I see that it can only go for so long. Makes me wonder how The Fugitive made it for 4 seasons.
LikeLike
Hmm…. that’s true. I suppose I like them because I’ve just finished a series with a hero who was pretty much that. A zero to hero thing, definitely. Although actually, the timescale was pretty short, a few months and then the rest of the plot gets resolved in about seven days.
Cheers
MTM
LikeLike
Yeah. I think going long term, you’d have to end the hunt or something. Maybe have the hunter become the hunted for a book?
LikeLike
Yeh, it’s definitely not a long term strategy because the whole point of it is that the hero (or heroine) has to turn and fight, to stop running and stand up for what they believe in. Otherwise like you say, it doesn’t work.
LikeLike
Maybe having that type of character in a group story, so you can reveal the hunted status later. I’m just playing around with this since I can’t get to any actual writing until tonight . . . or Monday.
LikeLike
I haven’t been able to write since late July. I finished the series and there was no point in getting into anything just before the summer hols so I waited up and now I have to clear about 44 boxes of unpacked stuff from our house move (6 years ago) rebox them and put some on ebay before 1st October. Getting there but it’ll be a close run thing… after which point our house will be full of people removing the heating system and putting a new one in, for a month. But I still reckon I’ll be able to get some stuff done at that point. So yeh, I can sympathise! 😉
Cheers
MTM
LikeLike
I’m doing an 8 book editing run and I have 4 more to go. Tough part now is that while my son is in school, he gets a lot of days off and one sick day is like a torpedo to my progress. That’s what happened Friday and he has two days off next week. Apparently begging for time doesn’t work with him. I’m hoping to get this done before November when I can go back to focusing on releasing the next book. Hopefully that happens in December or I’m going to have a rough end of the year.
LikeLike
Ouch, my sympathy. I do understand what a sick day can do to the schedule. 😉 In my case, the later I start the next book, the longer I have to save up for the cost of producing it!
Cheers
MTM
LikeLike
Good point. Though a debut month always brings a big influx in.
LikeLike
True… 😉 ah decisions decision…
LikeLike
I remember how they switched things up in Avatar the Last Airbender, and had Zuhko (the Fire Nation prince who had been hunting Aang) become hunted himself for political reasons within the Fire Nation. He didn’t instantly become Aang’s friend, but was ultimately put on that path.
LikeLike
He was one of my favorite characters in that show. They hinted a lot that he could turn good and it was great that they kept the viewers guessing. Though I do wish he got more to do in the final battle.
LikeLike