I'm leaving out the wolf spirit thing for now until I have a better understanding of it. But it will be in the same universe as this other story down below. For now I want to work on this story where the main character is based similar to that of Dr Jeckyl Mr Hyde kind of character. In this he's fighting between his inner self good and evil, though the evil personality starts to take over. But here's the catch. He's from a dysfunctional family that tries to all kill each other and hate one another seeking more power than the other. I want to have it that his great grandfather was a good businessman, then his grandfather overthrew the great grandfather to take spot on power and turned the organization into a more corrupt militaristic way. The grandmother who's wife to the grandfather, back when they got married she was sent to stop the grandfather's bad ways and she's got demon blood. But the grandfather finds out and kills her. Their son which is the father of the main character is abused and almost killed by the grandfather as a child. The father then comes back for revenge and tries to kill the grandfather but this woman who's mother of the main character and wife to the father tries to help the father, but the grandfather returns and supposedly killed the father. The mother then takes off with her pregnant child the main character and when the main character the son gets a little older he learns from his mother a little about his past when suddenly a mysterious leader shows up and supposedly kills the mother. Main character then goes to his only known family and confronts his grandfsther to help train him to get his revenge on that mysterious leader. The grandfather agrees to help but secretly using the main character as bait to catch this mysterious leader and so he can kill his grandson the main character after it's over because he believes his grandson carries the same demon gene traits his father once had. Is any if this confusing?
I think the most confusing part is why all these family members want to kill each other. Why would anyone stick around for that? And to actually try to or start killing each other is very extreme for family members. How is killing each other off going to bring them any so-called power. Power to do what? And all this power is worth killing those we are conditioned to love. I understand dysfunctional families, but I don't really understand what's going on with the one you created.
There's a curse in the family with demon blood and as soon as the grandfather killed the grandmother it cursed the family with hatred.
Because they cannot die. They are literally super human beings, certain family members have super demon powers. But the price comes with having hatred amongst eachother and striving for more power over one another.
If this is too much then what aRe some ways I can have a dysfunctional family fighting eachother in a unique way?
Hello friend. Well not confusing but I have to agree with the rest, why do they want to kill each other? Couldn't just one or two members of the family stick together? Help each other because they share the same ideals? Alright, they want power, but what kind of power are you talking about? Monetary? Demonic (this becasue you mentioned one of the members of the family having demon blood)? Or all this is just greed and envy? Your story can be about dysfunction family full of hate, and probably you desire to create an illusion that the MC doesn't have an escape from his curse; however, at least try to balance some stuff. Create reasons why your characters behave the way they do. Show us why this family hate each other. I will suggest to see your characters motivations and probably some bloodlines as well. I hope this helps. Keep on good work and have fun.
Some fight to dethrone one another to be head of the mafia structured corporate and some would fight to stop all this and try to figure a way to end the bloodline like the protagonist son/grandson would do since he hates his grandfather and father and possible half sister.
Well the protagonist's mother would be good, that's if she's still alive. And the great grandfather would be good but he may be dead already. I could have him have an uncle or another half sibling that team up against the family maybe? They fight for rulership of the organization. The protagonist fights to end his bloodline. They each have their own reasons. The grandfather doesn't have the demon blood like the grandmother, father and son do. The son wants to end it all. The grandfather wants to look innocent in the public eye and eliminate his family but secretly he wants their demon powers for himself since he lacks it and use it to power up his world domination. The father is just completely savage and just wants all the power for himself, doesn't care what anyone thinks or the public. He hates his father (the grandfather) for what he did to his mother (the grandmother) and he wants his sons demon powers (the protagonist) so he can dominate the world. The protagonist son wants revenge from both his father and grandfather for the betrayal and for this mysterious man that killed his mother and protagonist wants to end his crazy bloodline so his family can't cause anymore destruction.
Dig deeper. Why they want that? What is the deeper need behind that kind of wanting? When you find that, you ask what is the flaw, trauma, bias, craving... that is the reason for that need.
Hm...are you looking to be unique or are you trying to tell a story? That's the question I think you need to be asking yourself, because the story you've presented seems to revolve around specific scenarios rather than plot. I wouldn't worry too much about having a unique dynamic between the characters / family, I would encourage you to focus on each character as you might view them as a true to life person. Stories develop around people and the decisions they make out of who they are, not the other way around. As a character comes into their own you should start to get a good feel for beliefs they might act on. Then, if you work hard on your other characters, too, you'll have a good idea about how they might respond to the actions of others. This back and forth dynamic is what develops plot and story. For instance, do you relate to the protagonist? Do they have a goal you can sympathize with? Is their goal reasonable? In like kind, can you relate to the protagonist's family? Do you know why the grandfather chose to murder before the curse happened? What were his motivations, and can you sympathize with them? Your average person wants power because they feel as though power has been lorded over them by someone else, or they felt powerless in their circles and associated certain positions (for instance, being head of a corporation) as a way to gain the power they felt they lacked. Everyone has a reason, whether it's instinct, the way they feel or their principles, for choosing to commit to an action. So maybe you could start the story again by first fleshing out the characters? I bet you have a great tale to tell hiding in the minds of your actors.
Taking things in another direction, I'd become equated with the mechanics behind lethal family feuds. It's a big thing in my story (about the Macleods of Lewis...) and psychology can take some weird twists and turns in that environment. One of those could provide the motivation others are encouraging you to find.
