I am looking for traits and characteristics, personality-wise, physically, and mentally, for a real-world, very believable anti-Christ figure. Also, some history and background ideas would be very welcome too. Maybe like what he did in his childhood, what he was like growing up, notable events and actions when he was a young adult, etc. Now, there are many ways to come up with a good anti-Christ character I am sure, so all suggestions are welcome, but I want to avoid too many special powers, magical mind-control abilities, etc. I am angling for a character which is real-world based, but who still has a otherworldly mystique about him (or possibly her?). This anti-Christ will herald the coming of the Apocalypse and all of that, but he will mainly do this with normal, albeit extraordinary, abilities, like really high intellect, sociopathic charm, etc. I was kind of inspired by the left behind series, and how popular that was among the Christian community, I mean those books sold like hotcakes. I actually don't own any of those books, but a friend had lent one of them to me on high recommendation a while ago and I just perused it, didn't really read it. It was mainly by two authors, if memory serves, so it is like a bi-author series. I am thinking if I were to write a novel with this main character, it would be much more in line with the mystery/thriller/suspense type genre. Much more secular, with an action/adventure aspect. I like the idea as well of an introspective first person narrative interspersed with third person main narrative.
The character you want to create reminds me of Johan Liebert. http://obluda.wikia.com/wiki/Johan_Liebert The scary thing when watching that, was that he was so... Compelling I guess, when you can pull off a realistic anti-christ, or any anti-christ character in general it's the type of individual that just sucks the reader in. I myself have never tried to make one, so I have no tips or advice that would be beneficial, sorry about that.
Many Satanic cults do not believe in either Satan or Christ and describe a religion of humanism. You might want to check out The Satanic Bible by Anton LaVey to get an overview of that mindset prior to writing. With that in mind, your anti-Christ could be a lot less superficially overt than seen elsewhere. I think personally, I could find such a story compelling only if it stood out in some way - i.e. the anti-Christ has begun the largest charitable organization the world has ever seen. He might do so by using his charisma to bring in some heavy hitters in the charitable world (Gates and Buffet, of course, but perhaps also finding huge donors in the Middle East or even North Korea). Or heck, maybe he or she solves the Middle East problem... Basically, setting this person up as the best of the best - one step down from God himself and then the plans within plans begin to be revealed.
Intelligent, influential, manipulative, sociopath Think of the original "Bad Seed". You reveal the character is bad through one person who sees through them or suspects while everyone else is fooled.
I always thought the Anti-Christ was like an evil version of Jesus. Still do what we'd consider right, but for his own gains so he can obtain complete and absolute power.
What little I know about the subject tells me that there is some difference of opinion among those who believe in this kind of thing as to whether or not the Anti-Christ knows he is the Anti-Christ or not. Your guy would almost certainly be a different character depending on the answer to that question.
Nicholae Carpathia is the Anti-Christ from the Left Behind series. I though the way he was written was fantastic! Here is a Wiki with a ton of information, including a bit of a biography http://leftbehind.wikia.com/wiki/Nicolae_Jetty_Carpathia
I would recommend looking into real-life cult leaders, like Koresh or Jones, and look at how they maintained the worship of their followers. Does your guy know he's bringing about the Apocalypse?
Stephen King created a sort-of anti-Christ character in The Stand. He was human, but quite dark and sinister as I recall (it's probably been 20 years since I read that book). May be worth a review.
The idea of anti-christ is exiting. He doesn't have to be good looking, but he has to have a special gift for speaking to people. Not a supernatural gift, but something along the lines of Hitler or something. I also think he would have to have the ability to see what people want. Still nothing supernatural, but this would give him an edge over people. Also he has to be charming. If he is anti-christ resembling the one described in the bible, he has to be well liked by the guy next door. Beyond that you are the writer and have to choose how to put your own twist on him.
I would be inclined to make the anti-Christ someone really insipid and unnoticeable, like an accounting clerk, a janitor, a small-minded teacher, someone who hates the world for all the reasons a human reader can relate to. I also like stevesh idea, them learning who they are as the story progresses. Obviously, you could go with a flamboyant Devil, my favourite in that department was Al Pacino in 'Devil's Advocate'.
