Just a quick thought: How would the people of the listed villages (based on scenario) react to a demon (in the sense that most people know) that just came in? I was thinking of what kind of village would react the most (fear, paranoia, rage) since the MC of the main story is mainly traumatized by the way people are treating her because she's a demon (treatments may include trying prayers to drive her off, shoving holy relics, shoving the "fact" in her face that she can do no good because of what she is, etc.). Since the story (which I'm now thinking of setting 3500 years ago) mainly involves Judaism and Egyptian mythology (Judaism primarily w/some twists), keep that in mind (and inform me if I screw anything up or placed this in the wrong place): Three possibilities I'm thinking of: A village that's had major demon problems: I think this village would immediately start trying to drive her out or stand back in despair as they think more problems befall them. A village that's had minor demon problems: They would probably drive her out via whatever methods they usually do. When they discover it doesn't work, they'd probably start panicking and the other demons (biblical) might see an opportunity to wreak havoc through the MC. A village that's hadn't had a demon problem at all: Paranoia is the first word that comes into my mind. They might take immediate action or observe first, then panic and try to drive the MC out. Any other ideas on a village (vague) that'd react crazily are welcome and is there any flaws with my analysis on the scenario villages I thought of?
I've voted for a village which has never had a demon take residence until the demon in question has pulled into town. It would also depend significantly if in your story-world demons were an understood and factual thing of which the average bloke were aware. If it were the real world and something demonesque were to take residence, you'ld have people running for the hills, but if your world concept has demons as unwelcome but factual creatures, then you might get a, "Great, there goes the property value and right after we've just finished installing the backyard pool," attitude to the whole thing.
Well the story sets place in the real world about 3500 years ago, though the true genetic relationship the MC has is with demons that are from another world (not Hell or anything like that) where they're generally understood as normal beings. She hasn't been told that though since she's been seperated from her father, who is also from that other world.
This is a question that's hard to answer because of it's potential scope. Any one of these could possibly have a really negative reaction or no reaction at all. A village with serious demon problems might default out and deal with your MC as they would with the Destroyer Himself, or they could ignore her completely because the giant lava-vomiting monstrosity clearly poses a greater threat. A village with minor demon problems might have a band of hunters that regularly scours the area and publicly executes any demons found, or minor might be something closer to "Did you hear? Harold's gone and opened ANOTHER portal into the fiery abyss. I keep telling him the village gardening association is going to complain about the sulfur, but it's the only way he can keep in touch with his kids, you know?" Finally a village with no experience with demons could either completely flip out when they see their first one (enter overzealous priest type like the minister from Fullmetal Alchemist) or be completely oblivious (mommy, why does that lady look funny?) I think the current flavour of the month is racial tension. Watch District 9 for a good idea of what I'm talking about: Humans and demons both live in the same village under an uneasy truce, but there are serious issues regarding segregation and prejudice. Good for exploring you MC's emotional spectrum, yeah?
I'd really be watching District 9 if it weren't rated R (simply because I'm not allowed to watch rated R movies by myself). But if I do get the chance to watch it, I'll tell you what I've learned concerning the scenario.
That sucks =S I guess other fictional fantasy stuff that comes to mind would be the Ishibalans from Fullmetal Alchemist, the ghouls from the Fallout series, pretty much every race somewhere in the Elder Scrolls series, it shouldn't be too hard to find something that plays on racial tensions. I mean, there's plenty of non-fiction that deals with the oppression of African-Americans, Women, Jews and those are just the first ones I can think of. Try imagining a single person from Afghanistan - they don't even have to be Muslim - trying to live in an all-white fundamentalist Christian town where everyone believes everything they hear on television (ie. all people from the middle east are baby-eating terrorists). EDIT: Just to back that up, I'm going to quote a line from Rosie O'Donnell as paraphrased by Bill Bailey. "I've never been to Afghanistan, but I know it's FULL of terrorists. Speaking as a mother." That's the kind of tension you can create.
It depends on how the demon manifests. If crops simply start to die then there wouldn't be much panic. If it's a Grendel-type demon who shows up and rips people's arms off, I wouldn't think that it would matter about the history of demons. Personally, I would be most terrified of the demon that shows up and says "HERE'S JOHNNY!"
When the MC first appears in the village, she starts eating the livestock. She sort of becomes a Grendel-type demon later in the story.
I agree with previous responders, it does really depend on the situation, as every type of these village will have their own thoughts and feelings on the subject, but a village which has had no issues before will probably react teh most as they wil lonly act on what they have previously heard about demons. The racial sterotype is the best way of looking at it, look at how ethnic minoritys were treated during the apartheid for instance, (and still today in some parts of the world) or even to a more extreme nature, the nazis persecution of Jews. how is it that this character is even defined as a demon, do they have a certain look about them (which racist allegories woudl apply to ) or is it simply the way they act, either way looking at any form of prejudice shoudl give you plenty of material and research for this
