1. Playingpandora

    Playingpandora New Member

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    Doing the character in the mask right

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Playingpandora, Feb 5, 2017.

    I must admit I've never read a book with the trope in it where the main antagonist wears a mask throughout, unless you count comic book villains. But, comics have a leg up as they do not have to tell you of the man in the mask, they can show you the mask and show you the reveal of the character's true face. I find this trope can be harder to execute in books though, as you have to describe the character and effectively leave clues to try and reveal it gradually, which is what I'm shooting for in my current work.

    So, in short, the character in my book, the an antagonist in the mask, is (shortening because the real explanation is far too long) the protagonist from the future trying to fix the mistakes in the time line and repent for their evil actions. They do this by leading the protagonist through the story, leaving careful hints and moments throughout showing that he knows more than he should while remaining behind the mask. So, how can I go about this, and more importantly, the large reveal. It would be boring if the ending just went.

    And so MC removed the mask only to find their own face looking back at them. Or, he removed his mask and what looked back at the MC were her own eyes on an aged and wrinkled face.

    That would just be too... sudden. I want this effect, the effect of the mask, to go over throughout the story gradually. I don't want the audience to be able to see it coming, as that's the reason for the big reveal, but I also need them to see something's up. I need them to realize, this guy isn't normal. How can I go about this?
     
  2. Mental Landscaper

    Mental Landscaper New Member

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    If you don't want the reader to think about the mask too much, maybe make it seem as though it's a cultural thing rather than a personal thing. By that I mean, maybe the future version of the protagonist needed to come up with a disguise in order to interact with their younger self, and so pretends to hail from a city where every day is a masquerade, or where a certain class of people wear masks constantly. You could then hint that they aren't who they seem to be by making them ignorant of some other aspects of the culture the mask was taken from.

    If you want the hints to be subtler so the audience doesn't figure out the mask guy is the one really pulling the strings, then you could have him/her convey clues and messages to the protagonist via proxies, people paid to give certain advice or 'accidentally' reveal information on something relevant. But examination of those proxies could reveal a pattern to the protagonist, a pattern that eventually leads back to the masked man. For example, maybe he pays the proxies in coins that are clearly quite old despite the date saying they were recently minted (maybe that would be a bit on-the-nose, though).
     
  3. Pipersong

    Pipersong New Member

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    Neither here nor there
    Misleading the audience is a good way to go about it, even if it's a little cliche. Let the audience think that the villain is a relative or friend of the MC, be it present or future, then knock them dead with the big reveal. There would still be issues of execution of course, in the terms my simple mind can grasp. Pulling that kind of stunt off right would be like watching Big Hero Six and expecting the masked villain to be the professor and then finding out it's Tadashi.

    My other idea is that you use side characters to hint at the identity. I read once that theoretically even if we meet ourselves in the future we wouldn't recognize our own face because it isn't our own, not yet anyways. Other people can make the connection, and that could work to your advantage. An annoying gait that the MC walks with? Yeah, the best friend would notice that. A phrase spoken only like one other time by the MC being repeated by the villain? Maybe even the way the MC pronounces a word wrong, these are all things the side characters can pick up to help with the reveal.
     

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