Comments on: Manuscript Killers: Immortal Characters

By: FotV/Anna

FotV/Anna — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:01:11 +0000

As for the most young authors have difficulty writing older characters, don’t remind me. I’m nineteen, but I only have one character under 21. None of them are immortal (I suppose she is in the same way Wolverine is except easier to kill, but honestly it will only help so much cause she puts herself in dangerous situations having faith she’s bad-ass enough to take everyone down and heal and fight the next fight. Bridget is very survival oriented). Point is, I’m guessing how a 40 year old war veteran privateer captain who survived famine and riots on his home planet and can never return to see his family cause he fought on the wrong side would think.

I think the first issue wasn’t too bad.

By: FotV/Anna

FotV/Anna — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:49:04 +0000

It can be done well. I feel Wolverine and that guy from heroes Adam make intriguing characters- but both can still die. And it helps that Wolverine is on a team with other mortals and isn’t THAT old of an immortal but doesn’t sound overly young. Plus he never tries to sound like all that life experience has made him wiser than the rest of us- he makes mistakes all the time.

As for Adam, he’s evil and all of life experience has twisted him into thinking killing off millions would be good for them. Evil guys can be immortal because they’re going to lose anyway.

For a hero though, I’d recommend against making their healing too powerful. Cuts down on the drama. We want to know they can die.

By: Joe Shmo

Joe Shmo — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:34:09 +0000

I have a character who, despite being immortal for most practical purposes (primarily, he doesn’t age), still has vulnerabilities. For example: fire, explosions, and long falls are all dangerous to him, even if less so than to most people. I’m hoping that these keep him from being overpowered, especially since he’s involved in a lot of modern combat, which involves grenades, tanks, artillery, bombs, etc. The aspect that concerns me most, though, is the “sudden reveal” issue. I’ve been trying to work around it, but since my “immortal” character is not the main protagonist, I’m having trouble bringing it up without it being cliche. I almost feel the need to tell the reader, “Now, just bear with me, here…” Any thoughts?

By: NicKenny

NicKenny — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:05:42 +0000

It’s difficult, but it is possible to pull off immortal characters. See the Skulduggery Pleasant series and The Hawthorn Staff and it’s sequels. Both were managed there quite effectively.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 06:27:50 +0000

I like the idea of a drawback, something that makes the decision to go on Ambrosia maybe a bit more complicated than “do I have the money?” For example, maybe Ambrosia makes them more vulnerable to the sun (or some other vampire weakness) than they are usually, or otherwise off.

For example, perhaps prolonged use has some unfortunate mental consequence. Maybe the person’s mind starts to perceive things more slowly because Ambrosia prepares the brain for a marathon rather than a sprint.

Or perhaps the Ambrosia makes it impossible to sleep, which sounds cool at first (24 hours to do whatever!) but quickly gets maddening. (Try watching television at 4 AM).

By: ekimmak

ekimmak — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:52:44 +0000

Because it’s expensive.
It’s sort of an economy versus efficiency thing, because taking it in enough doses to prevent aging would require an incredibly large amount of cash. Taking it daily would require an even vaster fortune. Not taking it enough will remove the sunlight coma thing, but then they start aging again.

There’s only one group of vampires in the novel who can afford to take it like that, The Darknights. All other vampires are too poor to afford any doses of Ambrosia at all.

Although you do have a point, should I fix it? How?

By: Sean Higgins

Sean Higgins — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:39:11 +0000

I’m planning to use an immortal entity as one of my antagonists. He enters a human host and the host doesn’t age, but can be killed through other means. When the host dies, the entity enters another host, thus taking on different characteristics and possibly revitilizing its youth. I like the idea as a spiritual entity but don’t think I’d ever add anyone with hard immortality to any of my stories. The idea of a character that absolutely cannot be killed and cannot die lacks any risks. Sure, if s/he gets close to a mortal, they will certainly experience the (cliche) pain of loss but beyond that, what can really hurt him.

Just a note – immortal characters (especially those who have been around already for some time) will likely see the big picture when looking at a problem and will probably not be in a rush to get things done. (Bwuhaha – I’ve injected this small fish with my mind control venom and within three thousand years, every being on the planet will be under my total domination!)

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:42:33 +0000

I like it. It sounds clever, especially the way the Electrical Eight seek to get back to the future.

I’m not quite sure what the drawback of Ambrosia is for vampires, though. “Unless they’ve taken a dose within the last day, sunlight will put them in a coma” sounds like a drawback for NOT taking it.

