I don't know if this is the right subforum to ask this but how do you write a crazy character like Joker? I am not really familiar with the comics. The closest character I could think of is Kefka of Final Fantasy 6. (I'm more of a video game person) One of my characters is an otherworldly being that aided the antagonist in stealing the role of the hero, essentially replacing him in the story. (The hero is basically the chosen one and has numerous feats that would make any aspiring legend jealous. Plus he has a beautiful girlfriend and a lot of followers.) She enjoys the results of the antagonist's wishes. (The antagonist is not really a competent hero. Most of the time his feats causes more problems than solve it.) I'd also add that she is constantly corrupting the antagonist like how Lady Macbeth did with her husband minus the dying part. Thing is she is bored and just decided to help the antagonist to satisfy that thirst. Thing is I want to portray her as a crazy person like Joker who delights in the suffering of others. I've read that he is also portrayed as nihilistic and that's my problem because I just don't see how that would connect with a crazy character. Apparently that nihilistic part is also present with Kefka by the end of the game. Is my character can be considered crazy enough because of her motivation? Or should I keep in mind other kinds of crazy character types? Any help will do.
So, first off, I'd want some clarification on what you mean by "crazy." If we're talking about clinical mental illness, then I feel I have to point out that A) there are so many forms of mental illness that we wouldn't be able to give much general advice without knowing specifically which illness you want to depict but that B) the general advice that does apply to any mental illness in the books is "mental illness doesn't make people violent and evil." People with mental illness are more likely to be harmed – either by themselves or by others – than they are to harm anyone else. Are we talking about "crazy" in the literal mental illness sense?
@Simpson17866: Not in a literal mental illness sense. (Now that you mentioned it, mentally ill people do get harmed more. ) Something like the classic Disney villain/fictional kind of craziness. Or a character's morality that would be considered deplorable by human standards. (maybe I got the term wrong?) I hope that makes sense.
It doesn't, but the word "crazy" doesn't really work for the kind of sadism you're talking about. Would just "sadistic" work for the description you're trying to go for?
Okay. This is a good question. A good starting point is to understand what makes these characters tick and how they work in the story. We'll focus on the Joker, because I'm most familiar with his history. I think it's important to understand that characters like the Joker, are not meant to be realistic as much as they are meant to produce conflict. Because of that, the Joker is a caricature. He's meant more to represent an idea or an aspect of the Human Condition then he is being a fully fleshed out human being. Now, there are tons of different variations and interpretations of the Joker, but in interest of your question, we'll stick with the more darker interpretations of the character as seen in The Dark Knight and various other works of fiction. There's no real canonical back story for the Joker. Not really. There is The Killing Joke but that one more or less discredited itself as being the absolute truth when the Joker said that he "sometimes remembers it one way and sometimes another." Mask of the Phantasm establishes that the Joker was a hit man for the mob, but stopped short of actually stating how he actually became the Joker. The Dark Knight refused to even touch that subject, and Tim Burton's Batman simply took creative liberties, but is not considered canonical. Because there's no back story, there's no explanation or motive for anything he does. The closest we came is Alfred's statement, "Some men just want to watch the world burn." So my first suggestion is to remove any reasonable motive from your villain. According to FBI profilier Candice DeLong, greed, jealousy, and lust are the three biggest motivations to murder. So, take these motives out of the equation. They mean nothing to your villain. Now, this also means your antagonist can't be influenced. We are only influenced based on what we want and your villain doesn't want anything reasonable. So this makes an issue for the girlfriend, right? Well, not really. Thrill killers, which the Joker most closely resembles, often times do look for individuals who would support and encourage their behavior. However, these types of partnerships typically have one person who is more dominate and calling all the shots and another who his more submissive. You could have the girlfriend more dominate, but it would be quickly picked up by readers and he wouldn't be seen as the "real villain." A threat, yes, but not the real villain. So you have to ask yourself how you want the readers to perceive this villain. If you're okay with him not being the main villain, go ahead and make the girlfriend dominate. If not, then you'll have to make her more submissive.
