So I have been playing around with this idea for antagonists for a while and need some help. I took the idea of the seven deadly sins and I am embodying them in demigod sort of beings. They are going to be aspects of true evil, evil for evils sake. Im having a few problems however.
First I am running into problems trying embody certain of the seven deadly sins. lust and anger are easy enough but what about envy, pride or sloth? Its easy enough to create a single person with these traits but I am having difficulty having a being be one of these traits.
second I don't want what they are based off of to be apparent and on top of that I don't want how they achieve their goals to be visible. What I mean is them leading armies and conquering cites to inflict pain and suffering. What I am going for is the corruption of a persons humanity by breaking that person and polluting their sense of right and wrong and send them out to do the same. Simply put they take what is good and twist it. However I want them to be powerful enough to corrupt entire cities just by warping a persons perceptions and morals until they are consumed by this one trait. A good way to look at it would be a cult leader. The problem I'm having is how do I achieve this. For example lust. I thought of having this character manipulate a persons mind into believing anything sexual no matter what is not only acceptable but intrinsic to every person no matter what. Or with anger to pursue anger because a person can achieve power, self satisfaction, safety etc.
Third question is more of asking for advice. I started with lust. I am worried about how people will take it if I make her female. At first I though making it both male and female but I worry about people drawing the wrong conclusions the same way if I made the character male and demonizing gays. I think this concern is warranted, but I also wonder if he same conclusions can be made if the character is female. I chose female because I thought it would be an interesting twist to the caring female characters. The other thing I worry about is where to draw the line. I want these beings to have power and evoke a sense of doom and hopelessness in the reader kinda like the way the book "the road" does. However I worry, for instance sloth, about having and entire town like a nazi concentration camp because the people have become so lazy, leaving babies to die of starvation etc.
One last thing I don't intend for these characters to make many if at all any appearances I jut want their effects to be seen to some extent.
So far this is what I have plus the rational manipulation behind it, though it is hard to find seemingly justifiable reasons.
Greed. people become so greedy that they can no longer function as a society or family, unable to help or give even in exchange. The manipulation would be, a person wants or needs something they are justified in having it and keeping simply because they need things to survive.
Pride. People so full of pride they are incapable of realizing the existence of others nor their own faults. The manipulation is, pride is needed because it give a person self importance and self esteem.
Sloth. The absolute inability to do anything beyond very basic survival needs food and water. Manipulation, why should a person work when others have more than they need.
Anger. people giving into anger and nurturing it because it gives them power and control making their lives better.
Envy. People so full of resentment for everyone that they isolate themselves from family and society. Manipulation, A persons neighbor has traits and items that will make that person better.
Gluttony. Excess in everything eventually killing themselves due to such excesses. Manipulation, life is short and a person should enjoy everything to its fullest extent.
Lust. the excess and perversion for its own sake. manipulation, it is something that every person needs and there is nothing wrong with giving in to the needs of the body.
looking at the above anyone have any thoughts or opinions?
First I am running into problems trying embody certain of the seven deadly sins. lust and anger are easy enough but what about envy, pride or sloth? Its easy enough to create a single person with these traits but I am having difficulty having a being be one of these traits.
second I don't want what they are based off of to be apparent and on top of that I don't want how they achieve their goals to be visible. What I mean is them leading armies and conquering cites to inflict pain and suffering. What I am going for is the corruption of a persons humanity by breaking that person and polluting their sense of right and wrong and send them out to do the same. Simply put they take what is good and twist it. However I want them to be powerful enough to corrupt entire cities just by warping a persons perceptions and morals until they are consumed by this one trait. A good way to look at it would be a cult leader. The problem I'm having is how do I achieve this. For example lust. I thought of having this character manipulate a persons mind into believing anything sexual no matter what is not only acceptable but intrinsic to every person no matter what. Or with anger to pursue anger because a person can achieve power, self satisfaction, safety etc.
Third question is more of asking for advice. I started with lust. I am worried about how people will take it if I make her female. At first I though making it both male and female but I worry about people drawing the wrong conclusions the same way if I made the character male and demonizing gays. I think this concern is warranted, but I also wonder if he same conclusions can be made if the character is female. I chose female because I thought it would be an interesting twist to the caring female characters. The other thing I worry about is where to draw the line. I want these beings to have power and evoke a sense of doom and hopelessness in the reader kinda like the way the book "the road" does. However I worry, for instance sloth, about having and entire town like a nazi concentration camp because the people have become so lazy, leaving babies to die of starvation etc.
One last thing I don't intend for these characters to make many if at all any appearances I jut want their effects to be seen to some extent.
So far this is what I have plus the rational manipulation behind it, though it is hard to find seemingly justifiable reasons.
Greed. people become so greedy that they can no longer function as a society or family, unable to help or give even in exchange. The manipulation would be, a person wants or needs something they are justified in having it and keeping simply because they need things to survive.
Pride. People so full of pride they are incapable of realizing the existence of others nor their own faults. The manipulation is, pride is needed because it give a person self importance and self esteem.
Sloth. The absolute inability to do anything beyond very basic survival needs food and water. Manipulation, why should a person work when others have more than they need.
Anger. people giving into anger and nurturing it because it gives them power and control making their lives better.
Envy. People so full of resentment for everyone that they isolate themselves from family and society. Manipulation, A persons neighbor has traits and items that will make that person better.
Gluttony. Excess in everything eventually killing themselves due to such excesses. Manipulation, life is short and a person should enjoy everything to its fullest extent.
Lust. the excess and perversion for its own sake. manipulation, it is something that every person needs and there is nothing wrong with giving in to the needs of the body.
looking at the above anyone have any thoughts or opinions?
Last edited: