Competent Heroes
I was pondering my process of creating characters tonight during my walk around town, and I think I realized why I have such a fondness for the Doctor Who world and character. I love how the Doctor and basically everyone he associates with is bright, capable, and competent at what they do. This differs from a lot of the stories in which the protagonists are unlikely heroes that somehow manage to beat the odds and save the world. I really enjoy the concept of creating a world for a brilliant character rather than a lucky one.
Looking at the process of creating a world in peril and a protagonist destined to save it, I see two paths that I normally choose between. (I don’t even want to use the word destined – it doesn’t matter if this person is the Hero of Myth and Legend or not.) In the first, the plucky young hero discovers something amiss in the world, and through some tragedy or chance of fate, she has to set out on a Quest. Usually, at least in a lot of the things I’ve created or even read, the hero manages to win through some form of luck, or help from friends, or through love or whatever message the story is trying to convey. It really doesn’t even matter what form the peril takes, as long as it exists for the ‘lucky’ hero to defeat.
The other path is the one I prefer to take. Bringing this post full circle, I like to look at Doctor Who as a good example of it. When I have a character who is strong in ability, intelligent, and competent, the challenge shifts more to creating a danger or an enemy that can truly threaten this capable person. Creating actually difficult problems for the protagonist to resolve is infinitely more enjoyable for me than trying to develop a character from nothing to solve a problem that may not even matter.
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