Character vs Hero vs Author of the story you’re telling

In psychology, there’s a concept called narrative identity and it relates to the fact that we’re all storytellers. There’s always some unwritten story you tell about yourself without being aware of it and it guides how you respond to stressors — whether you see them as threats or challenges, struggles or obstacles that are part of life.

A lot of the gameplay design in Betwixt: the Story of You is grounded in narrative identity theory. As you move through the world and learn more about yourself, you level up from character to hero and, finally, to author — the author of the epic adventure that is your life.

A character is someone who thinks that stuff happens to them, that their successes or failures result from external factors beyond their control.

A hero is someone who isn’t afraid to go to battle to overcome the curveballs life throws at them. They are the high achievers who always feel like they have to prove themselves. I always thought of heroes as inspiring and admirable, but the problem with them is that they tend to see everything as a test, a fight for survival. They can’t relax because failure is always just around the corner. So, paradoxically, being the hero is not the best role to play in your story if you care about having a fulfilling life.

An author, by contrast, embraces everything that happens to them and takes responsibility for creating something beautiful and meaningful out of their experience. This means they don’t blame the world (as a character might) or themselves (as a hero would). Instead, they own their story and respond to events with awareness of both their strengths and vulnerabilities. They know that the world is unpredictable and instead of trying to control it, they control their behaviour and responses to it. They don’t say “Why me?”; they say “Yes, and…”, and go on to write their own story endings.