Conflict Types
1. Character vs. Character – the main character clashes with another character.
Example: Jimmy and Eric compete for the same position on the baseball team.
2. Character vs. Self – This is an internal (inside) conflict. The character battles with him or herself. Maybe they lack
courage and have to try to be brave. Maybe they blame themselves for something that really isn’t their fault. The battle
is an emotional battle within the main character, but other characters can become involved.
Example: Alexa caught her friend Jamie stealing from a classmate. Now Alexa must choose between keeping her
friendship with Jamie and doing the right thing.
3. Character vs. Nature – The main character to survive or overcome the forces of nature.
Example: After their boat flips over and sinks during the storm, Alex and Scott struggle to make it back to the
shore and survive a shark circling them.
4. Character vs. Society - the main character challenges a law, tradition, or institution of society, like fighting against
racism.
Example: Vanessa and her family are immigrants moving into a racist town. Her and her family have to work
and fight against the racist view of their new town and prove they are worthy of respect.
Hunger Games
Martin Luther King, Jr.
5. Character vs. Supernatural – the main character battles against forces that are not of this
world, like monsters, ghosts, magical beings, or even aliens.
Example: Bob and his friends get lost in the woods until they discover a seemingly
abandoned town. But this town is actually full of vampires that they must now escape.
6. Character vs. Technology - he main character resists technological forces. He or she may
battle rouge robots or just struggle to accept or use the technology of a changing world.
Example: Bob is a salesman who never adapted to the new ways of doing business.
Now he has a new boss who forces Bob to send text messages and emails. Bob struggles to use
these technologies and fears that he will lose his job.