Immorality is the absence of morals. Morals are ruled by our understanding of right and wrong dictated by our emotions and our respect for life outside of our own. Therefore the most immoral person is likely to be one without emotions. Logic is the cold, calculating way of thinking where all emotion is removed for the sake of reason. It my be logical to kill ever African if it means stopping the Emboli virus from affecting the world. It would be a very immoral thing to do, to cause the deaths of millions knowingly, but if we knew it would save hundreds of millions than logically it is the right choice. People who are purely logical are terrifying because they will find the most effective way to complete something, and usually the most effective way is something we don't want to admit. It becomes like a walking computer, with no regard for other life as long as the numbers add up. Logic is also terrifyingly convincing. We as humans are willing to accept almost any act if the person committing it can convince us it is the right thing to do. No matter how bloody, immoral or terrifying the act, we will go along with it if the person above us is able to lay out his arguments in a way we cannot dispute. The Anti-Christ is known to be the greatest deceiver to walk the Earth, turning families against each other, causing nations to willingly kneel and surrender their control, and make millions of believers willingly reject their faith. These are the actions of a man so logical, that the world cannot dispute his terrible acts. Something else that would be interesting to explore is if the person knew he was the anti-Christ since he was a child. How has he hidden his true nature and still already begun shaping the world to be ready to accept his control?
There's one very important question I need to ask. Is this book being written from the evangelical Christian perspective that most people apparently have in the increasingly scary USA, therefore when you say "Antichrist", you literally mean the earthly embodiment of absolute evil? So when you say "personality", you basically mean the facade he shows to us gullible mortals, when underneath his soul is one-dimensionally blacker than black and he really has no personality whatsoever? And furthermore, he's automatically going to lose because it says so right there in the Bible, so everything he does is pointless, apart from a few brief years of hollow triumph while he watches the clock ticking down to Armageddon, followed by an inevitable eternity burning in Hell. What's his motivation, unless there's some flexibility in the situation? Can he escape his destiny in any way? Is God automatically right? More importantly, is a hideously devastating and downright Surreal apocalypse (have you actually read the Book of Revelation?) that kills billions of people and devastates the whole world something that anybody who is even half-human would want to inflict upon the planet just because it's his destiny? Bearing in the mind that if you're the Antichrist, respecting the wishes of your father, no matter how much more powerful than you he is, doesn't exactly run in the family... You need to specify exactly what you mean. Do you simply want to know how the most extreme psychopath ever would trick everybody else into thinking he's someone we should vote for? Or do you honestly want to create a well-rounded character the reader can actually sympathize with, whether or not they're supposed to like him or anything he does?
I don't think it is possible to create a "well-rounded character the reader can sympathize with", when doing an Anti-Christ character. From my interpretation, he is beyond any normal human sense of relatability, except when it comes to evil. We can recognize his incredible hatred and malevolence, and his urge to evil, but beyond that there is no aspect of humanity we can relate to, aside from his sick twisted sense of humor. He is a pure expression of a dastardly ruthless immoral being without conscience. We can relate to his mischievousness, his sense of fun, and we respond to his incredible magnetism and charm, but under the surface the devil lurks, there is a dark abyss beyond human understanding. Basically, as I have thought about it these couple weeks, I am doing the devil in human form, akin to the God-Jesus relation. Yes, like a super intelligent psychopath.
Randolf Fagg was not human from what I remember, but I also count the expanded Kingverse and the Dark Tower series.
I believe you mean Randall Flagg... Flagg is a recurring name in King's writing, and arguably a recurring character (he may, in fact, be different but similarly ominous characters). Whether he is human and possessed or insane, or the incarnation of the Beast/Anti-Christ, is not really clear. Given the other Judeo-Christian elements of The Stand, I'd say the weight of the argument leans toward Beast.
Jesus healed the sick, helped the poor and hung out with people of low professions. Maybe your antichrist could could kill sick people, help the rich and only hangout with priests and the wealthy and manipulate by - instead of forgiving their sins - constantly justifying peoples' sins. Not my best two cents but something, right?
Somewhere in The Stand it's written that Flagg is Legion, and in another part that he "played cards with Satan" or something along those lines.
