Perihelion
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Disclaimer: As always, this is my opinion, and every point is up for discussion. There are exceptions to every rule, and a skilled writer can make just about anything work. However, if you're not really good, be honest with yourself, and consider my advice verrrrrrry carefully before ignoring it.
You want to make your hero special. I understand. Heroes are frequently larger than life, etc. But there are ways to do it that don't involve making him the subject of a prophecy that has him saving the world, the secret heir to the throne whose blood makes him the only possible good ruler, the sole person in the world who has Super Fantastic Evil-slaying Magic, etc. While I spend most of my time talking about destiny specifically, most of what I say here is also directed at other forms of egregious Specialness, so please bear that in mind as you proceed.
Anyway, there are three main points I want you to take away from this thread:
If you're using destiny in lieu of character development, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
If you need destiny as a motivation to make your plot work, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
If you're using destiny because it's the Done Thing or because it's convenient, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
Three Reasons Not to Incorporate Destiny
Three Alternatives to Destiny
There are obviously a lot more than three alternatives, but I'm lazy and like symmetry, so three is all you get. Using some of these may mean your hero can't be a random farmboy, but I don't see how that's a bad thing. I mean, people like to use inexperienced characters in RPGs so it makes sense that they start at a low level, but it's honestly not that big a deal. I mean, hell, FF7's Cloud had life experience, and it didn't break the game.
Three Ways to Make Destiny Less Bad
If you MUST put it in, use it to reflect some interesting facets of human nature instead of as (just) a vehicle to drive your plot forward.
You want to make your hero special. I understand. Heroes are frequently larger than life, etc. But there are ways to do it that don't involve making him the subject of a prophecy that has him saving the world, the secret heir to the throne whose blood makes him the only possible good ruler, the sole person in the world who has Super Fantastic Evil-slaying Magic, etc. While I spend most of my time talking about destiny specifically, most of what I say here is also directed at other forms of egregious Specialness, so please bear that in mind as you proceed.
Anyway, there are three main points I want you to take away from this thread:
If you're using destiny in lieu of character development, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
If you need destiny as a motivation to make your plot work, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
If you're using destiny because it's the Done Thing or because it's convenient, YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.
Three Reasons Not to Incorporate Destiny
- It leads to boring characters. "My wise old mentor told me to do it" is not a compelling motivation, and it will not make your audience love your characters. Instead, give them characters who think for themselves. Give them characters who care about things--specific things, not the nebulous "greater good." Give them characters who want--and do something about it.
- It makes your plot facile. It doesn't have to, but when you start with such a formulaic concept, you set yourself up for a formulaic result. It encourages you to default to the trite and true (you love my horrible puns) "farmboy goes off on a quest to save the world from the evil god/emperor/demon" plot, which leads into my next point.
- It's incredibly hackneyed, and at this point, it's honestly so overused that it's nigh impossible to do something novel with it. I've read a lot of fantasy books and played a lot of fantasy games, and I honestly cannot remember a single example of a work improved by the inclusion of destiny. I can remember a couple books that were good despite it, but that doesn't make it a good idea.
Three Alternatives to Destiny
There are obviously a lot more than three alternatives, but I'm lazy and like symmetry, so three is all you get. Using some of these may mean your hero can't be a random farmboy, but I don't see how that's a bad thing. I mean, people like to use inexperienced characters in RPGs so it makes sense that they start at a low level, but it's honestly not that big a deal. I mean, hell, FF7's Cloud had life experience, and it didn't break the game.
- Have people solicit his help for reasons that AREN'T destiny. Maybe your hero really IS the best guy for the job, in that he has the requisite skills or knowledge, but he's just not interested for whatever reason. People seem to like reluctant heroes, and this is a pretty good setup for one. He could be duty-bound, cowardly, or just plain selfish. Then you get to figure out how to convince him to come along, and the fight he's likely to put up is a good way to show he's not a sheep or an faceess plot device.
- Have him forced into the role of hero by random chance. This can be used as a direct substitute for destiny in many cases, and it's not my top option, but it can work well. If your farmboy really IS just a regular farmboy who simply happened to touch that strange glowing stone in the forest, I'm more likely to be impressed when he steps up to the plate than if he's a hero because he's innately Heroic and is Destined to do Great Things. A foregone victory isn't much to brag about. I can think of better examples for plots that don't involve saving the world, but people don't usually involve destiny for those anyway. At any rate, this gives you room to do all kinds of fun things like have the people around him (and especially he himself) seriously, seriously doubt whether he's capable of saving the world and things like that. Things you should do anyway, mind, but they have a bit more weight here.
- Have him act of his own accord. Give him a personality instead of a prophecy, and you might just be amazed at what happens. There are myriad reasons someone can step up to the plate, reasons that go far beyond "it's The Right Thing to Do" (leaving it at that is incredibly boring), and proactive protagonists are really cool. For example, maybe the hero is the guy who fucked everything up in the first place, and he feels personally responsible. Hell, you can even give him reasons that are crass--maybe he's really naive and envisions it (wrongly) as a glorious adventure that will result in fame and glory (this is cliche, and while it can be done well, it's likely to be annoying if it's not), or maybe he wants to kill the evil emperor so he can take the throne himself.
While I think this is a cool path to take, if your hero chooses to undergo this harrowing journey, he'd better have a damn good reason. The greater number of people responsibility is shared between, the less likely any individual is likely to do anything--it's like how a crowd of onlookers will watch someone get mugged or raped and not do anything because they think someone else will--and an entire world has a VERY large number of people to share the responsibility with.
Three Ways to Make Destiny Less Bad
If you MUST put it in, use it to reflect some interesting facets of human nature instead of as (just) a vehicle to drive your plot forward.
- Have the prophecy be wrong or at least misinterpreted. This can be interesting, but I'd recommend against putting in a wrong prophecy for the sole sake of subverting the trope. Maybe the prophecy is really vague and maybe not even prophetic at all, but people apply it to the current situation because they like to find patterns when there are none. Maybe there's a lot of scholarly disagreement about what exactly it means, and different parties twist the words to favor their own interpretations. Maybe there's no clear sign pointing to the hero, so the wise old mentor invents a hero instead (making the wise old mentor less of a flawless paragon of good, which is a good thing!). Things like that.
- Have the prophecy be self-fulfilling. Oedipus Rex, anyone? I think this works best in a tragic sense, but it can tie back into the previous point too.
- At the very, VERY least, have your destined hero clash with his destiny instead of just shouldering everything with a shrug and a nod for the sake of the nebulous Greater Good. Have him question the things that are thrust upon him and the explanations given to him. Have him want things that conflict with his destiny, and don't have him give them up with a woeful sigh the second the mentor tells him to. Have him not be heroic sometimes. Have him doubt himself. Have him fail. Make him a person outside his grand fate and his special powers and his magical sword, and if you do that well enough, your audience might be able to overlook the obnoxious plot device you've dumped on him.