Hello everyone! I really wanted to ask for some advice about how to go about one of my character concepts for my story. My main character is a Lodestar; an intergalactic space bounty hunter whose face is submerged by the cruel metallic bindings of his helmet. You're probably going to ask, 'but why can't he just remove the helmet?'. Well, that's the thing; he can't. Lodestars are trained from birth or raised as young children to become hunters, along with following a strict code of heightened rules and codes and they are also raised under very harsh planetary conditions, which unfortunately damages their lungs. Long story short----their helmet is what provides some of that much-needed oxygen that they need to survive, so if they remove it, it won't be long before they die. My actual question is: Should I describe his facial expressions under his helmet? or should I just keep his face a mystery from the reader, allowing his gestures, body posture and thoughts to allow the reader to form an idea of what expression he's making? Thank you to anybody who can help!
So it's opaque? Is there any possibility that it could ever be switched to a clear visor through some filter or something? This sounds a lot like the Mandalorian. I'm sure there are a lot of differences but I'd try to make them a little different superficially, unless this is similar to fanfiction.
Yes, I was sought of envisioning a complete black visor which covers pretty much the entire face. I could make room for the fact that he could have a clear visor, although I think that his mysteriousness might be lost slightly, as that is what I was kind of going for as the character doesn't know his own name. I suppose I couldn't really put a face to a non-existant name! I haven't actually watched the Mandalorian, but I am familiar with the concept and now that I think about it, the characters do have some similarities. Thanks for putting in the time to comment. ❤️
how important is it that the reader (and other characters) know what his face looks like? if it doesnt add anything to the story.... if he's already unique because the helmet sets him apart from other characters.... then i'd leave the face description alone. you can do non descript things like say "he frowned" or "he furrowed his brows/twisted his lips".... stuff like that. but if he leaves his helmet on for the duration of the story, then deep descriptions of what he looks like may not be important
Why are the "bindings" of this space helmet "cruel"? Why are they metallic? This helmet is what keeps him alive. I wouldn't describe the helmet (and suit) that Neil Armstrong wore on the Moon as "cruel." You can certainly describe his facial expressions. They exist, whether or not other characters can see them. Let's face it -- unless this Lodestar character has radar or X-ray vision, he has to have a visor to see where he is and where he's going. You could, of course, equip his helmet with a video camera and have it play back in real time to a heads-up display inside an opaque helmet -- but that seems a poor choice for an interplanetary bounty hunter. Disable the camera and the hunter is blind. That's double un-good. But, if you can describe his thoughts -- which clearly aren't perceptible to others around him (unless they're telepathic and he has poor shielding) -- you can certainly describe his facial expressions.
It shouldn't be a problem since he's the main character. Is he the POV character (point of view)? If the story is told from his point of view he wouldn't be able to see his own face anyway, and would feel his emotions etc and not need to see expressions to know what they are. Or is the story being told from a more external objective POV, with no access to the MC's inner states? Or possibly by another character, such as for instance the Sherlock Holmes stories, where he's the main character but his associate Dr. Watson is the POV character telling the story? This is frequently done if the author wants the MC to remain mysterious and enigmatic, so we're privy only to his associate's thoughts and feelings, and not the MCs.
This seems like a self-created problem... why would we give a character a mask that they can't take off if we have any intention of ever writing their facial expressions? To evoke pity in the reader? Doesn't work. We can write that a character's had everything surgically removed except the bits they need to feel pain, and the readers will just sneer. They're more sadistic than we'll ever be. So rather than trying to pander to their infinite appetite for the cruel and bizarre, we have to use character conflict to make them fall in love with a character and share their hopes and fears. And strict martial codes can be part of that... but they also get used a lot by lazy and weak writers to get out of exactly the kinds of naturalistic studies of human agency and decision-making that make books enjoyable to readers. In fiction, nothing looks like anything. We can't deal in mental images and have to leave that to painters and illustrators. Sometimes we can come up with beautifully-worded descriptions (where as our conceit/logic-of-composition we adopt an illusory/hypothetical/pretend basis in what an unreal thing or place looks like), but we can't sustain that for everyone's headwear, and what their spaceship upholstery is like. So my suggestion to the OP would be to try and cut the helmet and the whole concept of a Lodestar, and write who the character is instead of what they happen to have stuck to the front of their head, and what they currently do for a living. Yes, characters have social roles like we do, and in sci-fi some people will be the Galaxy Rangers and the Super Sentai Heroes, but when their character is brought to the forefront those things become just biographical details that write themselves. "We write what we know" might be relevant: if we've got a law enforcement background we'll do some great Space Police, but if we're in fast food retail then readers will prefer our Space Pizza Delivery. I think to write fantasies that interest other people, we have to become comfortable with our own realities and remember and take pride that they are interesting to other people. And the facial expression - can be cut too. To the reader they're typographical litter interrupting the flow. One exception though is when two characters use facial expression to understand each other: it's fine for them to smile to each other. If the plot structure requires that someone has accidentally welded their face to the inside of a mailbox during infancy, then it might be fun to write other characters' guessing and misinterpretation of and irritation at their expressionlessness.
Just a thought - being raised like that you would soon learn to hide /suppress your emotions. I would think the most common facial expression of such a character is a blank face.
Have you seen V for Vendetta? Good movie with a man who wears a mask. Anyway, I would rely on speech (words and inflections) and body language to convey their emotions. Reason, we project human emotions onto inanimate objects all the time with simple movements and sounds.
