In Dramatica Story Theory, an Obstacle Character with a Domain of Universe will impact others because of his social status, race, gender, physical attributes, position or station. Whatever the situation might be, it provides the alternative paradigm to the Main Character’s view of things.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
It is important to be clear about the difference between the Main Character and the Obstacle Character. The audience looks through the Main Character’s eyes, and through them looks at the Obstacle Character. Through the Main Character, we feel what it is like to be in a particular predicament. With the Obstacle Character we see an external view of what someone else looks like in the same predicament. Since we cannot really climb into and become this character, we can only judge him by how he affects the characters and events around him.
As an example, if a Main Character were physcially challenged, during the duration of the story the audience members would also feel physically challenged, suffering the problems this creates as if it were a problem in their own lives. If the Obstacle Character were physically challenged, the audience would examine the problem from the outside, learning more about the difficulties logistically, not experientially. The focus would be on how this physical challenge impacts others. “Impact” is the key word to keep in mind when examining the story’s problem in the Obstacle Character Domain.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
In Dramatica Story Theory, a Main Character Domain of Psychology indicates an individual who is best described by how he thinks. This could be a flighty person, someone who jumps to conclusions, or even a calculating, manipulative person. In each of these scenarios, the opinions the Main Character holds are not what sets him apart, but rather the kinds of mental processes he goes through. Though there may be many Objective Characters who represent manners of thinking, only the Main Character will provide the audience with the experience of thinking that way.
From the Dramatia Theory Book
In Dramatica Story Theory, a “Physics” Main Character is a person of action. For example, he might be doing something just to do it, or he might be trying to obtain or achieve something. Other activities of a Physics Main Character might be learning or seeking to understand something. At first learning and understanding might seem too internal to be Physics, but consider that these activities are applied externally. Learning is gathering information about something and understanding is seeking the meaning of something. This is quite different than coming up with original thought which would be internal.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
In Dramatica Story Theory, a “Mind” Main Character will be defined as holding onto a fixed attitude. Such a character might be suffering from a prejudice, haunted by a suppressed memory, or unable to shake a crush on the kid down the street. In each case, it is a fixed state of mind that causes the Main Character’s difficulties.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
In Dramatica Story Theory, “Universe” is a Class of situations. A Universe Main Character finds himself in a situation. The situation in question can be a social status issue, such as being a certain race or gender or being queen or king. It could be a predicament such as being a rock star, or it could be a physical condition such as having an extremely large nose or exceptional beauty. Each of these illustrations shows a Main Character as being defined by the situation in which he is found.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
Because an audience identifies most strongly with the Main Character, choosing a Main Character Domain is like asking your potential audience, “Where’s your mind at?” This Domain describes the realm in which the Main Characters operates. Each potential “Class” in the Main Character Domain, therefore, provides a completely different mind set for the Main Character.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
In Dramatica Story Theory, “Psychology” is an internal process, describing problems which come from the ways in which people think. When Psychology is chosen as the Objective Story Domain, the problems that affect all the characters will stem from manipulations and conflicting processes of thought. As opposed to the fixed attitudes described in the Mind Class, Psychology is about problems which arise from manners of thinking. For example, an Objective Story Domain of Psychology might be about the problems caused in a regiment that has been overly trained to follow orders or in a dysfunctional family which is trying to manipulate each other into a nervous breakdown.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
In Dramatica Story Theory, “Mind” is an internal state, describing problems which come from fixed attitudes. When Mind is chosen as the Objective Story Domain, the problems that affect all the characters will stem from internal attitudes and fixations. For example, an Objective Story Domain of Mind might be about how prejudice affects a town or how a humiliating memory affects a kingdom. In contrast, Universe and Physics Objective Stories deal with external states and processes. A selection of Mind as the Objective Story Domain specifically means that the source of the difficulties between all the Objective Characters is best seen as a problematic state of mind.
From the Dramatica Theory Book
An Objective Story Domain of Physics means the story’s troubles are caused by an activity gone wrong. This might be an activity engaged in by people or existing in nature. Either way, the “perpetuation” of this activity is what generates all the difficulties faced by the Objective Characters. There is often the tendency to think of an activity in the large scale, making it macroscopic; larger than life. But dry rot works as well as a marauding horde in creating problems big enough to drive a story. The only constraint is that the activity must be an external one that is causing the difficulties.
Situation vs. Activities
It is easy to think of kinds of activities that border on being situations. For example, we might want to tell a story about a disease. If the story’s problem stems from having the disease, it is a situation. If the story’s problem is actually caused by fighting the disease, it is an activity. Because all four Classes will show up in a complete story, it is likely that both having and fighting the disease will show up as things unfold. The thematic question here is: which one is seen objectively, or phrased another way, which one is best seen as the cause of the problems for all the characters throughout the entire story – having it or fighting it?
From the Dramatica Theory Book