Last update: July 11, 2026
Main character goals define a story and its impact. They usually have one primary problem/objective and it’s the focus of the logline and most scenes.
I’ve come to believe there are seven character goals strong enough to drive a movie, and that most commercially viable stories are built on a variation on one of these.
As you consider your current or next project, think about whether one of these is at the heart of the narrative. And if not, can it be?
Note that these all have strong external stakes (i.e. not just about internal change) and the main character will have to do a lot to try to achieve it.
So there’s a strong sense of mission, importance and difficulty that leads to continuous action and conflict in their outer world of situations and relationships.
Life for them and possibly others will be forever worse if they don’t achieve it, and better if they do.
1. Find and/or secure a person or item(s).
Someone or something must be found, gotten, held, retrieved, and maybe delivered somewhere. The stakes might be life-and-death or less than that, but what the main character is focused on from scene to scene is that finding and securing.
Taken, Casablanca, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, The Wizard of Oz, The Hangover, Oceans 11
2. Defeat an opponent/enemy in some sort of battle or competition.
The fate of the world or the characters we know may hang in the balance, or not, but it’s basically a “good vs. evil” contest or game where it’s about beating the “bad guys,” pure and simple.
The Avengers, Die Hard, Erin Brockovich, The Godfather, The Matrix, Pulp Fiction, The Sting, Dodgeball, Ford vs. Ferrari, The War of the Roses, Marriage Story
3. Escape something or someone.
There are all kinds of situations a character can want out of (or to help someone else out of), and that’s what they’re wrestling with from scene to scene.
Saw, Argo, Apollo 13, Fatal Attraction, Office Space, Planes Trains and Automobiles
4. Figure out the truth (then achieve justice).
This has perhaps the most straightforward linkage to an obvious single genre – the mystery. And those usually need really high stakes (like a murder case), because otherwise, just solving a puzzle and accumulating information can seem not important and impactful enough.
Chinatown, Zodiac, Spotlight, The Silence of the Lambs
5. Learn how to do something that’s really important and put that learning to use (or help someone with same).
In these stories there might be one of the other 6 types of story goal present as well, which maybe gets acted upon after the learning, but first and foremost there’s something that needs to be mastered, understood, and/or conquered in order to be able to face that big challenge.
The King’s Speech, A Beautiful Mind, The Karate Kid, The Sixth Sense
6. Convince someone to do something (like love you or give you something of value).
Often found in comedies and dramas where life is probably not at stake, but someone’s future happiness and most important relationships (and place in the world) are…
Jerry Maguire, Forrest Gump, Wedding Crashers, Almost Famous, Bridesmaids, Coming to America
7. Successfully navigate a life-changing and challenging new world/situation.
This is the closest to a “catch-all” type of story, a “none of the above.” But note that whatever that situation is, it has to be really challenging and really life-changing to be big enough to base a story on. And ideally there would be something intriguing in the hook of the premise or the world it’s set in, and/or the main character, to help with the fact that it doesn’t have one of the arguably larger and more primal goals at the top of this list.
Boogie Nights, Field of Dreams, Liar Liar, Good Will Hunting, Legally Blonde, Scarface, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Shawshank Redemption, Sunset Boulevard
Why is this important?
You might have noticed some movies could arguably fit more than one type. That’s okay. Or you might know some movies you’re sure don’t meet any of these. If so, please leave a comment, and we’ll discuss.
Making sure you have a strong enough idea and narrative engine in the middle of a story is key to your project’s success. So often the primary issue in a script is that the main character just isn’t actively, obsessively, passionately chasing something big, external and clear from scene to scene, that’s easy for millions of strangers to get behind.
If they are – and it falls into one of these 7 types – you’re starting ahead of the pack.
Just curious: Would “Dead Poets Society” tick the box of story goal 5 or 7 or both?
TIA
Slightly complicated answer in that the movie is a bit of an ensemble story with different students having different subplots of their own with Robin Williams more as their guide (rather than the traditional single main character where his problem/goal would be the focus).
So it’s not so much that Robin has one of these 8 problems; more that he inspires, challenges and changes some of the boys who do. One of them has a romantic quest (#8) and one has a father who won’t let him live the life he wants to live (#7)…
This is a gold mine of information. Thank you for sharing it. You continue to make this creative journey into a more logical craft that doesn’t have to be so daunting, strange, and intimidating. While still daunting, strange and intimidating, these discussions and observations make it less so. Its a beautiful thing when the light goes off and you can see the structure and it’s just marvelous.
Thank you so much Megan!!
I know this would be debatable but I would include transformation.
Transformation can be one of those listed above.
My take is that “transformation” is a bit general and while it often does happen in movies, it’s not typically the main character’s central course of action, trying to make transformation happen. Or if it is, it’s a “transformation” that is part of one of these 7, as Frank seems to be saying.