Okay, this might sound odd, and I'm probably going to answer these questions myself, but here goes: 1. I'm struggling a little with my MC (or rather, MCs), because there are techincally five of them, but I want to focus on one in particular, Isaac. The problem is, he's not seen or heard from for the first quarter of the novel, meaning that the story focuses on John, the captain. So, what I want to know is: Is it possilbe to switch focus around a third of a way into the novel without it seeming like John is relegated? (I know someone's going to asnwer with "If you can write it, it can be done" but I'm actually looking for your honest opinion) 2. I want Isaac to be practically invincible. He's a product of bio-mechanical experimentation, pretty much a cyborg, who is bulletproof (in the way that they can't harm him but still puncture his skin), can lift several tonnes and has very very small plasma projecters in the pores on his palms and soles, basically giving him extremely powerful weapons in his hands and the ability to fly within the atmosphere. However, as he himself thinks he's invincible, would it be too much of a cliche for him to be confronted with so0mething that could actually kill him and he be terrified by it?
1. I can't see that working unless both characters get to share the limelight once you introduce Isaac. To me, 5 MC's seems a little excessive (and I know there will be people who will say if you can write it it will work) and I would probably try to cut the emphasis down to just 2-3. As for the absence of Isaac...I think you could solve your problem if you keep the reader aware of his existence even while he is absent and kind of build up to his arrival so that when he is finally there he isn't some new character, its just finally meeting this guy that everyone's been talking about mysteriously.... 2. Hmm. On the one hand, everyone needs a weakness, but on the other, the whole kryptonite concept is pretty stale. I'd maybe look for a way to make his invincibility conditional instead. I'm working on a novel (its not fantasy, more...magic realism I guess, though really there isn't much magic) about a group of people who are unkillable as long as they segregate themselves from normal humans, so yeah, maybe look for a way to get around the invincibility without it being something blunt and obvious?
Well, when I say it's 5 MCs, I mean it's five people who all live on the ship (kind of a firefly set-up). But yeah, Isaac is referenced until he reappears quite a lot. I wasn't really talking about a kryptonite type of death, I mean that the climax is a situation in which he could die, not that there was a substance or a person or just one thing that could kill him.
How does he become killable? I mean making your character face his weakness is one of those archetypal narratives so it is a perfectly valid thing to include inyour story, but turnng an invincible character into someone killable is gonna take some invention on your part, and that's where it seems you might run into cliche-territory.
1. In my honest opinion, you could do it, just by keeping John around a lot. Otherwise I wouldn't try it. 2. I would actually make him not terrified. Seems more interesting to me.
1. I think you could do it, as long as you make it pretty plain that Isaac is the main guy throughout his build-up. You should try to make the change somewhat gradual, if that is a possibility, and try to keep John sort of the focus. I also have quite a few main/main-ish characters that I need to juggle, so I kind of understand your problem. 2. I think that being confronted with a situation where he can be killed and he's afraid because he thought he could never be killed is a tad cliche. At the risk of also sounding cliche, they did it to death with Kryptonite. I know you said you don't mean a kryptonite situation, but that's what it sounds like. However, I think it could be a good climax if done right.
Well what I had planned to do was this: The climax is set on a research station that contains everything that made him and the others like him, and he is going to destroy it to stop others from being made into being like him (because the experience was highly traumatic and painful and was done to him and the others against their will) And the only way to do so is send the power core into an overload. However, the only way to do that is for someone to go into the chamber and start messing around with the wiring. The dillema would have been that Isaac was the only one strong enough and willing to do it but when he realises he may not get off the station before it explodes he freezes and refuses to go in. everyone else is already off the station and so he has to battle with himself to go in. I had thought that he would be completely terrified until the 'bad guy' as it were turns up and starts taunting him, and then reveals that there are more bases. When Isaac correctly guesses that he's lying, he realises that he's got to do it now or never, and goes into the chamber, dragging 'bad guy' with him. Trouble is, the way I write it sounds like a minefield of cliches.
Hm . . . now that does sound a bit cliche, but heck, what doesn't sound cliche at some point? (i'll probably get a bunch of people telling me i don't know what i'm talking about) Anyway, I think you could pull it off, because it sounds really interesting to me.
I would say as a cyborg he's mad partly of metal correct? Metal isn't very buoyant right? Perhaps he can find himself in a situation where falls into water. How does he get out?
Seems like your first point has been covered. On the second point, a wise man once said, There are no bad ideas, only bad writers. If you feel like what you have works, then make it work. Good luck!
