Cutting to the chase: ?a?hermit magician must defeat ?a wicked king. ?That’s as much of the story as I can figure out so far.

>>>the pupil would never be able to succeed without the help of the Mage, but the Mage could potentially succeed without the pupil.

Would Luke Skywalker have have been able to succeed without help from Obi-Wan and Yoda? ?Yet, he’s clearly the main character, the designated hero.

What is the demographic audience for your story? What age group will it more likely appeal to?? ?If the prime demographic is (the greatly desired) teen to late 20’s audience,?which character is more likely to appeal to them, the pupil or the magician?

>>>A villain with a single aim is kind of flat

Of course, it’s a plus when the antagonist is a rich complex character. ?But does that mean he must have multiple objective goals to be one?

And conversely, by your logic, would you also say that a protagonist with a single aim (aka: objective goal) is kind of flat? Ergo, the hermit magician is a flat character because his only aim is to defeat the king, restore peace? Maybe the magician needs to pursue multiple objective goals, too?

Can you point to three commercially and/or critically successful movies in a similar genre as yours where the villain has multiple objective goals.