Save the Cat Breakdown Series - Bad Guys Close In

In the previous article, we explored the Save the Cat story beat of the Midpoint, and how this is that is the climax or the culmination of the Fun and Games section, and that it normally results in a false victory, or a false defeat. In this article, we are exploring the story beat of the Bad Guys Close In. It’s also known as the second pinch point.

What is the Bad Guys Close In story beat?

The Bad Guys Close In is where things are growing particularly dire for the protagonist. As the beat’s name suggests, the antagonist or the antagonist force appears to be unstoppable at this point. Maybe they get a new weapon that the protagonist doesn’t know how to defend against, or they turn an ally against them, or they win a major battle in a war. Whatever your plot calls for, this is where things begin to seem impossible to overcome.

In addition to this external Bad Guys Close In, there’s an internal Bad Guys Close In that occurs at the same time. This is where your character’s misbelief and their fear collide. Until this point, they were still clinging to the last shreds of their misbelief. It may have been taken down a notch in previous beats, but it was still hanging around and influencing how your protagonist acted and what they believed about themself and the world. Now, with everything crumbling around them, they can no longer turn a blind eye to this weakness of theirs. It has destroyed them.

These two forces, the external and the internal, serve as a one-two punch to your protagonist, crashing into the next story beat of All Is Lost (see the next Save the Cat article for more details).

This beat occurs at around 50 - 75%, or 40,000 - 60,000 words in a typical 80,000 word novel.

Bad Guys Close In in Disney’s Mulan

In Disney’s Mulan, the Bad Guys Close In literally starts with a bang when Mushu (or Crickey, but let’s be real here, Crickey can do no wrong!) accidentally sets off a cannon that immediately gives away the Chinese army’s position. They come under attack, and while they fight back valiantly, they lose most of their cannon.

The start of this scene is focused entirely on the external threat. The Huns find them thanks to the accidental cannon firing and attack. Li Shang is struck by an arrow, and that is Mulan’s fault since she was the one transporting the cannon. He is likely unharmed thanks to his armour, but at the instant it happens, that’s not clear.

The next scene shows Mulan rescuing Li Shang during the avalanche that follows their defence. She is guilty about causing the attack and she cannot bear the thought of losing Li Shang, so she plunges herself (and her horse, Mushu, and Crickey) into danger to try to save Li Shang. This is her inner conflict coming to a head.

Bad Guys Close In in Flewelling’s Luck in the Shadows

The midpoint in Luck in the Shadows ended with a false defeat, with Seregil only just managing to survive the magical attack that had him hallucinating horrors, with the help of Alec who got him to the wizard Nysander in the nick of time.

Following a false defeat in the Midpoint, there comes a period of increased optimism. In this case, it is displayed with the intrinsic nature spell that has Alec turning into a stag and Seregil into an Otter. There is also some antagonistic banter between Seregil and Nysander’s apprentice Thero to lighten the mood further.

This is then countered when Micum returns from his scouting mission. He reported that the entire village had been killed and dragged into a burrow for some kind of ritual and we, the reader, are left to assume that this is what we saw in the prologue of the book. It is also clear that Nysander is holding secrets, potentially very dangerous secrets, from the three of them. On top of all this, Seregil and Alec discover a forging ring which has already sent one innocent man to be executed based on false evidence. They find evidence that Seregil was going to be next, but manage to intercept it in time.

This occurs at around 52% of the book. After the fast start to really pull us in, the Bad Guys Close In is right on target once again.

Final Thoughts

Bad Guys Close In is the multiple scenes that take up the majority of the second half of the novel and is an increase in tension after the midpoint. It is where both an internal and an external threat closes around the protagonist, making victory seem impossible.

Next time we will look at the All Is Lost story beat, where everything goes wrong. I hope to see you then!