The ‘Main Character’ Trend Is Nietzsche’s Übermensch for Normies

What Is the 'Main Character' Trend?

On platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels, users film themselves with cinematic angles, slow-motion edits, and evocative music to create everyday vignettes—walking in sunlight, sipping coffee, or staring out a window. These videos are captioned with self-affirming lines (“POV: You’re the protagonist of your own story”), reframing ordinary experiences as scenes from a personal movie.

Key features:

• Everyday moments staged as cinematic, starring scenes

• Use of visual storytelling, indie soundtracks, and mood lighting

• Narrative captions reclaiming agency and visibility

Psychological impact:

• Provides escapism and empowerment amid uncertainty

• Boosts creativity and self-confidence

• Risks fostering narcissism and superficiality if overemphasized

Nietzsche’s Übermensch: Transcending the Ordinary

Nietzsche’s Übermensch, first described in Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883), stands as his answer to passive conformity and inherited morality. The Übermensch is not content to accept values uncritically but instead:

• Practices self-overcoming: Rejects imposed norms to forge personal meaning and values.

• Engages in creative self-fashioning: Becomes the artist of one’s own life, continually reshaping character.

• Affirms life: Says “yes” to reality, accepting suffering and chaos as raw materials for growth.

For Nietzsche, becoming Übermensch is a demanding, lifelong project of inner transformation and existential courage.

From Übermensch to Main Character Energy

The main character trend loosens the philosophical rigor of Nietzsche’s Übermensch, making it accessible and playful:

Aspect Nietzsche’s Übermensch “Main Character” Trend Scope Lifelong self-overcoming Momentary self-empowerment & affirmation Agency Deep philosophical self-authorship Cinematic self-styling, narrative posts Method Reject inherited values, forge new ones Visual vignettes, relatable captions Discipline Intense internal struggle & growth Aesthetic curation, creative expression Audience Philosophy enthusiasts, existentialists Mass digital users, “normies”

Social media lets anyone sample what it means to be the author of their life, “romanticizing” daily routines without the existential heavy lifting Nietzsche demands.

Risks & Rewards of Main Character Energy

Rewards:

• Empowers marginalized or overlooked voices

• Fosters creativity and self-reflection

• Combats feelings of passivity and invisibility

Risks:

• Encourages shallow self-obsession and comparison

• Increases anxiety when life fails to match staged personas

• Can substitute aesthetic performance for genuine growth

Like Nietzsche’s own warnings about unexamined ideals, the trend’s greatest risk is remaining at the surface—celebrating fleeting moments of protagonism without deeper transformation.

How to Channel Authentic “Main Character” Energy

Turn the trend from pure aesthetics into substantive self-creation by:

• Defining your values: Identify what principles matter to you (kindness, boldness, growth) and choose actions that express them.

• Practicing self-overcoming: Set challenges that push beyond your comfort zone—learn new skills, form new habits, embrace adversity as fuel for growth.

• Narrating with purpose: Use digital storytelling to capture genuine moments of learning, effort, and resilience—not just stylized highlight reels.

• Balancing visibility and reflection: Alternate between sharing online and introspective offline activities like journaling, reading, or mindful walks.

The challenge is to use “main character energy” as a launchpad toward real self-authorship—a process that honors both Nietzsche’s philosophy and its contemporary, more democratic reframing.

Conclusion

The main character trend translates Nietzsche’s lofty ideal of the Übermensch into an everyday movement for creative agency. While the two are far from identical, both call for moving beyond passively accepted roles to become the author of one’s own story. By using social media as a tool for authentic self-discovery (not just performance), anyone can channel the spirit of the Übermensch—writing not just snapshots but real, resonant chapters of their life.