Ok I have started work on my short story and the main character though a he isn't really human im trying to figure out best how to imply that he is unnatural. I guess the feeling im trying to get accross with the character is there is something eerie about him he has showed up in several of my short stories as a enigma of sorts but ive been working on his character for like 1 year now.
I'm just taking a pop at it, is it first person or omnipotent point of view? I would (just me) distort what we as humans take for granted. Like under or over exaggerated movement, their stare, how uncomfortable he makes others feel even though he does nothing in particular. What he says and how etc. Therefore still human but something different. I hope I got the right idea
What makes him unsettling? Is it his mannerisms, speech, general presence? Try to give the other characters a reason to feel uncomfortable, noting something 'wrong' in the way he behaves. If he's supposed to pass off as human (like, with a disguise), it shouldn't be something that can be explained by the supernatural, like an 'aura of wrongness'. Characters are more discomforted if they are able to doubt themselves as well, like wondering if it is right or proper to be disturbed by this person, and making an attempt to cope despite their obvious discomfort. However, if he is presented as an enemy or something sinister, or supernatural, he should do plainly inhuman things that are just on the border between mundane and fantastical, like disappearing mysteriously once out of eyeshot, or subtly but recognizably vibrating, making his appearance fuzzy and jittery.
I guess I should say he is that eerie deer skulled dark figure that has appeared in one of my stories. I guess I just want him to be a unsettling presence he is in part supernatural but he behaves like people do in the world but what gives away his supernatural nature is the fact the deer skull's eye's at times glow red only for seconds maybe and at times cold breath comes from the skull even in heated places elements in nature don't behave around him right either if he steps in a puddle there is no splash from his boot.
Is that good unnatural or bad unnatural? Because it could go both ways. Take for instance the superheroes in 'Hero' all of them were 'unnatural' some good some bad.
I would say a little of both the character is very volitile and is calm most the time actually only speaking when it seems right to or it will help his cause. It could be said the unnatural calmness does hide menace as he is capable of great violence and bloodshed I guess you could say he is a force of nature but not one. His face is never shown so its all about body movements to communicate how he feels in writing him and a few well placed lines of talking as well. Which makes writing him fun because there is no facial expressions to work with but but body movements and his voice tone and the way he moves in general really. He's kind of a enigma but not one at the sametime he is supernatural but his origin isn't really known nor is it talked about around him because he is greatly feared.
I think its all really down to the other characters reaction to his presence, more than what he actually does himself.
Hi, I agree. Write the other's reactions to him, but do it subtly, so that they see him say move and they perhaps they know that it's not right but they can't really say what's wrong with it. Does, he move too fast? Too fluidly? Is there a suggestion of power or speed or grace beyond what would be normal? Cheers, Greg.
I actually went in and added another characters reaction to him in general I kind of told as he felt a since of unnatural darkness and menace around him. I would say its suggested that he is just not normal or natural he isn't the most well liked character because he can be exteremly crual and is known for that he isn't known for kindness. He's ment to be almost demonic in nature but not in a way most people would think,he doesn't take being betrayed well and will respond with great brutality unfortunately often leaving collateral damage in the form of innocence. Or in the case of the short story im working on the backstabbers whole family will pay the price for his actions maybe thats to barbaric but to me its being honest about the consequences of backstabbing. Bodies pile up...innocent or not...
This may be too cliche, but what about how animals (doesn't have to be pets, even birds or something else wild depending on the setting?) and/or children react to him? That kind of falls in line with another character's reaction, but could be done in passing which may make it less obvious while still getting the point across.
I tend toward writing oxymorons for unsettling unnatural character and things, the classic being a triangle made of three right angles. simply cannot be and yet... When you think of very disturbing characters it's often how close they are to being normal that is the really spine shivering part. The speech that is almost right but rushes and stops like a tide, the fingers just that little bit too long, the way nothing makes a sound when they are about, or how they turn in just that strange way almost like they didn't even move. Physicality is important not to overdo, you can't make it too monstrous, just focus on small things. Over long legs that giving him a loping gait, or on the subject of the deer head... if this guy freaked out a character he is going to jump a little every time he sees a deer while driving, or a skull mounted above a bar. It's not just when the creepy thing is there, it's the memory it leaves behind. I find that kind of thing sets it up far better than overtly describing the creature which can make it laughable surprisingly easily if you're not careful
It depends on what he actually is. I've got an inhuman character with a particular set of rules. One of them being that he can't lie. It's particularly fun to write from his perspective since, being a bad guy, he would love to lie. But he can't. So he has all these ways of skirting the truth. Implying things without saying them, etc. He's had some practice at this, so he can get away with it most of the time. Unless, of course, if someone starts asking a lot of uncomfortable questions. Maybe your character has some kind of speech related rules (Data couldn't use contractions. That was the only way we could tell him apart from Lore, and only when Lore was off his game.), maybe he avoids contact with a common item (won't touch iron etc.), maybe he's unphased by things that seem bizzare to us (chocolate tomato sandwich anybody?). Or if his nature is more mechanical, maybe he doesn't understand humour (classic). If you've ever seen Darker Than Black, the contractors do strange and sometimes very unplesant things in exchange for their magic powers each time they use them. One man had to dog-ear every page in a big stack of paperbacks, another had to eat cigarettes, you get the idea. These kinds of things should probably be done subtley. You might want a few things to add up if you don't think it's obvious enough. But of course this would be for a character that just makes the reader wonder what's wrong with him. Not one that was obviously super/unnatural. I try to aim for the subtle path, personaly, but it's up to you. Then of course there's the other characters' reactions to him (as somebody said before). Can't go wrong with somebody noticing there's "something off about his smile..." We could help more if you told us what kind of creature he is.
That is rather hard to explain lol as ive been working on my dark fantasy world's people's,Deity's,ruling classes ect. He is actually somewhat inspired by both viking lore and native american legand mainly the Wedigo to be exact,the way I see him in my minds eye is he is unnaturally still and calm his breath often comes as if the weather where cold when it isn't. He wears mainly a fur cloak and black gloves and heavy boot's he also wears a chest plate combined with thick tough leather. He is faceless as it is covered by a large deer skull the black eye socket's sometimes breifly flash red often only for a few seconds.
He is unnaturally calm that to me gives off a character that is somewhat malignant. whether that is what you was after or not that's what I get. Unless you want a good character that just unfortunately gives off the bad vibes, which can happen to people as well. When I try to make out a characters different its just by their stance, how they act around people, the feeling they give others, the looks they give. Social interaction is another good way to show that they're different.
a good film to watch regarding wendigos is the 1999 movie Ravenous starring Robert Carlyle obviously you don't want to copy what they did but it may help you with ideas