I agree with this statement. TheMyst7885, focus on your characters, see what motivates them to do the actions they do. Seek first to uncover why do they want the power? Why they act the way they do? Make them human. Even the evilest character (in your case, the MC's father) has to have a reason why he wants power. Is not just because he is evil for the sake of it, maybe his environment as a child had influenced him? Was he brainwashed? Dig deeper.
What I might say is it all started out where it was in the future and this mafia like organization was actually going to be run as a good business with helping with the state of the art technology run by this great leader at the time (who would be the great grandfather) his son (the grandfather) doesn't like the great grandfather's ways so he overthrows him to run this mafia with an iron fist and more ruthless. Then the chain of events start to unfold with the father and then the son who is the main protagonist. It's fighting for control. Great grandfather wanted to run a peaceful organization. Grandfather wanted to run it more militaristic and ruthless like the mafia was known for which is why he hated great grandfather's ways. Father became evil due to grandfathers abuse so he wanted revenge so he can take over and run things even more ruthless. The son ends up being used, abused and deceived by his grandfather as bait to lure the mysterious killer that murdered the grandsons mother and also so the grandfather could kill his grandson for he reminded him of the same demonic qualities the father possessed. And the father wants to hunt the son down after finding out about him and use the sons powers so he could gain more powers. So they all have their different reasons for why they want to fight.
Yes I can relate to an extent with the protagonist. Fighting with a dysfunctional family and having different view points I can relate to the protagonist and can understand his pain for how he's treated or misunderstood by others. Though since this is science fiction there's more going on like hatred from being born from such a hatred inheritance and what he's become. He wants to end the hatred curse and family bloodline but also a super main villain responsible for causing all this hatred in his family bloodline. Because originally that was not the case. The grandfather wanted to murder his father as he was somehow persuaded by maybe someone that the old ways of running the mafia organization is losing its touch from being that ruthless iron fist it once was? And because of the grandmother which kind of turned grandfsther evil. In a way all the family members are relatable. Grandfather was kind of persuaded but always had a need for power and because of the grandmother, father kind of turned pure evil cause of the grandfather and the son wants to end it all but has his evil side thanks to because of the grandfather, father and family bloodline but also because of this mysterious evil leader.
This is interesting! Could you tell me more! Maybe it would help me for inspiration. Well it's both grandfathers fault for turning the father more evil and also because it runs in the father already part of the curse.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no... I'm not suggesting or asking anything about plot. And what you are talkin is all plot. My point has been entirely in individual level character motivation, not in backstory or plot or... You are all the time telling what happens or has happened. Motivation and motivational base are why things happen. "Previously has happened this and that" is not about motivation. It's about what happens, not why. Plotline is only one of the arches you need to think.
They want revenge on eachother? They want to absorb power from one another? The son wants to end the family curse and put a stop to everything? Sorry I'm a little confused what I should be saying
Oh you mean not why this happens but what happens as in the things they do. What they are doing. Sorry if I'm confused by the question.
You're doing good, Myst, don't worry. The thing is, though, your readers are going to want to relate to your characters too, which means making the motivations of your actors more apparent. So, why does each individual family member want revenge? Why do they want power? Why does the son want to stop it all? Some of the answers to those questions might feel a little obvious but they're still worth answering and really thinking about, because nestled deep under a layer of "why's" are the meaningful driving feelings and beliefs we want to see. E.g. Why did the grandfather kill his dad? He wanted power of the organization. Why? Because he thinks it should be run differently. Why? He has a power complex. Why? Because he felt weak as a child. Why? Because he thought his brother was favored. Why? Because his dad took his brother boxing. Why would he care? Because he wanted his father's admiration. Bam. At the root of grandfather's actions, beliefs, and intentions is a drive to be accepted that went unheeded, and so now he believes the only way he'll get what he wants is by taking it. Of course, I made all that up. The point is that you want to know each character so well that their thought patterns and actions become predictable. It is then at that point that you throw in the props such as an odd circumstance, a corporation or magic, and see how the characters use those to leverage themselves. If the story is all about the props then the characters often become wooden. This is great! Not the reality of the experience, but the experience itself is enlightening, because it means you have yourself as a reference for the motivations of your MC. So the MC feels extreme anger at having been born into his family? Is he also hateful and murdery like his family? It's a good start, but can it go deeper? How and why was the grandfather persuaded? Did he have mad beef against his father? Did he disagree with how things were being run? Also, where did the curse come from? Does it prevent people from feeling love, and can it be broken so that love and peace return to the family? All food for thought.
Sure! 1) Families can grow into internal feuds and make them relationship dynamics. The feud becomes a bonding topic. Instead of pushing them apart, it acts as a shared emotional experience. 2) The people who encourage the feud aren't often the ones fighting it. In Albania (which still has a limited feuding culture) and to some extent medieval Germanic nations, it is often matriarchs pushing notions of 'honour' who keep the feud going. 3) Kinslaying - like anything else - becomes better with practice. Some dark pointers, but it's a dark subject
Alright, but why did he turn your MC's father evil? What that curse consists of? Why it dries people so evil with no emotion, to the point maybe turning them into psychopaths or sociopaths? I'm not saying you are wrong, but you should ask questions. Imagine if your characters were real people, then ask yourself how your characters will react? TheMyst7885 read the posts below from Gallogladh and Katibel; they are very good. Again, dig more in-depth with your characters. Have fun with your story.
