Protagonist

The character whose pursuit and transformation the story is built around.

The protagonist is the character the story happens through — the one whose want drives the plot and whose change (or costly refusal to change) gives it meaning. Not necessarily the hero, the narrator, or even likeable: necessarily the one with the most at stake.

The classic development split: the WANT is the visible goal they chase; the NEED is the internal truth they must face. Stories earn their endings in the gap between the two.