Introducing characters to things beyond their comprehension

[Feo Takahari]

This is something I struggle a lot with, because most of the writers I take influence from use only two approaches to it:

1): The protagonist sees something that doesn't fit with the model of the universe he's built in his head. He reacts with disbelief, but over a long period of time (and a large quantity of boring pages) grudgingly comes to accept it.

2): The protagonist sees something that doesn't fit with the model of the universe she's built in her head. She takes it in stride, and barely even comments on how strange it is.

(Some writers use a third approach, in which the unexplained causes people to have mental breakdowns. This is less common these days, though.)

All three approaches feel a little stale at this point, but I don't know how else to handle the issue. I'm not even sure what would constitute an alternate approach. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[Sparkie]

How about this: The protagonist sees something that doesn't fit with the model of the universe he's built in his head. He ignores it, pretending it doesn't exist until he absolutely has to. Perhaps he does this out of pride, or out of shock, or out of stupidity.

Not sure if that helps you or not, but I hope you find what you're looking for.

 

[ThinkerX]

This is something of a central concept in my stories.

Options I've toyed with include:

1) It's demonic! destroy it! flee! (situation depending)

2) Dang things are weird in this part of the world (or where that thing came from).

3) Yeah, its really weird, but I wonder if I can use it somehow? (or ally with it, if 'alive').

4) Its not X, but its something like X, so I'll treat it as an oddball version of X.

5) This has to be a mistake. Things like this can't exist, therefor it is actually something else.

And so on and so forth.

 

[Leif Notae]

You should look at it as though it were within the Hero of a Thousand Faces concept. The weird, spooty part is the call to adventure. They are forced into this adventure through other circumstances. There is a sage person with knowledge of said spoot, this person gives hero a method to fight said spoot. Sage dies/becomes one with spoot. Spoot is applied thusly.

The concept here is there is a mentor out there with knowledge on the flaw, and perhaps they cross your path at the exact time you realize it is a flaw.

 

[Caged Maiden]

It would help if I had an example of what the "thing" is. I try to write believable characters, so I have people tend to react in a mostly human nature sort of way, but there are surely examples of things people couldn't conceive and would ruin their days.

So I've never written something unusual and hard to explain, like aliens or a stick of TNT or anything like that, but I've written all kinds of magical things that people have to investigate, and in my experience, most characters with some knowledge of magic will assume it is at work in unusual circumstances.

My tales tend to be about personal growth and struggles, and so in one novel, my MC is told to go pray at an altar, to talk to the goddess. He's then pulled into her realm, where he watches an ancient scene unfold, and at the end, the goddess tells him, he's just witnessed the live of one of his ancestors, a dragon who turned himself human for love. This is in direct conflict with who he thought he was, and the reason his life was spared when his family died. The goddess wants him to do a task for her, when in reality, he wants to do something else, and he has to come to grips with his ancestry and what it means to have dragon's blood...

Mostly, he tries to come to grips with how his life has played out, nd the reasons it's been so tragic, but he's in a bad place, also wallowing in self-pity because he's feeling past his prime and very mortal compared to the shape-shifters and powerful mages that surround him. It's through the help and guidance of some wise friends that he's able to embrace the weird destiny he's been handed, and after he's accepted what he is, he's more capable of completing his own goals...

So I don't know how that relates to your originl question, but I use support characters to help my MCs who are struggling. I give them just enough help to let them do it on their own, but sort of leave it up to them to accept whatever I throw at them.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

One way to look at it is this: a tragic protagonist is one who cannot adjust his worldview to accept the new thing, and suffers because of it.