God in Disguise

Perhaps if he doesn't react to things as tritely or as anxiously as a mortal would, and thinks aloud about similar circumstances in other realms, "from the literature" he adds (or is it from memory?)

it sounds as if he's akin to a greek god that's ruler of a certain emotion or philosophy or what have you. in this case, his domain is pleasure (and ostensibly pain to a certain extent, as there are those who like that kind of thing). does he have the ability to change into various sexes? i think i'd make him be a she who's a virgin every time yet knows all the tricks-o-the-trade.

i guess it depends on how much he *needs* to help. doesn't seem he'd have the power to resurrect folk (from death, that is ~ he certainly would have the power to, ah, 'excite' those who've given up hope in specific things). is he a good, evil or neutral being? i think he's got to have some justification for helping, even if it's just him serving his own selfish ends.

hinting at him being a god, well, you mention foreshadowing. i'd say that by the end, if you don't at least make it pretty obvious what he is the foreshadowing may make your reader feel unsatisfied, no? hard do say there, i guess. other than dropping hints in his dialogue, actions, and maybe some name choices, i'm not quite sure what else you can do. maybe one of the MCs overhears a conversation or does a bit of investigation that leads her to think he's something more than he is. or the jealous husband confronts him and gets a taste of his power? i think you might consider how things are done in the mystery genre, that may help. if the god survives something no man could have... or if he's just too perfect... or he could just flat-out admit he's a god to her and she doesn't believe him... maybe the wine he serves, from his own winery, is called 'ambrosia' or some such... or if this god has a natural foil, a kind of kryptonite of some kind... perhaps the legend of the god reads he's banned to the sea or space (not sure, you didn't specify what kind of yacht this is), or at least cast off all land as a result of something he did, or maybe the yacht is his prison (in which case a visit from his jailor, overhead by the MC, might be an idea, though make it more clever than that)....

Check on Athena

AnneMarble said:

Hmm. Good ideas (too many to quote and keep my quoting sanity ). He's actually their chief god, but their culture is obsessed with sex. (My mages have interesting lives...) Still, I like the idea of his power making everyone on the yacht... ahem.

So far, I think Liplan (I'm not good with names) is worshipped only in that kingdom. Their scepter is named the Rod of Liplan (I couldn't resist ), and part of the story involves retrieving it from safekeeping so that the proper person can be crowned.

I have considered having this "captain" telling Moonstone (one of my heroes) that he is Liplan. Then of course Moonstone would back away and say "Yes, of course you are, Captain... See ya!" Later, after Moonstone dies, ends up in Liplan's realm, gets a unicorn pregnant (while in unicorn form, don't worry), and finally meets Liplan, he can realize that the captain was telling him the truth. Oh, and the unicorn mare was Liplan, too.

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In the Odyssey Athena appears in many disguises. In one scene she even prays to herself while in human guise. Many only figure out who she is when she turns into a bird and flies away (a different type of bird each time IIRC)...

In one of my WIPs, it turns out the king's jester is a God, who has taken an interest in this family, and especially the daughter of the king, as she is destined for demigodhood herself. He never reveals himself or his powers to anyone (except in one scene where he confronts her), however whenever he's around, seemingly lucky things happen -- nothing beyond the suspension of belief, nothing that might even be noticeable. But like a good luck charm that causes everything to just as you'd hope it would -- even if it's not what the protagonist thought he wanted.

Shakespeare always makes the fool the voice of reason. There's masterful irony for you. I'd have never thought of that one.

/sarcasm (that's right! A jab at Shakespeare!)

Anyway, I'd hint with your words as opposed to the character's actions. Describe his mannerisms as "divine". His smile as "heavenly". That kind of crap. Okay, maybe that's a little too obvious. I dunno. Make it subtle enough for the stupid readers to get a nice surprise, and the intelligent ones to proclaim "I was right!" and get a feeling of smug self satisfaction.

If you ever get the chance then go and see the TV series Joan of Arcadia.


Anyway, for a limit they have the fact that humankind needs to be able to make their own choices. (A) God can only steer someone, but never decide something for them.

Neil Gaiman handled it very interestingly. All the gods in American Gods more or less just cheerfully didn't care what you thought. Mister Wednesday would talk about all sorts of things that no mere mortal could possibly know, and if you thought he was a god, or if you thought he was a crazy man, he didn't care.

...

"Good job, and thanks," said Main Character gratefully, "You're a god among men, you know that?"

"I really do," said the Yacht Captain. "Come, let's get you dried off."

Or some fun exchange like that.

