can't figure out who the villian is

Question: In my story I have a princess that was transported with her mother to earth because her father decided to keep on with an arranged marriage instead of being with MFC and her mom. Throughout the story the King does certain things that are villainy like says that whoever can find his daughter will get her hand in marriage and he arranges a marriage for her. But the arranged marriage is to MMC who of course is in love with MFC. But there is a scene when MFC finally talks with her father and it turns out that he was just doing his duty and he gives her the choice to become his heir or live out her life with MMC.

my problem is, the King is really a good guy just doing what he thinks is best for the kingdom. does that make him the villain?
another character is the king of thieves and he captures MFC, but he dies halfway through so that MMC can take his place.

so I really don't know who the actual villain is. any help on this would be much appreciated.

Answer: To know who your antagonist is, you have to first know what your Story Problem is.

The Story Problem is composed of the Story Goal and the Consequence. The Goal is the objective that affects or involves most of the characters (on one side or the other). The Consequence is the bad thing that will happen if the Goal is not achieved.

The protagonist is
the character in charge of pursuing the Goal. The antagonist is the character trying to prevent the goal from being achieved. (The main character is the person through whose eyes the reader sees the story, who may or may not be the protagonist.)

So you must ask yourself: what is the Goal that affects everyone?

One possibility, from looking at your description, is that the Goal is to protect MFC. The father may have sent her away to protect her from something (perhaps a scandal or a threat on her life). Later, a new threat may have made him afraid for her, which is why he offers her as a prize to MMC (giving MMC an incentive to find and protect her quickly). MMC would then be the protagonist.

If that is the case, then the antagonist will be the person who wishes MFC harm. Perhaps there is someone who wants to take over the kingdom by marrying MFC (perhaps by force) or killing her, since she is heir to the throne?

In this scenario, the Consequence would be that an evil person would take over the kingdom, if MFC dies or is deposed due to scandal. Perhaps the villain is the person the father was forced to marry (along the lines of "Sleeping Beauty" or "Cinderella") who wants her own child to be the next king?

Of course, I'm not trying to write your story for you, just to show that once you know your Story Problem, the other pieces will fall into place.

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