Making a Unique Psycho For Hire

I want to make a unique, original Psycho for Hire who is legitimately overpowered through a unique and original way. He needs to be a Hero Killer, I want him to always be taken dead serious. Is there a certain mannerism or way he should be shown which would be conducive toward this?

So far, his name is Adelfo Rossi. Age 31, kicked outta the mob for going on a killing spree when his parents were targeted for a Hit, unknowingly on the mob's part.

Protip: If you're using tropes while describing him, he's not going to sound very unique.

I am just describing what kind of flavor of a villain I want to write. And I will describe him with tropes if I want to, thank you very much.

I think what she's trying to say is that works and characters exhibit tropes, not the other way around. Like how simply having butter, eggs, flour and sugar doesn't necessarily make a cake.

And as for your question... you're aiming for a character who can be taken seriously. I'll tell you this. For starters, don't make the character angsty or overly dark. In my experience, overly serious characters are inherently easy to make fun of.

Anyway. There's really no way to tell whether a reader will appreciate the solemnity of the character or laugh hysterically. In fact, the more you try to make everything about him dead serious, the more likely it is that something will strike the wrong chord.

There is no specific mannerism that automatically makes a character worthy of being taken seriously!!! Your best bet is to make him complex. A sympathetic reason always helps to preserve drama. Maybe he was a good boy to begin with, and only joined the Mafia due to being desperate and willing to do anything to keep afloat.

How do you want him to be overpowered, exactly?

...I am sorry I snapped like that. Its hot over here, so it makes me feel agitated a lot.

Essentially, no matter how the protagonist throws an attack at him, he turns the attack against the hero. In the first few rounds, at least.

Yeah, complexity would be good. My idea is that he started as a good boy, but his family was poor, his little sister is sick, he goes to The Mafia for help with his family.

His philosophy would be basically that of a Crazy Survivalist meets a Social Darwinist of some sort.

And maybe a little humor, however dark, would be good to make him not seem so serious as to evoke Narm.

edited 5th May '11 8:57:12 PM by NickTheSwing

Or you could make him behave really creepy on the job, like my own mercenary character, a blind man who uses his glassy, unfocused eyes and acting skills to make himself seem like an evil Humanoid Abomination so that people don't mess with him. That would be Matthias Cline.

And how often do you plan on having him show up?

edited 5th May '11 9:03:17 PM by CrystalGlacia

You want this to happen using magic or technology?

Its New Dawn, so magic, but Majitek is catching up there with magic.

I have a few ideas of how he might become creepily detached on the job.

edited 5th May '11 9:48:13 PM by NickTheSwing

Okay. But the part with him joining The Mafia to help his family may be irrelevant at first if he shows up mainly to antagonize the heroes. I would prefer to show his sensitive side after he's been established as a villainous figure.

edited 5th May '11 9:58:42 PM by CrystalGlacia

Yeah, at first, I think I'll establish him as a Complete Monster, his soft side and backstory revealed later and after he's been a menace for a while.

edited 5th May '11 10:01:06 PM by NickTheSwing

It also just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to dump in a flashback in the middle of a scene that's supposed to be high-tension. *coughcoughBleachcoughcough*

One thing that could easily set your particular son-of-a-bitch apart from others in the same field could be a lack of ego. Many of the scariest villains I've encountered in fiction are like this in that they adhere to most of the crucial traits of a serious personality disorder—sociopathy, psychopathy, malignant narcissism, etc.—but lack some singular telltale trait that is crucial to nailing them down as something identifiable. A great example of this is John Doe from Thomas Ligotti's "The Frolic", a deranged child killer with no empathy that is made utterly inhuman simply by dint of three simple factors: Lucidity, humility, and an uncanny intuition that flirts with unattainable knowledge. Such a character is frightening because they defy expectations and logic while remaining just believable enough to waltz in through your door any minute...

Yeah, I'd like to set this guy up as having a realistic case of Antisocial Personality Disorder, specifically being The Sociopath.

edited 5th May '11 10:31:44 PM by NickTheSwing