Post by Géraldine Grangier on Sept 21, 2007 5:09:40 GMT -5
I had this idea for a game while surfing on Wikipedia...
The stock characters of Gothic fiction include tyrants, villains, bandits, maniacs, Byronic heroes, persecuted maidens, femmes fatales, madwomen, magicians, vampires, werewolves, monsters, demons, revenants, ghosts, perambulating skeletons, the Wandering Jew and the Devil himself.
If this were a Gothic Novel, what category would you cast your characters in ?
Here is a quick list of definitions of the most likely terms, for the sake of argument - but the list is not limited:
tyrants: a single ruler holding vast, if not absolute power through a state or in an organization. The term carries connotations of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his/her own interests or the interests of a small oligarchy over the best interests of the general population which s/he governs or controls.
villains: an "evil" character in a story, whether an historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain is the bad guy, the characters who fight against the hero. A female villain is sometimes called a villainess. A villain's disposition towards evil distinguishes them from an antagonist. In the nefarious acts of many villains, there is more than a hint of wish-fulfillment fantasy, which makes some people identify with them as characters more strongly than they do the heroes. Still, the writer's task in creating a villain is not a trivial one; a convincing villain must be given a characterization that makes his motive for doing wrong convincing.
bandits: An outlaw is a person living the lifestyle of outlawry, meaning literally "outside the law." In the common law of England, a judgment declaring someone an outlaw was one of the harshest penalties in the legal system, since the outlaw could not use the legal system to protect himself if needed, such as from mob justice.
maniacs: A serial killer is someone who murders three or more people in three or more separate events over a period of time.[1] Many serial killers suffer from Antisocial Personality Disorder and usually not psychosis, and thus appear to be quite normal and often even charming, a state of adaptation which Hervey Cleckley calls the "mask of sanity."
Byronic heroes: The Byronic hero has the following characteristics:
* conflicting emotions, bipolar tendencies, or moodiness
* self-critical and introspective
* struggles with integrity
* a distaste for social institutions and social norms
* being an exile, an outcast, or an outlaw
* has "dark" attributes not normally associated with heroes
* struggle with sexual identity (homosexual, sleeps with many women, etc.)
* a lack of respect for rank and privilege
* a troubled past
* being cynical, demanding, and/or arrogant
* often self-destructive
* loner, often rejected from society
persecuted maidens: The Damsel in Distress: the young, beautiful, virginal woman and often a Girly girl who must be rescued from some cruel fate by the Hero. This archetype is now often subverted, with the damsel being secretly formidable and waiting for the right moment to strike back, or learning to do it as the story advances and she leaves her initially passive attitude.
femmes fatales: the beautiful, seductive, but (traditionally) evil woman who leads the hero to his doom. In more modern fiction, femme fatales aren't necessarily evil, but are simply women who use their looks and female charisma to get what they want. More often, they are protagonists, supporters of protagonists, antiheroes, or villains who switch sides, rather than all-out antagonists.
The Game:
The Game is simply to indicate if in your roster of characters, you believe to have one or more personalities that could be classified as such, and to comment on the notes made by the previous player.
Example:
Yvan d'Lantier has Byronic traits, but ultimately, he is a maniac.