Maelstrom
You could try making it first person, from the perspective of the main character, looking on in a third person view at what this other guy is doing, while his own problems are detailed. First person pretty much makes a reader think, "Oh, this is who I should focus on", instead of third person where they'd get into the thoughts of both the protagonist and The Cape.
Also, make sure that, if you do first person, you give a lot of focus to the main character's thoughts regarding themselves and what's happening around them, reflection really, and try to stay away from putting too much detail into showing the other guy. Otherwise, you'll end up with something like The Great Gatsby where the viewpoint character isn't seen as the protagonist.
edited 29th Jul '11 2:47:36 PM by Five_X
I write pretty good fanfiction, sometimes.
Very good advice. I appreciate it.
Forgive my overdose of tropes, but I want to pitch this as succinctly as I can.
Okay, so the story I'm currently writing has a character dynamic that I want to try out. In a nutshell, the protagonist is a somewhat extraordinary guy, but rife with Tragic Flaws that will need to be overcome via a "World of Cardboard" Speech later. In general, I want him to be mostly be an Audience Surrogate, but still mostly heroic.
Then, there's another character who is basically The Cape. He's the guy that, when everyone's in their Darkest Hour, he comes in and does some Crowning Moment Of Awesome that turns the tide. His love interest is a Femme Fatale who does a High-Heel–Face Turn because of his sheer heart and badassery. He's also The Aragorn who leads the forces of good in battle against the villains in the end. His death (his powers are Cast From Life Force) is planned to be one of the saddest moments in the entire story.
However, despite all of this it's still the protagonist's story. Specifically, it's The Hero's Journey which results in him becoming The Messiah during the ending Timeskip. What I want to do is keep the audience interested in the hero's growth while at the same time having this other guy be pretty much the force that enables him.
Any tips/thoughts on how to make that work?