Prompt 6: Pick a bad character. Tell me, what they think of themselves as?
I felt kinda bored, so I have a new prompt for you guys. This time you have to pick a particular type of character. You gotta pick a meanie and tell me what they think of themselves as. Do they see themselves as a good guy or a mean one? What justifications do they give for their actions?
Mine: from Their Posthumous Lives duology
Will Cooper
I had this idea for Will Cooper, the local bad boy, that he’s from a family of poverty and is the oldest child. Maybe his parents are either abusive or negligent. Maybe the mother is a victim of DV. Something happens and Will is forced to leave the house, or he leaves willingly at a vulnerable age like twelve or thirteen when his brain is still developing. Maybe this is when he joins the cult.
The mean things he does, like murder and thievery, he sees them as necessary evils at first. He’s taught by bad people and does bad things to survive. And then he gradually becomes the evil, doing evil things without being prompted because no one is there to tell him otherwise. He doesn’t see himself as a villain. In fact, he sees it as he’s trying to survive in the world and he’s found his purpose serving the cult.
He’s promised a share of the wealth that will come when the god rises and Will sees all his actions as being justified for that end goal. He still thinks about his mother and wants to give some of that money to her, and get her out of the house, away from the husband. He might even think of himself as her savior. Maybe he does return once and she rejects his “dirty money”.