How hard would it be to have readers root for a character then have them become evil at the end of the story? The basic premise of the story is the single dominant god (the christian god) is dieing. After his death the other gods start fighting to be humanities dominant god, the world starts dividing into people worshiping and harnessing different gods powers. (I do realise the plot could cause some offense) The basic plot of the story is the first main character, a god in human form, is using another main character, an average human, to kill off other gods. The idea is the reader and the second main character don't know the first main character is evil and using the human to kill other gods as he can't. I want to hint that killing the other gods to create peace is not his main intention and that he has a darker motive, but without etirely giving the twist away. How difficult would this be?
Not too hard, you've already mapped the character out - just go ahead and try it. A manipulative monster character is good when you have clearly shown that this god is more of a mentor character, especially after he starts getting involved and risking his own hide to save the protagonist. Suggestion: go read American Gods.
It will b e easy to write. The challenge comes in writing it well. The same can be said of any story idea. Write it. Rip it apart and write it again. Repeat until you have a story you are happy with. Then tell us how difficult or easy it was.
I actually think stories where the main character becomes evil can work really well. It shows that the world isn't always nice. And if you enjoy writing it can set you up nicely for a sequel (unless you kill him off at the end). Would love to hear more about your idea though.
This is a very workable idea, though I'd be careful how you go about revealing the eventual villain's intent. If the turn seems too sudden then your reader can end up feeling cheated. The easiest way to do this in a believable, natural way, is to tell the story from the perspective of the second main character that you described. Have him be the true protagonist, and the one who the reader is most invested. The other character can be there all along, but don't go too deep into his head. Make sure that the eventual betrayal is well-timed and most of all, understandable to the reader.
I think it's entirely possible to make that plot work. You just need to find a suitable way to hint at the twist - perhaps by making the hints ambiguous. For example, what some characters see as evil, others may see as necessary for the greater good. I'd like to point out, though, that it's not necessary to make a twist out of this kind of story . If the reader knows all along that the god has darker motives, but the other main characters are oblivious to it and slowly walk down the road to their destruction, the story can be just as exciting.
I know it doesn't have to be a twist but I thought it would be more interesting. If you've played assasins creed in that everytime you kill one of the 'evil' bosses they speak to you hinting that you may not be on the good side. I was thinking something like that. And daven85 if you're interested the detailed plot is: The story follows the second main character, an average schoolgirl called sarah (still debating her name). Eventualy she finds out her friend is a god in human form, named sol short for solus. He tells her the dominant christian god is dieing and when he does he'll leave a power vaccum the other gods will rush into take control of. The main antagonist is Aires (Old greek god of war). The other gods reveal themselves to humanity, they cant come to our world though just influence people. People start forming into tribes for the different gods sending humanity into world war 3. Sol tells sarah only a human can kill a god and if she wants to end the war they have to kill the gods (There are 9 in total, not all of them are fighting for control though). He helps her kill them with a special weapon that absorbs their life energy as they're dieing they give her small hints that Sol may not be what he seems. After killing the other gods they kill Aires who reveals that with them all dead Sol is left as the dominant god with complete control over earth. Sol then reveals he doesn't want earth and that he wants to get rid of humanity. I'm not going to give away the finaly though!
I think that would make a story very interesting! Its a great idea. I don't think it would be too terribly hard for readers to handle. It will strike a hit to the average "happily ever after story. Good luck!
Very difficult. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (see below) handles things like this well. I suggest you read it if you want to take this path. It's a little bit clever. Mixing religious figures will very likely cause offence and is, as far as I'm concerned (American Gods is barely an exception. A lot of it I didn't really like, but it was somewhat clever, as I said), not a very good practice. There's a reason that people of different faiths don't worship together. They don't mix. They fight. That said, the gods themselves probably wouldn't fight. My final note on this plot: The Christian/Muslim God, as in God with a capital 'D', is omniscient (I'm atheist and don't believe, might I add). While this means that He does actually have the ability to "die", it makes little sense for Him to die since He lives in Heaven regardless. Where would His immortal soul go? If He were to "die", He would continue to exist. Even if He willed Himself to not exist, even if He willed Himself to no longer be omniscient, His omniscience would recreate Him. Really, it's impossible for "God" to die. </rant-ish?> Damn! I was going to suggest that!
I think you can do it if you drop in little hints early on. Things that the reader won't pick up, so the ending will be a surprise, but then on a later re-reading will make sense as foreshadowing.
I do realise the idea of an omnipotent dieing is strange and I intend to give an explanation for how its possible (Mostly by slightly changing the world its set in)
I think it can add real depth to a villain if you can show that they were once different. My favourite villain to write for is one that spent the first half of the story as a naive but well meaning character. After being hit with some sh!t, it messed them up into a pretty psychotic and eventually evil character. I believe he is one of my most successful characters
I don't think it'd be that difficult if you were writing toward it -- dropping tiny hints, little clues as to the character.
It's a feasible idea. I know of an anime that did something similar. In Code Gaeas the main characters starts out as a hero and turns himself into a villain by the end. Or at least makes himself out to look like one.
I have personally liked the idea of the 5th dimension. In theory, if a being existed in such a place, he or she would have command over the third dimension much like we do over the 2nd dimension. The second dimension being paper or computer of course. We can so easily create things in the second dimension that in theory a being in the 5th dimension could do the same. Also in theory, because he or she would be in the 5th dimension they would have command over the 4th which is space/time giving them the ability to be every where at any time. Hope that helps.