By: ekimmak

ekimmak — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:41:50 +0000

I have couple of aspects of immortality in my story.

First of all, there’s the Ambrosia drug. It keeps people looking the same age, so it’s a sort of fountain of youth, but it has two drawbacks. Firstly, it’s ridiculously expensive, the sort of stuff that only the rich and famous can afford. And secondly, it cuts someone’s life expectancy down.

One of the main antagonists discovered away around that. By taking constant doses of Striker Venom (The same chemical that gave Michael his healing powers) along with Ambrosia, they become effectively immortal, but in constant pain. This antagonist is only going to take this until they accomplish their goals.
(Due to the spoiler nature of this, can’t go much further into the motivation).

Vampires can also use Ambrosia without those negative side effects, but it has a different drawback. Unless they’ve taken a dose within the last 24 hours, sunlight will put them in a coma until it gets dark again.

The Electrical Eight are superhumans with supreme technological comprehension (Or basically, really smart with computers.) Some of them successfully developed time travel, only to get stuck in the past with no way back. In order to overcome this, they programmed their minds into ancient electronic devices that could take possession of people, allowing them to survive long enough to get to the future, and retrieve their bodies.

Is there anything I should change about this look at immortality?

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 03:28:08 +0000

I like that, Maeca. It sounds like it has dramatic potential.

By: Maeca

Maeca — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:31:59 +0000

I have a small group of immortal characters, and in my world their kind are heavily prejudiced against. I haven’t really thought about their immortality as a stacking on of years so much as a symbol of imprisonment in a world between life and the afterlife/heaven (since my world is a purgatory-esque kind of place and nobody’s aging anyway, just that the majority of people are supposed to pass away at some point and the immortals don’t). This prejudice and feeling of imprisonment is the fuel of their revolution, a big aspect of my story.

By: thablue

thablue — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 11:46:43 +0000

My character is also a vampire – and very old (the history i am learning!). She accepts what she is without much trouble. She neither whines nor brags about it. I haven’t surprised my readers – anyone picking up the book will know it’s a vampire story. I realize that she wouldn’t quite sound like anyone else, and at first I experimented with different voices – but honestly, none of them were hers. So I am dealing with that issue now by having her listen intently to, and mimic modern ways of speaking (whatever era that “modern” is) – but she also simply doesn’t talk that much. These days she goes to a lot of movies. She is actually not truly immortal – and can be killed like other vampires, (sun=bad) so there’s a key vulnerabilty. She doesn’t go to pubs or clubs that often, finding humanity physically hard to take in large doses.

I’ve also tweaked the vampire myth to my own version, and there’s some very powerful bad guys. The back story is unwieldy, that is true – and although I am not a huge fan of flashbacks, they are the best way I’ve found to deal with her history. I am mostly keeping her actions in the present – and am working on a trilogy, to both further her modern story and flesh in more of her past as we go.

Anyway, any thoughts?

By: Callofcthulhu

Callofcthulhu — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:38:20 +0000

Well my story is superhero/zombie-based and I was planning on him being a victim. My idea for him was that he would be bitten by a zombie, and die. Before his power kicks in, he’s resurrected as a zombie, and THEN his power kicks in, giving him back his mind, intelligence, etc, but he’s still a zombie. I was thinking he’d be used as a cure-tester, as he can say what happens as they try different strains of a vaccine on him and feel whether it actually helps put the hunger aside or not.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:14:39 +0000

It depends on his role in the story. If he’s not a fighter, you’ve already saved yourself a lot of hassle with overpoweredness. But where does he fit in?

By: Callofcthulhu

Callofcthulhu — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 21:06:46 +0000

I’ve got a character in the story I’m working on. He was one of the first superheroes, going back to Roman times. Every time he dies he comes back immune to that method of death (think the new villain Freak from Spider-man), but it’s very specific: he was stabbed so now he can’t be stabbed to death anymore, he’s suffered organ failure so his organs never fail, etc. He’s died from old age and having decayed, so his body has reverted back into an unidentifiable age, making him look like he’s between 30-50 years old. He’s spent the few thousand years hanging out in a cave building stuff. He’s also kind of nonchalant about being immortal. It’s just how he is and he’s fine with it.

He doesn’t actually take place in any real fighting, so he doesn’t overpower anyone, but he does serve a purpose later in the story.

Does this sound like it works? Any ideas on what needs changing?