How do you make a sympathetic monster without angst?

[Rechan]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place for this; it deals not with RPGs in general, but novels of the Fantasy/Modern fantasy genre.

Can you have a character who is a monster that, while is not angsty, the reader can still recognize them as the hero and connect with them?

I'll take the classic example: The Vampire. Barring the author's creativity or wussing out, vampires depend on mortal blood to sustain themselves. However, this is just an example I'm running with; insert your favorite Damned Type and the specifics whenever anything in the following deals with vampires.

You have the "Woe, I am undead and it sucks, I must prey on mortals. I starve myself, it sucks, it does, but I am good, I have an ounce of humanity."

Then you have your stock monstrous vampires, the "Human are cattle and let's eat'm all up".

And finally, your "I'm a vampire/half vampire, but hey, I HUNT OTHER VAMPIRES." This is often combined with the angst of the first group in addition to the longing for humanity.

Is there a way to have a middle ground for a vampire protagonist's personality that still allows the audience to connect with him on an emotional level? One that allows the protagonist vampire to be an acceptable (if questionable) Hero?

My question hinges on his personality. His outlook, and how he deals with his Vampirism. Wussing out and saying "he doesn't need the blood" or even worse "He just drinks other vampires blood" takes away from some of the issues that you have to address, namely the matter of humanity and the challenge of the protagonist reconciling what he is, and how he justifies what he does.

I want to get away from the "This causes me undo suffering and I must deal with it, you the reader shall see my continual suffering, doesn't it just suck" without going so far into the other direction that you alienate the reader, strip out the humanity, and make him a villain most readers would prefer to be taken down than root for.

So, how do you do it?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don't forget the vampires who can subsist on animal blood for certain lengths of time!

And there are others.

I once ran a (comedic) vampire who went mad when he was "brought over"- with his superior strength, speed and resistance to damage, he thought he was a superhero.

He fed only upon those he deemed evil. (Oh yeah, and vampires.)

Taken in a more serious vein (sorry...ahhh no, I'm not), such a character may even recognize his insanity in more lucid moments. He recognizes on some level that what he does (feeding on humans, albeit evil ones) is a lawless act, but that on balance, his actions result in a net good to society. In fact, he's actively trying to funnel his curse to good ends. Even so, he may or may not subscribe to the adage that the ends never justify the means. If he does, he's even more tortured. If he doesn't? He's "Chaotic Good."

In other words, this vampire is somewhat like Jeff Lindsay's Dexter- the Miami PD Blood Splatter Analyst who is also a serial killer- he only preys on evil people who have escaped the clutches of the justice system. He's killed off murderers, pushers, recidivist pedophiles...even his own natural brother, himself a serial killer.

Another trope that could be taken is the "countermonster." Expanding upon the "vampires only" theme, this guy is a member of an organization- a church, a gov't agency, whatever- that uses him to fight others of his kind as well as whatever other monsters exist within the world. Its a variant of "It takes a thief to stop a thief," an approach adopted by the writers of Hellboy, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Suicide Squad, and countless other works of fiction.

To keep him in line, the organization may use prayer and/or donated blood, they may have superscientific drugs or technology that curb his appetites.

They may just keep him locked up and starved like a fighting dog, released only to fight and feed at his "owners'" direction. This approach was most recently taken in Stargate Atlantis, in the form of a Wraith who was used as an instrument of torture, only allowed to feed on the prisoners being interrogated.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Don't forget the vampires who can subsist on animal blood for certain lengths of time!

And there are others.

I once ran a (comedic) vampire who went mad when he was "brought over"- with his superior strength, speed and resistance to damage, he thought he was a superhero.

He fed only upon those he deemed evil. (Oh yeah, and vampires.)

Taken in a more serious vein (sorry...ahhh no, I'm not), such a character may even recognize his insanity in more lucid moments. He recognizes on some level that what he does (feeding on humans, albeit evil ones) is a lawless act, but that on balance, his actions result in a net good to society. In fact, he's actively trying to funnel his curse to good ends. Even so, he may or may not subscribe to the adage that the ends never justify the means. If he does, he's even more tortured. If he doesn't? He's "Chaotic Good."

In other words, this vampire is somewhat like Jeff Lindsay's Dexter- the Miami PD Blood Splatter Analyst who is also a serial killer- he only preys on evil people who have escaped the clutches of the justice system. He's killed off murderers, pushers, recidivist pedophiles...even his own natural brother, himself a serial killer.

Another trope that could be taken is the "countermonster." Expanding upon the "vampires only" theme, this guy is a member of an organization- a church, a gov't agency, whatever- that uses him to fight others of his kind as well as whatever other monsters exist within the world. Its a variant of "It takes a thief to stop a thief," an approach adopted by the writers of Hellboy, Stargate SG-1, Andromeda, Suicide Squad, and countless other works of fiction.

