The quest motif- two ways of approach.

I was thinking about this as I walked home from work today. The quest motif (probably the most common trope in fantasy, narf) can be done in two different ways. The first (and most common) is the quest as plot entire, and that solution of the quest (finding the magic wotsit) leads to completion of the plot and then the usage of quest item then leads to a denouement.  Magical wotsit cured cancer, saves Middle Urth, and gives humanity faster than light travel.

Then you have the second motif. This one I prefer. This where the quest being solved is the pivot point of the narrative arc, and instead of being an end point (leading to denouement and solution) it is instead the point when the plot changes. This reversal is key to making a quest based narrative unique and surprising. It makes the familiar unfamiliar, and can blow away reader expectations. If the quest relies on a twist for shock value (the gods were humans all along! existence is meaningless! pants are really shirts! OMG!) than using the quest solution as a pivotal point in the story becomes even more necessary.

The power in using the secondary style is simple, and it revolves around reversing expectations. When they achieve their quest, the plot cannot end, cannot go into denouement. It must, instead, reverse. They achieve their goal, and in a surprise twist, everything is exactly the opposite of what everyone expected (characters included). The big bad blows something up. Someone dies. A man with a gun walks in and starts shootin stuff up.

Then of course, there really is a third element. The anti quest. Which is, the quest inverted. Instead of searching to achieve something (and better humanity) they are instead trying to destroy or avoid something. This is also interesting and can lead to the unexpected in many ways that the pivot quest sequence (narrative #2 above) can’t. It’s characters are anti-heroes, and not only do they not want to save the world, but they barely even want to save themselves.

They are usually thrust into a quest situation not because of their speshulness (as is most heroic quest motifs), but rather because of being forced into it. Whether they are an outlaw, trying to escape a sentence, or a criminal escaping a band of thugs crying for his head. The anti-quests goal is selfish, self centered and at its core, portraying a different kind of narrative flow.

And then there is the anti-quest that is the quest deconstructed. The quest that destroys. The heroes of the quest become obsessed, become devoured by their own yearning for completion of the quest. This quest will never save humanity. But rather, in the end, destroy all characters who travel upon the road.