Your MC

zahra · Jun 23, 2007

OK, horrormeisters!

Tell me about your main character!

The reason I'm being nosey is a) anything to get us lot talking more and b) I've got a current MC who's being a right pain in the arse so I want to know if there's a typical horror MC.

I think horror MCs tend to be fairly upstanding people. For instance, we've got an ambassador (The Omen), a priest (The Exorcist), a child counsellor (6th Sense), a policeman (Wicker Man'), and various virgins and good girls (Halloween, Final Destination 2, Rosemary's Baby etc).

My MC, Joe, is an ex-drug-dealer and jailbird, he's been violent and he's left a trail of destruction in his life. (There's a reason for this). He's trying to be good now, but he HAS to have been hateful in his past. And yet you've got to like him. I quite like him, but I have to be careful he doesn't get too cocky. Difficult.

So - yours? Fine, upstanding, honourable?

Anyway, tell me about them cos I'm nosey.

Pike · Jun 23, 2007

My MC is the son of a dyfunctional, single mother who decided to do something to help other people avoid the crap he went through as a kid. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a high opinion of himself or women, drinks too much, lives out of a pill bottle, and just when he thought life was starting to brighten he got the tar beat out of him by a werewolf.

Now, if he can get over marking his territory and the urge to rip apart every person that rubs his fur the wrong way maybe he can start back on the road to recovery.

Pike

Flapdoodle · Jun 23, 2007

zahra said:
OK, horrormeisters!

Tell me about your main character!

The reason I'm being nosey is a) anything to get us lot talking more and b) I've got a current MC who's being a right pain in the arse so I want to know if there's a typical horror MC.

I think horror MCs tend to be fairly upstanding people. For instance, we've got an ambassador (The Omen), a priest (The Exorcist), a child counsellor (6th Sense), a policeman (Wicker Man'), and various virgins and good girls (Halloween, Final Destination 2, Rosemary's Baby etc).

My MC, Joe, is an ex-drug-dealer and jailbird, he's been violent and he's left a trail of destruction in his life. (There's a reason for this). He's trying to be good now, but he HAS to have been hateful in his past. And yet you've got to like him. I quite like him, but I have to be careful he doesn't get too cocky. Difficult.

So - yours? Fine, upstanding, honourable?

Anyway, tell me about them cos I'm nosey.

What defines the MC in the Wicker Man isn't that he's a copper, but that he has christian beliefs and morals. This is what creates a lot of the conflict in the story, and ultimately leads to his demise. He could be a private investigator and the story would still be the same.

My current MCs in a short story I'm writing are a couple. One is a vegetarian, the other isn't, and they're just opening up a restaurant in a 700 year old building that used to be a medieval butcher's shop. The couple aren't getting on, and have sunk all their cash into this venture...

It starts with some old hooks on the wall bleeding.

The couple don't know it used to be a butcher's shop - that's part of exposition.

Calla Lily · Jun 23, 2007

My MC: raised in a monastery (cult). sheltered; happy; life is good. Inducted at age 15 into full cult privileges: participate in the crucifixion of 3 kidnapped anti-cultists and drink their blood. He's a nice kid (I picture Shia LeBoeuf) and completely freaks. He fakes his death, runs away, and starts a new life, new name, changes appearance.

30 years pass.

He's still a nice guy. Except 30 years of hiding and denying his conscience telliing him to Do Something To Stop It have made him paranoid. But his innate goodness will drive him to Do Something.

And, well, it goes downhill for the poor guy.

But not permanently! I like to give a dollop of hope at the end.

Flapdoodle, I'd read your story! Love the bleeding hooks idea.

zahra · Jun 23, 2007

Flapdoodle said:
What defines the MC in the Wicker Man isn't that he's a copper, but that he has christian beliefs and morals. This is what creates a lot of the conflict in the story, and ultimately leads to his demise. He could be a private investigator and the story would still be the same.

My current MCs in a short story I'm writing are a couple. One is a vegetarian, the other isn't, and they're just opening up a restaurant in a 700 year old building that used to be a medieval butcher's shop. The couple aren't getting on, and have sunk all their cash into this venture...

It starts with some old hooks on the wall bleeding.

The couple don't know it used to be a butcher's shop - that's part of exposition.

You're right, of course, it's the officer's Christian beliefs and thus his virginity that make him a target, but I think his profession being a symbol for good adds a great deal to the mix.

The Church and the State, the establishment and all that, versus the islanders who have their own 'church', state and establishment. I think had he been a PD, the feel would have been different. This is a representative of the State that they're messing with so blithely. When they defy him over the missing girl, he evokes this status very sternly.

Calla Lily · Jun 23, 2007

[pulls out DVD and puts it in the "watch me next--again" pile]

After I watch Event Horizon with the teenager. Altho Wicker Man is scarier, IMO, EH has some brilliant moments. Laurence Fishburne is a terrific tortured good-guy hero.

Flapdoodle · Jun 25, 2007

zahra said:
You're right, of course, it's the officer's Christian beliefs and thus his virginity that make him a target, but I think his profession being a symbol for good adds a great deal to the mix.

The Church and the State, the establishment and all that, versus the islanders who have their own 'church', state and establishment. I think had he been a PD, the feel would have been different. This is a representative of the State that they're messing with so blithely. When they defy him over the missing girl, he evokes this status very sternly.

Yup, definitely made him stronger being a copper. Apparently, there's a village up in Scotland somewhere that burns a Wicker Man every year - they have a big festival. It was where the movie was shot!

Great film.

WordGypsy · Jun 28, 2007

My MC is a great guy, all love for his girlfriend and their baby girl. That is until he decided to strangle the life out of the girlfriend.

zahra · Jun 29, 2007

WordGypsy said:
My MC is a great guy, all love for his girlfriend and their baby girl. That is until he decided to strangle the life out of the girlfriend.

Ooooookay.

Your MC

zahra

Was Zahra; lost profile - REBORN!

Pike

Chivalry ain't dead

Flapdoodle

Calla Lily

On hiatus

zahra

Was Zahra; lost profile - REBORN!

Calla Lily

On hiatus

Flapdoodle

WordGypsy

zahra

Was Zahra; lost profile - REBORN!