[Figure 6] Man vs. man, man vs. nature and man vs. himself.

Conflict
With very few exceptions, all stories—even the shortest of shorts—contain a setting, a protagonist, a goal, a subsequent action and an associated conflict. After all, while most of us strive for happy lives with minimal stress, such scenarios make for lousy stories. In the narrative world, happiness and tranquility equal boredom, while conflict equals drama. If only herbivorous beasts and benevolent scientists populated Jurassic Park, it might've made for an interesting scenario, but there would've been no story. Furthermore, a story's central conflict must be powerful enough to bring about a change in the protagonist or require him to expend a reasonable amount of energy or thought for its potential resolution. Nobody will be particularly engaged by the story of a burglar who merely encounters a few trivial distractions while robbing a downtown bank. Rather, the complications must be significant and challenging, and the opposing forces must have reasonably equal chances of emerging victorious to create any sense of drama or suspense. There must be moments when it appears that the hero will fail.

One opponent often appears to be the weaker of the two, but the underdog typically summons a degree of tenacity, patience, or ingenuity that makes up for his apparent disadvantages, thereby equalizing his chances (A Bug's Life). A completely mismatched tennis game is rarely interesting to watch or play because the ending is too predictable. However, if one player is faster but the other is more powerful, it might be anyone's game. The protagonist and his opposing force don't have to be equal in any particular way, but the outcome of their final confrontation must not be obvious before the fact. Scholars have suggested that there are three basic types of conflicts (see Figure 6).