I'm writing a story but I'm having trouble finding my protagonists motivation. For context; this poor royal boi's mother constantly tries to get him killed after hearing a prophet that he'll dethrone her. But, like, I don't know what could drive him besides trying to stay alive obviously. Any ideas, fam?
The motivation of a character doesn’t necessarilyhave to be complex. Something as simple as staying alive can work just fine.But there another problem your plot brings up: his mother does not seem quitesound of mind. Perhaps she’s in a self-fulfilling prophecy and thus her son is definitelygoing to dethrone her. Here are two motivations I can see your characterhaving:
Save his Country
So,with his mother being the way she is, staying alive is probably going to be histop priority. However, this scenario brings into question his mother’s sanityand, perhaps, her ability to correctly rule the people. His motivation could bethat he will dethrone her, if only sohe can make sure his people aren’t being ruled by someone very willing to killtheir son. People like that typically aren’t fit to sit on the throne.
Save his Mother
Again, hismother doesn’t seem to be the best at the moment. Although, there is likely away to help his mother. If she wasn’t always like this, if she was a goodmother and person, then perhaps there’s way a get her back to the way she wasbefore the prophecy. Perhaps there’s a reason she became so murderous afterhearing the prophecy.
There are more, of course, but hopefully thiswill get you a bit of a start to finding character motivation. If you needanything, feel free to shoot me another ask. In the meantime,
See Ya, Kiddo
