Anakin Skywalker’s uncontrollable anger. Tony Soprano’s loyalty to his crime family over his actual family. Jay Gatsby’s fixation on the past. At the center of every great character is a flaw that threatens to (and often does) overwhelm them. This concept is known as hamartia. Are you unfamiliar with the term or just looking to understand it even more? Read on!
Hamartia is a character’s fatal flaw, the weakness that keeps them from fulfilling their full potential—and if unchecked, it will lead to their downfall. It is their Achilles’ heel, to keep it Greek; after all, that is the origin of the word. The philosopher Aristotle first used the term—derived from the Greek verb “hamartanein,” meaning “to miss the mark” or “to err”—in his book of dramatic theory, “Poetics.” It remains a vital concept to understand for anyone interested in creating or playing complex roles.
Examples of hamartia
Once you understand what hamartia is, it’s hard not to see how characters are impacted by their flaws. Take the following examples.
Macbeth in “Macbeth”: Like most of William Shakespeare’s greatest characters, Macbeth is incredibly layered. His hamartia is his ambition—a fantastic quality to have, but too much of it can lead to a tragic ending. Macbeth’s all-consuming desire to be king of Scotland comes at a terrible cost to himself, his kingdom, and everyone around him. He realizes far too late that the three witches’ prophecy was an ill omen, because all he could focus on was the idea of himself in a crown.
Understanding Character Arcs: A Full Guide for Writers + Actors Walter White on “Breaking Bad”: Oh, Walter White. The terminally ill science teacher turned drug kingpin probably could have gotten away with his little meth operation… if not for his pride. In the end, Walter says it himself: “I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And I was really… I was alive.” What brings Walter’s downfall on the TV drama “Breaking Bad” is what got him started in the drug trade to begin with: He couldn’t accept help, financially or otherwise, because it felt emasculating to him. Instead, he went further down the rabbit hole, obsessed with power and the money it provided—and, in the end, it cost him everything.
Jackson Maine in “A Star Is Born”: Four versions of this tragic tale have hit the screen since 1937, but the undoing of the man at the center of the story has remained the same: No matter his self-medicating vice of choice, his ego cannot handle when his lover becomes more famous. We see this in Bradley Cooper’s 2018 film with rock star Jackson Maine (Cooper). Jackson’s alcoholism worsens as the protégé he plucked from obscurity, Ally (Lady Gaga), surpasses him with pop music sensibilities. The inability to handle falling out of the spotlight is a classic case of hamartia.
Hamartia ultimately comes down to the truth and motivation behind it feeling rooted and real. Whether you’re a writer, actor, or director, understanding how to get the audience on board with a character’s worst impulses is key. Try these tips.
Empathize as much as possible. No matter how nefarious the character, you have to try and get on their side. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with them. You just need to deeply understand what you’re disagreeing with. “Stand behind whatever decision your character makes, even if it’s the wrong one. There’s got to be a reason that they’ve done it in the first place,” Emmy-winning actor Sarah Snook told Backstage when discussing her morally gray role on HBO’s “Succession.”
Delve into backstory. To empathize with a character’s flaw, ask yourself questions that dig into the why of it all: Where and how were they raised? Does their fatal flaw stem from a specific incident? What do they want more than anything in the world? What do they need more than anything in the world? What are they missing, either literally or figuratively? As you do this work, the hamartia that drives the character’s (often tragic) story will become more complex and engaging and truthful.
“I’ve been on a roll of playing a lot of villainous characters lately. But I always try to find what makes them so human and makes them like me,” Emmy winner Colman Domingo told us. Discussing his character in Janicza Bravo’s “Zola,” the actor continued: “He was a sex trafficker, and I’m vehemently a feminist. But I wanted to find out what makes this guy tick…. Why does he need to do that? What is he lacking?”
Your character doesn’t even need to be a bad person to have a fatal flaw (as long as they overcome it in the end). In Andrew Stanton’s “Finding Nemo,” Marlin’s hamartia is that he’s overprotective of his son, Nemo, who wants to explore the ocean on his own. But as viewers, we get it; we see Marlin’s wife, Coral, killed by a barracuda when Nemo’s just a baby.
Make the internal external. Once you’ve really gotten in touch with a character’s inner workings, it’s time to put it into action. How does the character’s biggest flaw affect the way they stand, walk, or just exist in a room? A prideful man will talk differently than a meek one. Or maybe you need to study the physicality of alcoholism, drug addiction, or insomnia. Whatever is rotten in your character’s core, decide how it would manifest in the ways they interact with the world.