Without conflict, there is no tension, no momentum, and ultimately, no reason to keep reading. You could be writing a battle between good and evil, a personal struggle with guilt, or a clash of opposing ideologies, you should never forget about conflict. Conflict is what drives the narrative forward and gives characters room to grow.
What Is the Conflict in a Story?
In the simplest terms, conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. It’s the obstacle that stands between a character and their goal. This tension creates stakes, challenges characters to change, and keeps the audience emotionally invested.
Conflict can be overt, like a sword fight or courtroom battle, or subtle, such as the tension between a desire for love and the fear of vulnerability. Regardless of scale, every story needs conflict to feel meaningful. Even the most beautifully written scenes fall flat without a source of tension pushing the story forward.
Internal Conflict vs. External Conflict
Internal Conflict
Internal conflict occurs within a character’s mind. It involves emotions, desires, beliefs, or psychological struggles that prevent a character from achieving what they want.
Examples:
- A hero is paralyzed by fear despite needing to act.
- A character feels torn between duty and personal happiness.
- A protagonist struggles with guilt over a past mistake.
Internal conflict often adds depth and relatability, making characters feel more human.
External Conflict
External conflict happens between a character and an outside force. This could be another person, society, nature, technology, or even fate. These are often the visible struggles that give stories structure and suspense.
Examples:
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A detective trying to catch a criminal.
- A survivor battling a storm.
- A teenager fighting against a repressive society.
A well-crafted story usually blends both internal and external conflict, enriching both plot and character development.
The Types of Conflicts in a Story
There are many different types of conflict, but most can be categorized into these classic archetypes:
1. Character vs. Self
An internal battle, such as self-doubt, addiction, fear, or moral dilemmas. The character is their own worst enemy.
Example: Hamlet struggling with indecision and existential dread.
2. Character vs. Character
A conflict between two characters with opposing goals, values, or desires. This is one of the most common and dramatic forms.
Example: Harry Potter vs. Voldemort.
3. Character vs. Society
The protagonist stands against societal norms, laws, or institutions. This often highlights themes of justice, freedom, or rebellion.
Example: Katniss Everdeen vs. the Capitol in The Hunger Games.
4. Character vs. Nature
The character struggles to survive against natural forces like storms, wild animals, or disease.
Example: The protagonist in The Revenant battling the wilderness.
5. Character vs. Supernatural
The character faces otherworldly forces like ghosts, gods, or mythological creatures.
Example: The crew of Alien facing a deadly extraterrestrial being.
6. Character vs. Technology
A modern conflict type, often found in science fiction. It involves characters facing threats posed by artificial intelligence, machines, or technological advancement.
Example: John Connor vs. Skynet in Terminator.
7. Character vs. Fate (or Destiny)
The protagonist is at odds with a predetermined future or prophecy and must fight for control over their own life.
Example: Oedipus in Oedipus Rex trying to escape his foretold fate.
How to Create Conflict in a Story
Creating compelling conflict requires more than just throwing obstacles at your characters. Here’s how to build tension that matters:
1. Define What the Character Wants
Conflict only matters when a character has a clear goal or desire. It can be love, revenge, redemption, or freedom, anything you like, but make sure your character wants something deeply enough that they'll be willing to fight for it.
2. Introduce Opposition
Conflict arises when something gets in the way. That “something” can be external (a rival, a system, a natural disaster) or internal (fear, guilt, a moral dilemma).
3. Raise the Stakes
Make the cost of failure meaningful. What will happen if the character doesn’t overcome the conflict? What’s at risk emotionally, physically, or spiritually?
4. Allow for Escalation
Conflict should evolve throughout the story. What begins as a small obstacle might grow into a major turning point, forcing characters to change or make sacrifices.
5. Avoid Easy Resolutions
Satisfying stories rarely resolve conflict too easily. Compromise, loss, or transformation makes the payoff richer and more believable.
What Is the Most Common Conflict in a Story?
Arguably, the most common conflict is Character vs. Character, often in the form of a protagonist facing off against an antagonist. This dynamic is classic because it’s inherently dramatic and relatable.
Honestly, it can be a hero versus a villain, a romantic triangle, or a power struggle between siblings, but human vs. human conflict resonates strongly because it obviously reflects our everyday lives.
That said, amazing stories usually use several types of conflict. For example, the combination of Character vs. Self and Character vs. Character is where many great stories thrive. The external conflict becomes the arena in which the internal conflict is tested, creating layered and emotionally complex narratives.
What Is a Philosophical Conflict?
A philosophical conflict arises when characters clash over deep-seated beliefs, values, or ideologies. Unlike traditional conflict, this isn’t about winning a battle or solving a mystery, it’s about proving or challenging a worldview.
Philosophical conflicts are powerful because they don’t always have clear resolutions. They reflect real-life complexities, where “right” and “wrong” aren’t always black and white.
These conflicts often ask:
- What is justice?
- Is humanity inherently good or evil?
- Do the ends justify the means?
- Is free will an illusion?
Philosophical conflict doesn't always require action-packed scenes; it thrives in dialogue, internal monologue, and moral dilemmas. It’s particularly prominent in genres like dystopia, science fiction, drama, and literary fiction.
Examples of Philosophical Conflict
Batman vs. The Joker – The Dark Knight
This isn’t just a hero vs. villain showdown. It’s a conflict between order and chaos, moral restraint vs. nihilism.
Batman believes in justice through controlled action, even when tempted to kill. The Joker seeks to prove that anyone, even Batman, can be corrupted. Their clash is philosophical at its core.
Jean Valjean vs. Inspector Javert – Les Misérables
Javert believes in absolute justice and the infallibility of the law. Valjean represents mercy, change, and personal transformation.
Their conflict isn’t just personal, it’s a battle of ideologies. In the end, Javert's worldview collapses under the weight of Valjean’s grace.
Winston vs. The Party – 1984 by George Orwell
This is not simply man vs. society. It’s a clash of realities: objective truth versus ideological control.
Winston’s struggle against Big Brother is ultimately about whether facts and independent thought can survive in a totalitarian regime.
Thanos vs. The Avengers – Avengers: Infinity War
Thanos isn’t a villain for villainy’s sake, he believes that wiping out half of life will save the universe. The Avengers oppose him not just physically, but morally, standing for the sanctity of individual life and free will.
The story’s tension comes from how persuasive Thanos's philosophy seems, even as we reject his methods.
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