Excessive pride or arrogance that blinds a character to their own limitations and leads to their downfall.
Hubris is extreme pride or self-confidence that causes a character to overestimate their own abilities, defy natural or moral limits, and ultimately bring about their own destruction. In ancient Greek culture, hubris was considered a specific transgression - the arrogance of mortals who dared to challenge the gods or place themselves above the natural order. In modern storytelling, it describes any character whose inflated sense of self prevents them from seeing the disaster heading their way. Hubris is not just confidence; it is confidence that has crossed the line into delusion.
Hubris is one of the most enduring character flaws in all of storytelling because it is so deeply human. We have all met someone who was too proud to ask for help, too certain to listen to advice, too convinced of their own rightness to see the consequences coming. When you write a character with hubris, you tap into something readers instantly recognize and find both compelling and infuriating. Hubris creates dramatic irony naturally, because the audience can see the fall coming even when the character cannot.
Oedipus's relentless pursuit of truth, driven by his pride in his own intelligence, leads him straight to the revelation that destroys him.
Victor Frankenstein's hubris - believing he can create life without consequence - is the engine that drives every tragedy in the novel.
The poem's shattered statue of a once-mighty king, with the inscription 'Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!' surrounded by empty desert, is one of literature's most iconic images of hubris.
Daniel Plainview's conviction that he can dominate everyone and everything around him leads to a life of isolated, hollow triumph.
The most compelling hubristic characters are not just jerks. They often have real talent and genuine accomplishments that make their pride feel justified - until it goes too far.
Let the pride build. Let the character succeed, let their confidence grow, let the reader almost start to believe they might pull it off. The longer the rise, the harder the fall.
Even the most arrogant character needs a moment of vulnerability or a sympathetic motivation. Pure arrogance with no humanity is a cartoon villain, not a tragic hero.
Write a character sketch (about 300 words) of someone at the peak of their confidence. They have just achieved something remarkable and they know it. Show their pride through specific details - how they walk, talk, treat others, think about themselves. Then write a final paragraph that hints at the crack in the foundation, the one thing they cannot see.