1. shadowblaze83

    shadowblaze83 New Member

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    my novel

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by shadowblaze83, May 22, 2009.

    Ok here it is. im writing a superhero novel. I started with just a character, actually a couple, and it has evolved into this novel writing project. My plot is a bit shaky at the moment. Right now i have great ideas that tie my characters together, but im having one main problem, and that is the motivation of my villain.. so here is a bit of information about my plot and whats going on in my novel. Maybe you guys can help me with my villain.
    Ok so for now we have the appearance of individuals who have developed super powers. No one knows how they got the powers, they just manifested within the individuals during highly emotional events. So my backstorry behind the powered beings is this: That their parents were kidnapped at the age of five and held captive for five years and were genetically altered by THe man who will become my villain. The altering of the genes doesnt effect the parents, but they serve as carriers for the genes that will pass through them to their children, who will ultimately become the powered beings. So thats how they get their power, but that wont be revealed till later in the story.
    now The man behind the kidnappings who is my ultimate villain in the story. His name will be Master being. his name is that because he is the original powered being. It was his own dna that he infused to the children that spawned the powered beings. Now i guess you wonder how can this guy put a plan into action that wont have results till the next generation. Well its easy, he ages at 1/3 the normal rate of a human. So at the time he did the genetic manipulation he was actually one hundred years old, but looked physically 33. He has other powers, but for now thats the most important part, because it explains how he transcends the generations. With his power and age he does grow progressively mad , which ultimately becomes part of his vice for his evil plans.
    With that information, i'm stuck with what his plan will actually be. The events of my story take place in Soul City. it is the largest city in the world. by far. So i want his plan to be to over throw the city itself, but im not sure if thats a big enough goal, or that it would be plausible for a man with such power, to limit himself to one city and not the world. And as for him creating the powered beings , i was leaning towards him trying to build an army to overthrow the city and its humanity so he could rule over a civilization of only powered beings. But then i think again, why limit himself to just the city. Or i was thinking, that he created them, so that he could absorb their powers, since they will vary from his own, so that he could become more powerful, and control the world perhaps, or maybe still the city.
    Im just not sure what to do with this. Does anyone hae any ideas about this? Alternate motives? If you need more back story about him or the overall about soul city let me know and i will tell you.
     
  2. Marcelo

    Marcelo Member

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    Maybe something terrible happened to him during his youth in Soul City, or maybe the ones who run the city did something that made him want vengeance.
     
  3. shadowblaze83

    shadowblaze83 New Member

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    Yes that is a very good idea I wish i had thought of that , its seems so simple. but hes so old that, any of the people he would want revenge against would be dead.hmm, or he could blame the entire city? hmm. Perhaps they performed experiments on him as a child as a result of the government, because they found out about some of his abilities. They leave him for dead, but he survives, takes on an a new identity, and swears his vengance against the city. Also motivating him to want to create a society of only powered beings for him to rule over., wow you have my juices flowing. looking forward to more ideas
     
  4. Marcelo

    Marcelo Member

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    Or as you said, this man is crazy. Maybe, although he has the appearance of a 33 year old man, his age really took a toll on his body, and he lives in constant pain and torment. He is so twisted that because of what happened during his youth, he thinks that by erasing any trace of Soul City he will be freed of his pain. This is selfish, but at least not "evil because he was born evil".
     
  5. shadowblaze83

    shadowblaze83 New Member

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    no he was not born evil, however part of his powers is mild regeneration. his body remains intact so long as he is not killed by a blow, or his internal organs unrepairable. i.e only half his heart remains. Something like that kills him. surely his madness and his desire for revenge against the humanity of soul city is definitely a possibility.

    Here is a bit more detail about the character that i have created , this may help in understanding his capabilities.

    Abilities: slowed aging. ages at 1/3 the rate of a normal human. cells also heal 30 percent faster than normal human cells, however he can not regenerate from a death blow, or his vital organs, or torn limbs. He can only repair cells still attached to his body.
    increase intelligence. due to his slowed aging, his muscles have had longer to rebuild and become stronger over the years. Used his increased intelligence
    to create a personalised training that allows him to tear down and rebuild his muscles and fortify his body physically. Normal physical attacks rarely effect
    him due to his reinforced body.He can feel and manipulate his body on the cellular level.
     