There's usually an alternative reality in the villains head to justify the acts and make the reader relate to it. In Chappie, the robot was told that stabbing people made them go to sleep and that people had stolen the gang's cars. Maybe your character has identified people who can be killed because they have no soul according to a sect. Maybe there's some truth behind it when people upload their minds to computers and people argue about true emotion versus simulation. There's a big difference between being informed of pain like a robot and actually feeling pain, none of which requires intelligence. You can also use denial after death to let someone keep a corpse or kidnap people who looks the same.
@LazyBear: Thank you for your reply. Also, I'd like to point out that the girlfriend and the otherworldly being are two different characters. I do like the suggestions about the girlfriend though. EDIT - I accidentally pressed shortcut keys on my laptop. Not sure what but it immediately posted my reply without finishing.
I think the best way to approach a evil-for-the-LOLZ character is to think about why you enjoy characters like that. Seeing them spread chaos and destruction is fun, right? Well, this character thinks it's fun too, for the same reasons you do. They just lack the part of you that steps in to point out that of course you wouldn't actually want to do that. In this case, you are writing this story because you enjoy watching the interesting complications of having the villain and the hero switch sides, yes? Then presumably your cosmic trickster character also wanted to watch the interesting complications. Take the glee you feel at your hero's confusion and frustration and put it into her.
I think this is what I'm looking for. In Final Fantasy 6, that's basically what Kefka did throughout the story. (he almost destroyed the entire world) They do give him a back story though. He was one of the experiments of the empire gone wrong and it affected his sanity. Now that you mentioned it, the antagonist does have some submissive tendencies towards the otherworldly being. Their dynamic is kinda similar to Macbeth and his wife. I'm not sure if Macbeth is submissive in the story because I've only read summaries of the play and watched some performances on youtube. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is what took my interest. (I have yet to read the play due to the difficulty in the language) Would this work? The otherworldly being did not kill the hero because she wants him to turn into a monster through a mental breakdown. The only reason she gave to the antagonist is she wants him to slay the hero in order for his fame to grow. In reality, she just wants keep him alive because she enjoys the hero's suffering. I'm quite a sucker for these kind of characters. Reminds me of Kira from JoJo. That guy keeps severed hands of his victims to turn it into his girlfriends.
No clue. Guess you'll have to stop asking questions and start writing to find out. I'm just here to advise on human nature. You're the expert on your story.
"Sir, we have tried everything we can think of. He just won't talk." "Everything you say..." He rubbed his pointed chin peering though the two way mirror. "Suppose we need to think outside the box on this one. Usually the old car battery and jumper cables shtick gets 'em spilling all the beans, but I suppose we need to move on from the classics." He left his minion in the small observation room that overlooked the torture chamber, where the hero was seemingly amused by their failed attempts to break them. He came back about a half hour later, after having been caught in traffic on the way to the hardware store. Entering the observation room, he wore a sadistic grin, giggling to himself. "Sir, you seem in good spirits despite our failure. What have got that you think will get him to talk?" "Heh hehe, ha ha ha ha." His laugh grew to a crescendo as he hand his defeated minion a brand new roll of Gorilla Tape, much to the minion's confusion. "Um...what am I suppose to do with this?" The poor man frowned at the roll of tape in his hand, beginning to question his life and purpose in it. "Well, you are aware of body waxing, aren't you my lad?" "Yes...Oooh....Oooh. That is brilliant sir." "Now that we are on the same page, show no mercy." The two men laughed with their diabolical plan, and the minion went back into the torture chamber reinvigorated. "Let's see how you like me now, goody two shoes..."
@Kallisto: You're right. I might find something more on my character. Thanks again for your tips. @Cave Troll: This amuses me. It also gives me good picture about those characters.