To keep him in line, the organization may use prayer and/or donated blood, they may have superscientific drugs or technology that curb his appetites.

They may just keep him locked up and starved like a fighting dog, released only to fight and feed at his "owners'" direction. This approach was most recently taken in Stargate Atlantis, in the form of a Wraith who was used as an instrument of torture, only allowed to feed on the prisoners being interrogated.

 

[Rechan]

In other words, this vampire is somewhat like Jeff Lindsay's Dexter- the Miami PD Blood Splatter Analyst who is also a serial killer- he only preys on evil people who have escaped the clutches of the justice system. He's killed off murderers, pushers, recidivist pedophiles...even his own natural brother, himself a serial killer.

That's really the one option I was looking at. Dexter clearly grapples with his own issues. He's okay with being a sociopath, but the question for Dexter is his identity, which takes some serious hits; the code with which he operates on gets shaken. Not to mention he is continually questioning his humanity, with regards to Rita and her family.

Another trope that could be taken is the "countermonster." Expanding upon the "vampires only" theme, this guy is a member of an organization- a church, a gov't agency, whatever- that uses him to fight others of his kind as well as whatever other monsters exist within the world.

*Cough* Hellsing *cough*

That's one avenue, although I think that it's starting to get a little passe too.

they may have superscientific drugs or technology that curb his appetites.

This is one of those "You're negating the issue, so that doesn't count" I referenced in the first post.

They may just keep him locked up and starved like a fighting dog, released only to fight and feed at his "owners'" direction.

This is interesting. Although that does reduce him to something almost a base animal, and it becomes really hard to transmit that into "Here's a character you can empathize with."

If your protagonist is the rabid dog, well, things will be pretty monotonous for your readers quick.

Another option occurs to me: his allies let him feed on them. Although this becomes a problem if the feeding saps their strength, gets them addicted to it, or one (or more) of the feedees is unavailable for any length of time.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

This is interesting. Although that does reduce him to something almost a base animal, and it becomes really hard to transmit that into "Here's a character you can empathize with."

If your protagonist is the rabid dog, well, things will be pretty monotonous for your readers quick.

The prisoner may still retain his intellect and such. He may disobey his captors by occasionally refusing to feed until his captors assault him, or feeding when he shouldn't- say, killing a prisoner they wanted to torture and/or interrogate. With each rebellion, he shows his strength of will, his continued operation as a thinking being, yet unbroken. For examples of this, read the accounts of POWs, or for the Cliff's Notes version, watch Jet Li's performance in Unleashed.

He still retains his connection to the audience, despite the brutality imposed upon his life.

Another option occurs to me: his allies let him feed on them. Although this becomes a problem if the feeding saps their strength, gets them addicted to it, or one (or more) of the feedees is unavailable for any length of time.

That's something I was alluding to with the line:

To keep him in line, the organization may use prayer and/or donated blood,

They pray for his soul, but in the meantime, they may also feed him with blood donated by the faithful.

 

[Umbran]

Can you have a character who is a monster that, while is not angsty, the reader can still recognize them as the hero and connect with them?

Well, that partially depends on what you mean by "angst", but I'd say yes, you can.

So, how do you do it?

Well, one way to do it is to have the monster's attributes seem pitiable to everyone else, but not have it be such a big deal for the critter. Rather than have it suffer with monstrosity, have it accept it. Then, normal humans can go ahead and have some pity and sympathy.

Another tack - have it be a monster by choice. "Yes, I know I'm ugly. But I managed to save a small girl from the acid, so it burning me was worth it."

 

[Rechan]

The prisoner may still retain his intellect and such. He may disobey his captors by occasionally refusing to feed until his captors assault him, or feeding when he shouldn't- say, killing a prisoner they wanted to torture and/or interrogate. With each rebellion, he shows his strength of will, his continued operation as a thinking being, yet unbroken. For examples of this, read the accounts of POWs, or for the Cliff's Notes version, watch Jet Li's performance in Unleashed.

He still retains his connection to the audience, despite the brutality imposed upon his life.

Hrm. That's an interesting route to take.

That's something I was alluding to with the line:

They pray for his soul, but in the meantime, they may also feed him with blood donated by the faithful.

Yeah, I got that. Although I'm alluding to a more limited situation. Less a large organization, more a close-knit group of friends/allies.

Rather than have it suffer with monstrosity, have it accept it. Then, normal humans can go ahead and have some pity and sympathy.

Hm. I think though that this leads to a situation where the character doesn't care. For instance, Hellboy. The only thing that matters to him is his relationship, his desire for freedom from his confinement, and cats.

 

[Kurashu]

I was thinking about this the other day, though more along the lines of a ghost/zombie type deal. I haven't decided on anything yet other than maybe wanting a glorious end -- think Valhalla -- and in the mean time he's a vicious madman bent on destroying the world because he can't get what he wants.