Help me out with my plot?

So to get right to the point, I'm wondering if I should keep this element in my plot, change it around so it might work better, or scrap it all together. Here it is: The antagonist is the protagonist's father. The protag does not know. The antag does know, but doesn't tell anyone. It is hinted throughout the story that they must have some sort of relationship, but is never 100% confirmed in the story (letting readers decide for themselves if they were father/son or not, perhaps).

The reason I want the antag to be the protag's father is because it will make him act differently towards the protag than he would with just anyone. In the end, the antag hesitates to kill the protag (because of their relationship), but tries to anyway to carry out his ambitions. The protag only realizes that the antag was his father after he succeeds in killing him.

I know the whole "surprise! bad guy is good guy's dad!!" thing is a serious cliche, but I want to know if I can get away with it as long as it is only an underlying plot element, and not a major one. Or is the idea stupid? Keep, edit, or scrap?

Any help is appreciated~

I don’t know. I think it could work. Tropes are not bad.

I like how the protagonist doesn't realize it until after he's killed the antagonist. I haven't seen that done before.

I also think it's fine because you're not bluntly stating it in the work and because it isn't the focal point of the story.

alright, thanks for the feedback (:

Try to play it for Fridge Horror, either for the character or the readers. That slow realization can do wonders. As long as you avoid that "suprise" part you mentioned I wouldn't have a problem with something like this.

Tropes Are Not Bad and even Luke, I Am Your Father-slash-Calling the Old Man Out can be fascinating to read if played well. To do so, you need to write out the antagonist's relationship to his son in detail: how much he cares for him, how far would he go to protect him, how far would he go to keep their relationship a secret, etc.. The problem that I've had with most such constellations is that most authors don't really explore the many faces of a father-son relationship, usually settling for "Why did you abandon us, Dad?" or something of the like. Try going for realism and something not that overdone, and you'll do fine.

Here's a suggestion. Make the relationship clear to the reader but not to the protagonist, which adds another layer of tragedy. Depending on the setting, you could give the antagonist a distinguishing feature, a confidant, a lost (or ignored) message to the protagonist—anything that lets the reader make the connection.

But you might want to watch out for It Was His Sled. With a plot as easily spoiled like that, it will probably get out and ruin the ending.

edited 28th Dec '10 11:59:36 AM by Collen