Immortal Protagonist - Can drama be maintained?

Ok, the main character in one of my stories has two souls residing in his body - the native one he was born with, and one that was forcibly bound to his body. Normally, the former controls his body and personality, but should the protagonist die, the latter takes over. The other soul gives him a Good Thing You Can Heal type of immortality, but turns him into a murderous beast. Now, the protagonist has killed hundreds of people before during an incident when the second soul got control, so he knows how bad things can get if he ends up dying and therefore doesn't depend upon his immortality.

So, ignoring writing quality for the time being, does the premise of an immortal main character inherently destroy all drama?

Heck no, if you do it right.

edited 2nd Jul '14 8:43:45 AM by maxwellelvis

Being insusceptible to bodily harm isn't going to help him make and keep friends, resolve conflicts with his significant other and/or other people he cares about, get and keep a job, learn skills that don't rely on bodily fitness, or endow him with the intelligence and interpersonal skills he should probably have that will keep him out of situations that could set his other soul off. There's more to life than combat and violence.

edited 2nd Jul '14 9:12:36 AM by CrystalGlacia

Also, if you look at characters like Superman, you'll notice that, since he's so ridiculously powerful, his fights are instead a lot about protecting others. It doesn't matter that your character is immortal, if those he/she wants to protect are not.

edited 2nd Jul '14 9:02:31 AM by Paradisesnake

@maxwellelvis: Too bad I haven't watched Highlander yet, goddamned crashed Hard Disk.

@Paradisesnake: I don't know how I managed to forget Superman in all this. Then again, Superman can afford to take hits, while my character can't, so I don't know to what extent I can mimic his style.

@Crystal Glacia: Oh, no doubt. I had planned for out of combat drama stemming from his guilt, people's contempt for him, keeping up the Masquerade etc. But I should have mentioned I was primarily interested in the combat side, sorry about that.

Let me change the question: Can my protagonist's Superpowered Evil Side compensate for the lack of drama caused by his immortality? Or is that purely based on how good the writing is?

I honestly don't think that much drama is lost to his immortality—how often is it the possibility of death of the protagonist, specifically, that provides the most drama—and it sound as though the "evil side" provides a significant dose of drama, so yes, I think so.

Of course, as in most elements of writing, how you execute the concept is likely to be the primary factor.

edited 2nd Jul '14 10:11:50 AM by ArsThaumaturgis

It seems like you have a pretty narrow definition of drama and conflicts. Drama comes from a variety of sources: the character's inner struggle, their relationship to others, how their desires and goals fit with reality, etc. Really, there's a lot for you to work with. Just becasue your character can't die doesn't mean your story is drama-free.

edited 2nd Jul '14 10:41:30 AM by Nightwire

As said above.

Just because he is immortal, it does not mean he is not going to suffer from things.

In Neil Gaiman's series The Sandman most of the characters are immortal in one way or another...and a more "human" example faces periods of poverty, or regret over things he does (in his case, he participated in slavery and then went on to behold all of the consequences for what once resulted in profit for him).

Just because he is immortal his financial, emotional, living, romantic, or intellectual needs aren't necesarily solved. In fact, I wager being a lone immortal will end up being incredibly dull.

edited 2nd Jul '14 3:52:10 PM by Aszur

Even from the perspective of armed conflict, immortality is overrated. You could still be knocked out, for example, Or sealed underneath rubble, or otherwise browbeaten into being unable to fight.

There's also the classic Immortality Hurts. A character being immortal doesn't mean he stops feeling pain. Many authors who use immortal characters rely on that and have his protagonist not die, but sure wish that he did.

If the consequence is, as the OP said, potentially causing mass slaughter? Yeah, that seems like a good way to hold the tension. In some situations, being forced to call on it might make death look preferable. No point in a heroic last defense if the dark you undoes it all while laughing.

Also, while we're talking immortal protags working well, see Planescape Torment.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I really appreciate it. I think I might have some idea now on how best to move forward with my protagonist.