What is Internal Conflict — The Core of Great Characters

What is Internal Conflict

First, let’s define internal conflict 

Most scripts have both internal and external conflict. But what does internal conflict mean, and how do you distinguish between the two? 

Internal vs. External Conflict .

Internal versus External Conflict 

Conflict is central to making a great story, but it’s important to leverage both types of conflict - internal and external - when writing. Internal conflict’s definition includes all of the struggles taking place within a character, the external conflict encompasses  all of the opposing forces a character encounters outside of themselves. This could be another person, nature, or society at large.  

Let’s brush up on the different categories of conflict: 

What does internal conflict mean 

Why Internal Conflict is Important 

Including internal conflict in your script is essential. It creates depth within your characters, as well as allows audiences to identify with them and invest in their journey. Internal conflict also drives your character’s development and how they change (or fail to) over the course of the story to create a satisfying arc for your readers and viewers. Without internal conflict, your characters can come off as one-dimensional and unrelatable. No matter how exciting your external conflict may be, it’s the internal conflict that compels us to care about a character and what they’re up against. 

Internal Conflict Examples 

Know the 5 Types of Internal Conflict 

There are several types of internal conflict you incorporate to heighten the drama of your story and depth of your characters. They are moral conflict, identity conflict, religious/philosophical conflict, self-esteem conflict, and relationship conflict. 

Let’s break them down: 

MORAL CONFLICT 

A moral conflict is when a character has to choose between two ethical dilemmas - whether that’s choosing between two rights, two wrongs or the “lesser of two evils", or deciding between something that would benefit them versus the greater good. 

A moral conflict doesn’t only give your character an engaging internal struggle, it also invites your audience to consider their options as what they would do in that situation. 

A classic example of a moral conflict can be found in Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man movie. The Green Goblin kidnaps Peter Parker’s main squeeze Mary Jane Watson, then dangles both her and a cable car full of innocent people off the 59th Street Bridge. Spider-Man must choose who’s going to save – the woman he loves, or the larger group of innocent New Yorkers. 

Since he’s Spider-Man, the hero is able to save both Mary Jane and the cable car with the help of his fellow New Yorkers, but the scene perfectly exemplifies the climatic moments that can be crafted from posing a moral conflict on our characters. 

IDENTITY CONFLICT

An identity conflict arises when there’s tension between who a character is and who they want or are trying to be. Personal desires, societal or familial expectations, and past experiences (usually traumatic ones) all can fuel these conflicts. 

Elsa in Frozen is a great example of identity conflict. After inadvertently harming her sister with her ice powers as a child, Elsa spends years locked away and concealing her abilities to ensure she doesn’t hurt anyone else. However, when it’s time for her to ascend to the throne and rule over her home of Arendelle, Elsa cannot hide anymore. 

Elsa’s refusal to embrace her powers, and thus, who she truly is, leads to much of Frozen’s internal and external conflict as well, as she plunges Arendelle into a permanent winter. 

Yet it’s through her embracing her powers and learning to harness them, rather than to just stifle them, Elsa resolves her internal identity conflict and returns her kingdom back to normal. 

RELIGIOUS / PHILOSOPHICAL CONFLICT

When a character experiences a religious or philosophical conflict, they’re faced with a profound challenge to their beliefs or worldview. While this can be a loss of faith - either in a higher power or the people or communities around them, a religious/philosophical conflict arises whenever a character must grapple with an event or person that reframes the way they see the world. 

In Martin Scorsese’s Silence, Father Rodrigues is imprisoned, tortured, and forced to watch others being tortured because of him for not renouncing his Christian faith. Throughout the film, Rodrigues grapples with whether his adherence to his faith is worth his life and the lives of others. 

Rodrigues’s internal struggle is religious in nature as well as philosophical, since his continued faith to Christianity puts him at odds with Japanese society and his own beliefs. 

SELF-ESTEEM CONFLICT 

A character wrestling with a self-esteem conflict may not have low self-esteem overall. They could be struggling with feelings or worthlessness, incompetence, and inadequacy over one aspect of their lives in particular. 

Rocketman does a brilliant job illuminating Elton John’s self-esteem conflict. Although he’s known and loved for being a flamboyant, confident performer, he struggles with self-acceptance surrounding his homosexuality, which leads to toxic relationships with his mother and boyfriend/manager John Reid, as well as substance abuse. 

When Elton hugs and accepts his younger self, his true self, he improves his self-esteem, which enables him to live a healthy, happier life. 

RELATIONSHIP CONFLICT 

We know what you’re thinking - isn’t a relationship conflict an external conflict since it involves another person? What does internal conflict mean when it comes to relationships? An internal relationship conflict exists when a character’s own conflict about the relationships driving their problems. 

Take a look at Carmy and Claire in Season 4 of The Bear. Carmy’s obsession with work and habit of pushing people away, both examples of internal conflict, is what kept him from taking the next step with Claire, rather than any one specific thing either person did. 

Now that you know what an internal conflict is, and what its different sub-categories are, you’ll be able to clearly develop your characters into satisfying, transformative arcs. 

You don’t need to have every type of internal conflict in every screenplay, take Schindler’s List for example. Oskar Schindler’s moral dilemma whether he should save his Jewish workers that are making him rich adds rich tension and massive stakes into the greater external conflict of the expansion of Nazi rule. 

Layering in any of the five types of internal conflict for your characters is a surefire way to give your screenplay texture and depth. By utilizing internal conflict, you craft characters that audiences can see themselves in and embrace your story all the more. 

Up Next

Using Internal and External Conflict 

Don’t forget, creating a compelling internal conflict for your characters is only half the battle. You must also have an equally engaging external conflict to help drive the plot, and tying the internal conflict with the external conflict together makes for the most memorable moving stories. It’s important to know how to distinguish between the two so you can use both elements effectively. 

In our next post, brush up on the types of external conflict and see exactly how the best screenwriters link internal with external conflict. 

Up Next: Using Internal and External Conflict →