Stuck! Help me figure out how to make this character.

[ShadeZ]

I am stuck on this one troublesome character. I can not figure out if he should be that warrior that has seen a thousand battles type or the kind type. The character is a vampire/night faerie with a harsh past regardless.

Heres an idea of how each version of this character (Talyis) acts based off the version of him we are dealing with.

Warrior type (semi dark personality)- Quick to hostility and reaction. Wounded from centuries of human betrayal on his species. Quiet, aggressive, distrustful. Likely to behave in a sadistic or extremely bloody manner toward enemies. Drinks any adult human's blood.(goal here is a redemption arch)

Kind type (lighter)- Shows more of a cute side. Still distrustful of humans. Shows much more his protection of his kind and less his hostility toward humans. Wise from living centuries. Very forgiving sometimes too forgiving. Uses violence as a last resort and isnt violent or sadistic when he is violent. Feeds on blood but has an oath against drinking the blood of humans that are pure of intentions. (Goal here is for him to help others along their own redemption archs)

In all versions he is protective of his wife and people and in both he has been around a few hundred years. In both versions he helped cause the fae/human wars. Queen Eliza about 200 years ago provoked the fae by calling them unwelcomed unnatural perversions on the natural world (history below) she formed the Jaegars a guild of fae and magic beast hunters. The fae had been largely human peaceful for several centuries. Being fairly young and foolish a 500 year old (19 to human age) Talyis went to meet with her and told her she was welcome to kill the faeries banished from their homeland as those were human violent but warned if she hunted the elf kind (human fae mixes) or hunted in the faerie realms he would kill her and any aligned with her. Well guess what she pushed it and in the process murdered a number of Talyis childhood friends and allies. She also substantially reduced the number of the already very rare night faeries. Tslyis confronted her along with the dragon king and said that her mass slaughter of fae was an act of war. She said she would like nothing better and Talyis decided to strike first and snapped her neck. Over the next few decades there was a power struggle and eventually her son Roan the first clawed his way to the top. Roan not only continued the war but he actively openly funded and supported the hunting of faeries and even legalized selling faerie body parts (mages use them to cast magic) he trained his own family to be among the very best faerie and monster hunters in the lands and often lead hunts for fae. One night he chased down a dark fae and didn't realise it was Talyis. They fought, Talyis won and was made out to be a monster naturally for killing the human king and prior queen. He was ordered by the faerie king (oldest prince) to stand down. Eventually at the behest of his wife he went to meet with Roan the former kings son and formed a leery alliance with him. During his disputes with Roans father Talyis placed one of his elites as the personal guard/trainer of the young prince. Talyis eventually showed the now king how involved he had gotten in the kings life.

 

[TJPoldervaart]

You could also consider a combination of the two.

For instance: Taylis acts like a dark/violent person because he has come to believe that his gentler side must be quelled in order to achieve his goals, but underneath the surface he is actually kind and caring. His arc might be to have him open up to his gentler side and teach him that kindness is also a type of strength.

The reason I propose this is because I feel a dark/violent character could alienate the readers too much, while a kind/gentle version might be unrealistic in the way you portray Taylis in your history. Therefore, a seemingly dark/violent character with a gentler side might work if you give a sign of his better side early. This quick showcase of his actual personality could make the reader wonder why he turned out this dark, giving them more incentive to be involved in the backstory, while also making the reader exited for the ways he might change.

 

[ShadeZ]

I will be posting the first scene with Raven/Talyis in my books in Critque Requests (calling him Talyis causes a magical effect so most people call him Raven or The Raven because he shape shifts into... a black cat... oh and a raven that too.)

I will link it here when it's up.

 

[ShadeZ]

The reason I propose this is because I feel a dark/violent character could alienate the readers too much, while a kind/gentle version might be unrealistic in the way you portray Taylis in your history.

It's worth noting that even his gentle side has dark moments. Even gentle side of him is incredibly mysterious and keeps to himself. Despite his infamy among humans no one actually knows what he looks like (beyond the usual dark faerie features) it is for this reason the king wasnt aware he was chasing Talyis. He is the first to advise peace, according to a rumor in the human kingdoms even as the king was attacking him he begged the king to see reason and come to a peaceful conclusion because he did not want to pointlessly kill more humans.

His wife is a demiduur leader a predatory cat like race known for feline eyes, tattoo laced bodies, and their love of the hunt. His wife believed in preemptive attack where he generally does not. That said if pushed to fighting Talyis makes a serious example of his enemies so as to deter other enemies.

What would almost definitely work is contrasting how he is with how humans and their tales speak of him?

 

[TJPoldervaart]

What would almost definitely work is contrasting how he is with how humans and their tales speak of him?

This might work very well in a witcher-esque manner, where people have blown up the horrifying stories about a character that is not as evil as the stories say. I often find that contrast intersting for either a comedic (doubt that is the case in your story) or a tension purpose.

 

[ShadeZ]

This might work very well in a witcher-esque manner, where people have blown up the horrifying stories about a character that is not as evil as the stories say. I often find that contrast intersting for either a comedic (doubt that is the case in your story) or a tension purpose.

Well the funniest bit. Is humans are more scared of him than the demiduur even though he is much less violent. The demiduur kill raiders and the like because they are unable to empathize with their prey and seek challenging enemies to hunt. If you encounter a demiduur they will probably kill you if you're a threat to humanity, demiduur are likely to strike not to be on the defending side. Talyis kills almost exclusively in self defense. However human stories depict slayers/demiduur are predatory beings that mostly fight dragons are arent particularly sentient beyond being very aggressive and always seeking challenges. They depict Talyis as pure evil and bloodlust though.

Also it could come of comedic as Talyis has a number of "cute" habits (even more than most fae) such as the fact he builds a pillows blankets, and plush objects nest to sleep in at night and WILL NOT sleep with less than 3 pillows and 2 blankets, he hangs upside down like a bat to read books, he is terrified of dogs and wolves (there is actually a very good reason for this), he is incredibly shy, he hates being the center of attention so much he will hypnotise the whole room to get out of it, he uses his wings like a blanket on Keara (wife) at night.

 

[ShadeZ]

https://mythicscribes.com/community/threads/interview-talyis-raven-zeverim.22820/