Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
sabrina carpenter performs at the 2025 grammy awards
sabrina carpenter performs at the 2025 grammy awards
Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Delhi North | Culture

Is ‘Main Character Energy’ Just a New Form of Narcissism?

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar
Mumukshaa Goswami Student Contributor, University of Delhi - North Campus
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Delhi North chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

What is Main Character Energy?

It’s the mindset where you see yourself as the protagonist in your own story. It’s empowering when it boosts confidence and encourages individuality. Yet, this can quickly turn problematic when it becomes more about seeking validation than genuinely embracing who you are.

michelle trachtenberg at the InStyle Awards in 2017
Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for InStyle

Self-Love vs. Narcissism

It’s important to realize there’s a fine line. Main character energy works when it gives you strength to be unapologetically yourself. But it goes wrong when you expect others to cater to you, or when everything has to revolve around your narrative.

Imagine being at your friend’s wedding, you should be confident, but it’s not your day. If you dominate the attention, you’re crossing into narcissism. It’s about understanding when to step back and let others have their moments.

Sometimes, You Need to Be the Side Character

Life isn’t always about being the star. Sometimes, letting others shine allows you to grow too. There’s strength in supporting others and embracing your role as a side character. Main character energy only works when it doesn’t overshadow those around you.

The Positives and Negatives

rojienne groves dorm diaries
Photo by Rojienne Groves

Positives:

Confidence: Helps you embrace your individuality.

Authenticity: Encourages being true to yourself.

Inspiration: Motivates others to take charge of their lives.

Negatives:

Self-Centeredness: Can lead to entitlement and the need for constant validation.

Relationships: It can strain relationships when you expect everything to be about you.

The Takeaway

Main character energy isn’t inherently bad, it’s about balance. It’s empowering when used to boost your confidence, but when it becomes self-obsessed, it turns into narcissism. Life isn’t a movie where you’re always the star. Sometimes, the beauty lies in supporting others and allowing them to shine too.

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar
Mumukshaa Goswami

Delhi North '27

To make a sweet cold coffee, you start by adding milk and two crushed ice cubes for that perfect chill, just like the love I pour into art and poetry. Then, four small spoons of sugar, enough to savor my love for books and thrilling stories. Finally, two sachets of coffee, blending in my morbid curiosity and fascination with the unusual. And that’s how the perfect coffee, or me was made.