Dec 29 2007
Transformation/Nonhuman Characters Questionnaire
I'm a former assistant editor with advice about how to write novels, comic books and graphic novels. Most of my content applies to fiction-writing in general, but I also provide articles specifically about superhero stories.
Questions Related to Total Physical Transformations
In Superhero Nation, one of the characters gets his body turned into Katastrofy (damn anime spelling), one of the villains on the hit cartoon show Hegemon. (“Gotta kill ‘em all!”) Some of these questions may also prove useful if you’d like to write a nonhuman character and are wondering how bystanders in your story should react to him.
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How does he react to the transformation?. If your character has been transformed, what does he think about the change? Is he trying to reverse it? Or does he think that his new form is just as much ‘him’ as his old body? How has the transformation affected his lifestyle? (Are his senses different? Have his tastes changed? Do loved ones treat him differently? Is he still able to go to work and function normally? Has his wardrobe changed?) Is the character trying to undo the transformation? If the transformation is total, it’s important to consider why he does or does not want his old body back.
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How others react. What does society (people on the street, government, friends and family) think about the transformation? Are they indifferent or merely surprised (Superhero Nation)? Are they slightly afraid or grossed out but too polite to say much? Are they openly disgusted? Is the character persecuted (X-Men) or forced into hiding (TMNT?) Why does society feel this way towards the character? (The more strongly society feels towards the characters, the more you should explain why).
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Try to get yourself in the head of a random bystander in this world. If you saw this character on a train, would you sit farther away? Would you take the next train entirely? How would you respond to being stuck in a moving coffin with your character? Why?
- Are people in your world used to such transformations? If so, are the headlines more like GENOCIDAL MUTANTS ATTACK STATUE OF LIBERTY AGAIN or 12 MORE VICTIMS SUCCUMB TO SUDDEN MUTATION SYNDROME? Let’s face it: in X-Men, the widespread fear of mutants is plausible because so many mutants are violent. On the other hand, if the transformation were something harmless, everyone would probably feel mostly sympathetic and/or sorry for the transformee. (Ironically, he may be annoyed by pity, especially if he’s OK with the new body).
a. I’ll break these stories into four groups. First, SOCIETY HATES HIM, BUT HE’S OK WITH HIMSELF. This is the most common (X-Men and TMNT). These stories are generally unhappy and dystopian because they usually cast the world as bigoted. If your world is bleak and miserable, your readers might not care whether it gets saved or not.
b. HE IS UNHAPPY, BUT SOCIETY WANTS HIM TO BE HAPPY. If your friend’s skin turned purple, hopefully you wouldn’t tell him to eat **** and die. In fact, you’d (hopefully) be concerned if he were depressed about a probably irreversible body change. Superhero Nation has this sort of setup with Catastrophe but I’m not aware of any similar works. You might be really upset with a given transformation (say, purple skin) but you wouldn’t cast away a friend for that. What about strangers in your story? How adjusted are they to weirdness like the transformation? Are there high-profile transformees that are terrorists and/or genocidal?
c. HE WANTS HIS OLD BODY, SOCIETY HATES HIM (Metamorphosis). There’s no tension here. He either gets his old body back (story’s over!) or he doesn’t (and the story’s a melodramatic mess). These stories are so depressing that we needed a new word, Kafkaesque, to describe them.
d. HE AND SOCIETY ARE OK WITH IT. If he and society don’t really care, then why have him transformed? If you’re uncomfortable writing a story that is at some level about acceptance– which transformation stories can hardly avoid– you should probably write him as an alien or fantasy creature instead. For example, in addition to a human-turned-cartoon, Superhero Nation has alien dragons and mutated crocodiles.
Regarding Ranks, how effective is it to make up ranks, even if they are simple. For example, you know 4th chair is a higher rank than 5th chair.
I could always go with american ranks, but I’d like something fresher, any ideas?
Also how much media do you think I should call attention to in the story. I’m thinking the alien council would try to keep the contest as secret as possible arranging training and tests in discreet areas and late times, but then something big occurs and its a news frenzy.
Making up ranks is fine, but you’d have to play the names over-the-top if you want readers to know which ranks come in which order. For example, a reader could easily tell that a Battlemaster is higher than a Marauder, and a Marauder sounds higher-ranking than an Ensign. That shouldn’t be too hard to remember. If the names don’t sound distinct enough, we might get confused. (Marauder vs. Corsair vs. Raider?)
If you do end up using American ranks, that shouldn’t be too much of a concern. If your book ever gets released abroad, it would be a snap for your editor to use foreign ranks for foreign audiences. (The differences are generally very slight). However, one thing I’d be worried about is that the average reader might not remember that Captains are higher than Lieutenants, or where Sergeants and Ensigns fit in.
Also, if you’re dealing with an alien force, it might not feel authentic if the aliens use human ranks.
I’d recommend keeping the media out of it as long as possible. Having to keep their training secret from the public would go hand-in-hand with having a secret identity, I think.
Hmmm…..
Technically, the Specials are all human. I mean, their powers were caused by a gene-altering chemical. I classify them as a subrace of humans (Artificial Naturals), and I do the same with characters such as Scarlet (True Naturals) and Warp (Gifted).
I mean, why use the term “mutants” when you don’t need to?
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I have a character whose appearance is totally scary to the media and bystanders. He wants to change what happened to him, but he has to save the people from evil so he tries to make the most of it but feels discouraged most of the time. What category would he fit into?
It sounds a lot like “he wants his old body back, but society hates him.” I’d recommend playing up how he tries to make the most of it and, umm, deemphasizing how horrible his new body feels and looks.
“He either gets his old body back (story’s over!) or he doesn’t (and the story’s a melodramatic mess).”
Speaking hypothetically, suppose he won society at some point in the plot, learning to appreciate his new body in the process? From then on, couldn’t the story pick up a more upbeat mood?
I’m not writing a transformation story, but I don’t think it has to be a melodramatic mess.
Deemphasizing? Could you explain that, B. Mac? I don’t know what that means. So do you want me to make it so that his appearance isn’t depressing?
Banana Slug, I will have him be upbeat. He will tell jokes a lot, and he will try as hard as he can to be a regular teen (so that readers can relate to him and understand him better). But every character needs some sort of goal or temptation into being regular like Croc or Doc Ock. For example, Wolverine’s story is tragic and really depressing (he can’t remember a thing from his past) yet many people–myself included– love him. But yes, people will learn to love him at some point.
In my novel, the Badazzes they have transformations, but they soon find out that it takes away things they used to do: hanging out with each other, keeping steady jobs, paying bills. Now they have a bigger responsibility: protecting innocents.
My character Jason, the color and ink manipulator is born with his ability.