  6. daturaonfire

    daturaonfire New Member

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    Have you tried writing a short little chapter from his perspective? Sometimes when you let your villians have the mic they say some crazy--and very useful--things. As to the city, it could also be of military or economic importance. If it's a coastal city that's the center of trade between two nations, for example, that's great leverage to have for a world takeover.

    If you wanted to make your villian more complex, you might give him a streak of delusion. He may think that kidnapping five-year-olds and altering their DNA is going to make the world a better place. Eugenics, creating a master race, that sort of thing. He might want to base his operations in Soul City due to ideal conditions for his plan. People who do that often geniunely believe that what they are doing is not only okay, but good, even righteous.
     
  7. Tall and Weird

    Tall and Weird New Member

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    I've always thought that the best super villian plots were the ones that no-one else really understood completely. Like taking over a city when they really have no interest in anything but destruction. Or holding the world to ransom when it is pretty obvious they won't it blow up because they'd have nowhere to go.

    Perhaps your villian understands the nature of his powers so well that he knows he will require a handy source of viable genetic material to retain his full powers at some future stage. Thus, thinking in the long term, he 'seeded' various individuals with the basics of his own genetic structure ensuring that, if the time comes when his powers begin to fail, there will be a supply of similar enough genetic that he will be able to repair his abilities. At a guess though, if this is his motivation, he's going to be very annoyed that his gene-banks went and got superpowers.

    Or perhaps he's just crazy. Crazy is good. :)
     
  8. losthawken

    losthawken Author J. Aurel Guay Role Play Moderator Contributor

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    I think his evil plans definitely need to be related to the creation of your MC's. It'd be even better if you could tweak it in such a way that the MC's have been un-knowingly accomplishing his goals all along!! He can then try to persuade them to work with him. Kind of a Dark Knight's Joker meets, Darth Vader ("I'm your father").

    However you do it, I think you'll get the most out of it if you can tie the creation of the MC's to the evil plan. Thinking about that should give you a direction to work in.

    I also second writing from the villain's view, even if just an exercise. I've found that characters develop more as you write than if you just try to sit and imagine them.

    ~JG
     
  9. arron89

    arron89 Banned

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    Maybe he just wants to test his creations...he becomes a supervillain as a response to their emergence as superheroes, hoping that by escalating the destruction he wreaks, he will escalate the kids ability to fight him.
     
  10. shadowblaze83

    shadowblaze83 New Member

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    Thanks for the great input guys, I'm always doing research on characters and motives and such, you guys have helped me think of some pretty unique combinations for my Villain. hopefully i will come up with something great.
     
  11. Atma

    Atma New Member

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    every motive for a villain has been used before, so personally, I wouldnt bother too much about originality regarding his motives. (Personality, however is a completely different issue :))
    Imo, all of the following, are for me valid reasons for villains to become villains. Or....well, you get what I mean ;)

    - Someone killled his/her family, goes a bit insane.

    - Jealousy. I think this one is too overlooked. Jealousy is definitely the most common factor of hatred in this world, and so why shouldnt it be a valid reason for hatred in a novel? I think people are scared of basing a villain on jealousy. But it could be a king's brother who is jealous of his good looking, nice, popular king-brother? Or a woman who was betrayed too many times by her husband and lost it - this is a very very common thing in the "real" world, so again, I don't see why it's not more used, personally. :)

    The usual "lust for power" motivation in a bad guy; he simply wants power and will stop at next to nothing to get it. I know, this one's overused, but hey, it works. Read any book and most of them will have a villain like that, just with an intriguing personality.

    I think the personality is most important. I think we have to sympathise with him/her, and at the same time wonder how he/she could be so cruel. Want to know what happened, and it should be interesting - even though the root of the problem might "only" be jealousy, lust for power, or betrayal or loss of loved ones.
     
  12. AngeloBraxton

    AngeloBraxton New Member

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    Hmmm... it sounds a lot like my novel... Maybe the government is coming for him because they're figuring out about the kidnappings and super-soldiers so he tries to kill them so there's no evidence to trace back to him.
     

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