Pinball Protagonist
Any number of writing advice guides will tell you that having an active protagonist is a make-or-break story element. Actually, I don't think it's absolutely essential that your protagonist be the lead force fighting the villain or such. In fact, some of my favourite books and movies feature our buddy the Pinball Protagonist. That said, when this trope goes wrong, it can spawn some of the most annoying characters in Fictionland.
A Pinball Protagonist done right is a character struggling against forces which are much larger than they can handle. It's not that they're useless, but rather that other characters, social forces, or the physical world itself are much more powerful. This can be an excellent tool for comedies where the main character is essentially fighting for survival in an overwhelmingly absurd world-- Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, or on a less cosmic scale, Harold Crick in Stranger Than Fiction as he struggles against the constraints of his fictional universe. Alternately, it can be the stuff of drama, with characters or events which are beyond their ability to control. The crew of the Pequod is essentially powerless in the face of Captain Ahab's obsession, and the suspense comes from watching the main characters get dragged into the abyss with him.
The reason these plots work is that although the protagonist may not be able to drive the plot, we are still very invested in their conflict. Their efforts, though sometimes futile or only partly successful, are still tremendous and also sympathetic.
However, if that drive is lacking, the character quickly wilts. These are characters who seem utterly content to sit back and watch everyone else solve their problems, usually whilst moaning about how hard their lives are. Instead of a comedic or tragic struggle, this is the equivalent of listening to the diary of a mopey and spoilt teenager. It's particularly irritating when the other characters orbit the passive lump and spend much of the plot solving the Pinball's problems rather than getting on with larger issues.
A Pinball Protagonist done right is a character struggling against forces which are much larger than they can handle. It's not that they're useless, but rather that other characters, social forces, or the physical world itself are much more powerful. This can be an excellent tool for comedies where the main character is essentially fighting for survival in an overwhelmingly absurd world-- Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, or on a less cosmic scale, Harold Crick in Stranger Than Fiction as he struggles against the constraints of his fictional universe. Alternately, it can be the stuff of drama, with characters or events which are beyond their ability to control. The crew of the Pequod is essentially powerless in the face of Captain Ahab's obsession, and the suspense comes from watching the main characters get dragged into the abyss with him.
The reason these plots work is that although the protagonist may not be able to drive the plot, we are still very invested in their conflict. Their efforts, though sometimes futile or only partly successful, are still tremendous and also sympathetic.
However, if that drive is lacking, the character quickly wilts. These are characters who seem utterly content to sit back and watch everyone else solve their problems, usually whilst moaning about how hard their lives are. Instead of a comedic or tragic struggle, this is the equivalent of listening to the diary of a mopey and spoilt teenager. It's particularly irritating when the other characters orbit the passive lump and spend much of the plot solving the Pinball's problems rather than getting on with larger issues.
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