I've got a fantasy WIP where the male lead is a minor deity. ^_^ (wasn't even my idea; the character just sort of wrote it in himself). In my story, I take from sort of native american and greek-style myth, where the gods are not all-powerful, and are perfectly killable, if you're powerful enough to do it. It's more of a monotheistic religion thing where god is totally omnipotent and omniscient; plenty of older religions don't do it that way. The gods in my story also have motives that aren't entirely in line with human motivations, so you can't expect them to just be helpful and benevolent (or malevolent, either. those distinctions don't quite work for the gods). You could also have it so that the other gods can overpower him if he gives them a reason to unite against him--like dabbling in human affairs too much. Maybe they have rules against dabbling in the important stuff.

As for giving clues, depending on what his personality is like, and how he interacts with the main characters, you could maybe incorporate some foreshadowing into your dialouge. Things where he openly alludes to what he is, except in context, you think it's just all talk (hiding out in the open, so to speak). Like,

"The captain's skills are renowned, you know," one of the crew said slyly, waggling an eyebrow. "Half the women on board think he's some kind of sex god."
"Aren't I?" The captain said, his lips twisting up in a slow, arrogant smile.

Or,

"Women have fallen to their knees and worshipped me for the pleasure I bring to them. Perhaps if you offer me a prayer, fair lady, I shall give you a taste of what I mean."

Or,

"You seek the Rod of Liplan? Why, I have it right...here," he said, spreading his hand over the front of his trousers.

Yeah, lame examples, I know, but I'm just making up crud off the top of my head as an example. It's the kind of stuff that can seem like just dialouge, until the big reveal, and then the reader realizes that the god had been telling them all along.

AnneMarble said:

Also, how do I give him limits on what he can do and how much he can help?

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Sage said:

Another idea for giving him limits might be something related to taking human form or being on Earth. In his own realm, he may rule all, but here on Earth, he doesn't have access to all his powers?

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This is what I thought of, too. He might be a god, but if you say he's embodied/incarnated, you can have him be human in a sense too, and so limited. How much of his godly power does he have to have to do the one thing he does have to do?

I've got a similar problem. My Cantar Sprits, (Immortal Beings), are usually established in full form. But, because I have Harlu the Water Spirit, Jardun the Fire Spirit, Thular the Air Spirit and Gojam the Earth Spirit, I'm planning to introduce my Aether Spirit. To do this, I'm planning to introduce him as a character in Human form. I'm going to forshadow this with him being fascinated by stars, and decorating his house with star charts and star maps, and showing cosmic energy experiments. His Gnome-Orbs on the table are all set to show space as well. Is your god in charge of anything, (music? love? hate? stars?).

Piers Anthony had an interesting approach, with his incarnations of immortality run.

AnneMarble said:

Hmmm. Maybe he should be the god of rivers or bodies of water or something. In some countries, that would be important enough to make him the country's chief god. And it would explain why he's a yacht captain (unless he just likes sailing ).

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Or you could go ironic about it. Make him the god of drought, and now he's a yacht captain and loves it.

"Your the god of droughts?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you pilot a yacht filled with beautiful women throwing themselves at your feet?"

"I'm on vacation."

Having a character be God or a god doesn't work as a "gotcha!" in most short stories, & fails miserably in novels. It's about as old-hat as "And they were named Adam & Eve" or "So now I'm dead" or "But what do I know, I'm just the goldfish" gimmicks -- the sort of "original" gotchas that amateurs trot out.

To some degree, you have to let the reader in on the joke (or potential joke) early so s/he doesn't feel you think your reader's a gullible idiot.

I'm just the goldfish? Never seen that one before...

Okay, lemme ax you this: how are you defining what it means to be a "God" or a "god" ... versus ... that character just being an "alien with supernatural abilities" ???

Is there a difference?

PeeDee mentioned Gaiman's AMERICAN GODS (excellent) ... so I'll toss in Roger Zelazny's LORD OF LIGHT and CREATURES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Zelazny

Where in both novels you have ungodly beings ACTING OUT as "gods" etc

I'm new here, so don't let me presume to comment among folks who all know each others' things ... but there's a certain delicacy (imo) on how writers may need to handle the "God" / "god" / "alien with strange powers" dramatic (and character) situations.

I'm not talking about "offending religious people" per se. It's more like: religions work a certain way in cultures and people within the cultures are familiar with the expectations and assumptions (and the 'baggage") that entails.

I'm betting that "Religion" has certain expectations in Science Fiction genre that it doesn't share in Fantasy genre. (And not everyone is keen on blending those two genres)

You've said it yourself: foreshadowing is vital. And knowing what you mean (within the context of your story and characters) by "god" is vital too.

Just talking aloud. When I read people's comments, the image in my head was Krishna frolicking with the milk maidens, playing his flute like he had Satyr feets.

Somebody's going down, right? ...