| TRAGICFLAW | Shortcoming responsible for a protagonist's downfall |
| HUBRIS | In classical Greek tragedy, excessive pride or ambition that leads to a protagonist's downfall (6) |
| PLOTARMOR | Protection for a protagonist, maybe |
| CHARACTERACTRESS | Performer who often plays a protagonist's best friend |
| BILDUNGSROMAN | Literary work dealing with a protagonist's formative years or spiritual education; German, 'education novel' (13) |
| TEEN | Many a Y.A. protagonist |
| THEPRINCEANDTHEPAUPER | Mark Twain novel featuring Tom Canty as a protagonist |
| AMNESIA | Plot device that prompts a protagonist to piece things together |
| ARMOR | Plot ___ (trope that protects a protagonist) |
| THEFARPAVILIONS | M.M. Kaye work with a protagonist named Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn |
| ANTIHERO | Neither a protagonist nor antagonist, or ain't he revealed as either? (8) |
| WOOD | Norwegian ___ 1987 novel by Haruki Murakami that has a protagonist named Toru Watanabe |
| PLAY | 1969 stage play with a protagonist called Allan Felix (4,2,5,3) |
| ITAGAINSAM | 1969 stage play with a protagonist called Allan Felix (4,2,5,3) |
| ACTIONHERO | A protagonist such as Zorro, Robin Hood, Xena, Indiana Jones, etc (6,4) |
| SARTRE | Who is one of the greatest 20th century French philosophers and is remembered primarily as a protagonist of the value of existential freedom? (6) |
| NAPOLEONCOMPLEX | Tendency to overcompensate for a perceived shortcoming |
| DEFAULTED | Was a welsher ? a shortcoming, indeed (9) |
| NOEAR | Shortcoming for a musician |
| NIT | Pick a ___ (point out a minor shortcoming) |
