The Mentality of a Jerkass God

It's been too long since I've posted anything to Writer's Block...a mistake that I intend to remedy, here and now!

So there's this story I've been thinking of for a while now, starring something that, for all intents and purposes, made it possible for all the humans, animals, and the Earth as we know it to exist. Thing is, he — an energy being, like the rest of his "race" — did it partly so he could win a bet, and partly to earn the admiration of his people. Except they didn't approve, so they banished him from their world.

Flash forward to The '70s, where our "hero", FX, has taken on a (vaguely) human form. He spends all his days walking the earth, looking to learn all about the lifeforms he created...and have a little fun with them along the way. A shame, then, that an old rival is looking not only to erase FX, but the human race to boot. That could really spoil a party or two.

The question is, how exactly do I go about writing a character who is, essentially, a no-good deity? I'd like for him to be something resembling a hero by story's end (by way of dealing with old friends and the knowledge he gains in his travels), but I think there's a lot more that can be done. Right now, I'm making him lean towards being a Troll of sorts — he likes to get a reaction out of people, and his unique sense of morality always seems to put him in the right. Still, he's got his issues; the whole reason he created Earth in the first place was to try and prove to his crush that he was worthy of her time.

I'll cut my ranting short here; right now, I'd like to see what you guys can come up with. Give suggestions, ask me questions, anything. I'm in your hands, my Troper comrades; let's make ourselves a Jerkass God!

The standard approach is to have the god slowly come to the realization that human lives are meaningful, after an encounter with one or more humans who're inspiring or special or incredibly pure-hearted or what have you. (This also works for dragons and aliens.)

One variant would be for the god to initially think that humans are P-Zombies. I've never actually seen this done with a god, but it could be quite effective if you play it similarly to scenarios where the protagonist falsely thinks what's happening is All Just a Dream or a hallucination. (Case in point: The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant.)

edited 3rd Jun '11 4:53:47 PM by feotakahari

Or like Eternal Sonata? I gotcha. That's good stuff.