The Different Types of External Conflict & 10 Great External Conflict Examples

Created by Igor_Brynner.

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External conflict is an essential part of screenwriting in that it’s essential in driving any plot. It is different to internal conflict in that whilst internal conflict is within the characters, external is outside of the character. In this article we’ll seek to define what external conflict is as well as provide some brilliant external conflict examples.

We’ll look at:

What is External Conflict?
What are the Different Types of External Conflict?
Which are the Best Examples of External Conflict?
Defining External Conflict
External conflict is when characters are faced with forces outside themselves, beyond their control, which oppose their needs and wants.

Internal and external conflict are not mutually exclusive, both are necessary in well written stories. External conflict is the basis of the entire plot, driving the narrative forward. Whilst internal conflict adds depths to characters and storylines.

External conflict is essentially the outside forces that pressure the protagonist into action. Internal conflict will be the pressure a protagonist puts on themselves, something that external conflict can exacerbate, motivate or call into question. But external conflict is the pressure point unique to this story.

A protagonist has a long life outside the point at time in which we are seeing them and. The external conflict is usually the reason why we are meeting them at this point in their life. This is unless of course the story encapsulates the protagonist‘s entire life, in which case conflict will be many and varied.

External conflict is the antagonist force for a protagonist and it can take many forms…

Types of External Conflict
There are three primary forms of external conflict within screenwriting. Each is vital to understanding antagonists and obstacles.

Nature vs Character – This is when the world is opposing the goals of the protagonists. This could be a natural disaster, a global pandemic or an evil creature of some kind.
Character vs Character – This is the simplest form of conflict and involves the battle of the protagonist and antagonist, both of whom have opposing goals, needs and wants.
Society vs Character – In this form of conflict, the protagonists are faced with a society that opposes them. Dystopian societies involve this form of conflict, where it seems that the protagonist is overwhelmed by societal oppression.
These three forms of external conflict are the most common but not the only forms. There are other subcategories that can be extrapolated from each. These often include:

Supernatural vs Character (a variant of Nature vs Character eg. Ghost Stories, Poltergeist)
Technology vs Character (a variant of Society vs Character eg. 2001 Space Oddysey, Blade Runner).
Animal vs Character (another variant of Nature vs Character mixed with Character vs Character eg. Moby Dick, Jaws).
The aforementioned three are the primary forms of external conflict. However, you’ll see in our examples that from the three primary forms of external conflict, secondary ones will spring. Furthermore, types of external conflict are by no means mutually exclusive. To the contrary, they often spawn and feed each other.

External conflict is rarely the only conflict in a film of course. In most films, the external conflict feeds into and creates internal conflict within the characters who have to deal with it. Internal and external conflict need each other to survive and it’s in this relationship that drama thrives.

Let’s take a look at some examples…