Descended From An Elder Evil

[ArlEammon]

I'm thinking of writing something (Or possibly putting something in the Finding Players Section) about the protagonist being a descendant from an Elder Evil!

Would you be interested in playing this or reading it, or both?

[Dr.Epic]

That's a really vague description. It's like asking someone "Do you want to hear a story about a warrior with a sword?" We know nothing about setting, characters, or really anything else.

[ArlEammon]

That's a really vague description. It's like asking someone "Do you want to hear a story about a warrior with a sword?" We know nothing about setting, characters, or really anything else.

Well, It's like, to use a real world example, how does a story about a protagonist who's blood line goes back to Satan sound?

That's all I really have at this point.

[cho_j]

Could you tell us more about what the Elder Evil of your story is, and what makes your protagonist a hero despite their heritage? Or perhaps you're writing a Villain Protagonist, though from the way the OP was worded I got the idea that there was meant to be a shock value to the protagonist having Evil with a capital E ancestry.

[ArlEammon]

Could you tell us more about what the Elder Evil of your story is, and what makes your protagonist a hero despite their heritage? Or perhaps you're writing a Villain Protagonist, though from the way the OP was worded I got the idea that there was meant to be a shock value to the protagonist having Evil with a capital E ancestry.

If you've seen Lake Pleasant, it's a story about a woman who washed up on the shore of a little town. She isn't evil in the show, but her father is actually Satan.

Basically the Elder Evil of the story could have any name or history that I give to it but, the basic idea of the Elder Evil is that it is the pre-existant evil and dark side of all beings, whether animal or human/elf/whatever. So much energy was concentrated at one point that it coalesced into becoming it's own living, breathing, thinking person, countless millenia ago.

[cho_j]

Ooh, now, that's an interesting take on the root of evil. And is your protagonist, like in Lake Pleasant, a hero? Or a villain?

[ArlEammon]

Ooh, now, that's an interesting take on the root of evil. And is your protagonist, like in Lake Pleasant, a hero? Or a villain?

She's sort of a bystander with a wicked heritage, but in my "setting" if you will, I was thinking my character could be more like a Fantasy version of a Super Hero.

[cho_j]

...I was thinking my character could be more like a Fantasy version of a Super Hero.

How do you mean?

[ArlEammon]

How do you mean?

Like, Link, from Hyrule.

[cho_j]

::shrug:: I don't play video games, sorry. (You can blame my parents, who thought that somehow sitting in front of a TV playing video games was worse for me than sitting in front of a computer playing flash games).

Can you give a non-pop culture explanation?

[ArlEammon]

::shrug:: I don't play video games, sorry. (You can blame my parents, who thought that somehow sitting in front of a TV playing video games was worse for me than sitting in front of a computer playing flash games).

Can you give a non-pop culture explanation?

A "Chosen One"

[cho_j]

...Okay. I wouldn't think to describe a Chosen One as a fantasy superhero so much as I would call them a fulfiller of prophesy or something like that. ::shrug::

[Asta Kask]

If you want us to read about someone, you have to show us why he's interesting. So he's descended from an Elder Evil. How does this affect him? Is he unaware? Does he loathe it? Does he revel in it? Do people around him know? How do they react? How does this affect him?

Or her, of course.

[ArlEammon]

If you want us to read about someone, you have to show us why he's interesting. So he's descended from an Elder Evil. How does this affect him? Is he unaware? Does he loathe it? Does he revel in it? Do people around him know? How do they react? How does this affect him?

Or her, of course.

Hmmm All excellent points. Thanks for the EACH. :)
I was thinking that the character would obviously be "OVER 9,000!!!". But he doesn't understand why. he could be a fine, caring, and compassionate person who goes out of his way to help others, only to find out that he has the Elder Evil's blood running through him.

[Glass Mouse]

Sounds interesting so far.

My only thought is that you need some way to create conflict from his evil blood. I mean, apart from some questioning of identity, finding out that you're descended from something cruel that doesn't really affect your life or personality isn't really... interesting.

And when it's such a huge thing, the plot needs to revolve around it somehow, so you can't just bury it under other plot stuffs.

So, uh... What's the story's conflict, I guess? :-)

[Comet]

That was what I was thinking, too. This is a great starting point, now you just need to decide what the actual story is going to be. With a setup like this, the possibilities are pretty much limitless!

For inspiration, I'm pretty sure there is fiction out there with a premise like this. I'm failing at recalling them, though. The game series Baldurs Gate sort of has this theme going on, but that's the only example I can remember.

[ArlEammon]

Sounds interesting so far.

My only thought is that you need some way to create conflict from his evil blood. I mean, apart from some questioning of identity, finding out that you're descended from something cruel that doesn't really affect your life or personality isn't really... interesting.

And when it's such a huge thing, the plot needs to revolve around it somehow, so you can't just bury it under other plot stuffs.

So, uh... What's the story's conflict, I guess? :-)

So basically, in the story, the character finds out that he may very well become evil himself by his very nature.

Not only was the Elder Evil evil. It was Evil it'self taken into a thinking, humanoid form.

The character finds out that he was discovered as a baby and taken in. No one heard so much as a whisper about his parents. That's because he had none. He's a good person made out of evil.