Modern Technothriller Antagonists

A long time ago (the late 19th century to be exact), on a planet that happens to be our own, the European powers played an intricate game of espionage and statecraft over much of the world. From this game emerged a literary genre known as "invasion fiction", in which one such nation would - in the near future - be invaded by whichever nation seemed like a bigger peril at the time! Usually it would involve Britain, France or Germany in one way or another.

But then came WWI, and the world got it's taste of warfare in the industrialized era. WWII even moreso. In the face of the apocalyptic potential of nuclear weapons, the "invasion fiction" genre looked a lot less appealing. It was only with the likes of Tom Clancy and Micheal Crichton that something similar came into being: the technothriller.

Set in the modern-day/near-future, built around thrilling plots involving the latest groundbreaking technology and socio-political boogeymen (such as the Communists whether they be Soviet or Chinese) the technothriller was a hit. But now, with the Cold War over, one question remains:

Who are the next suitable technothriller antagonists?

The problem is that all the high-tech nations in the world are more or less in alignment with one another, making an international conflict scenario somewhat implausible.

Terrorists?

The other spiritual successor of Invasion Fiction is Alien Invasion Science Fiction.

Perhaps an extraterrestrial threat is in order.

Otherwise an evil corporation or cult may work.

Maybe the main thing is someone trying to end this peace through some overly elaborated scheme by heating up the tension.

Yeah, but who? That's the question. At present, I agree with Marquis. It's not in any major power's interest to wage a war with any other major power right, or so it seems.

Key words are "right now"' Twenty minutes from now they might not be.

China is constantly hacking the US, and Russia/China VS US/NATO/Countries like Japan or Isreal is the constant of geopolitical conflict today. Look at Syria or North Korea. China is the next antagonist.

Those assumptions don't fit well together - honestly, it hasn't really been in any major power's interests to start a big war since the atomic age began. I think there's good odds that cyberwarfare is on the rise because real warfare is on the decline... which is also kind of the reason behind the birth of the technothriller in the first place.

In other words, "someone working to end global peace" (in the conventional sense of "peace") is both implausible and unnecessary for a technothriller plot.

edited 3rd Jun '13 10:16:39 PM by nrjxll

Firstly: "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighters."

Secondly, trends suggest that technology (particularly social media) will continue to spread and become more and more accessible to more and more people.

Socially, the future will be full of a lot more sub groups if only because now there's a way for the more far out elements in any society to find contacts in their own or other societies.

These subcultures will not be as limited by factors like where they come from, what age they are or what gender they are.

It will be based mostly on what their interests, belief, and language (yes, even in the future you still need to speak the language to communicate without some really nice translating software).

Form a Technothriller standpoint, its looking like its gonna be a Free for All.

And man, its gonna be sweet.

• Rant warning, you can skip the rest of it.

We're not just talking issues like hackers stealing the Vatican pedo priest protection meeting minutes or how much unpaid overtime the overworked waterboarders in Gitmo aren't getting, its going to be a whole flood of voices speaking, bitching, complaining, preaching, beseeching, moaning, groaning and generally being a pain in the collective asses of everyone else who just wants to not have to listen to them.

Its going to be a future where anyone can comment, tweet, post, blog, voice out to the entire world with a reach, frequency (and for a lot cheaper) world leaders could only dream of a few decades ago.

A world, where people can organize for flash mobs and riots with equal ease. Where Gay Republican Muslims can actually exist and be as obnoxious as any Gay, Republican OR Muslim group. Perhaps even more so than all three put together.

A place where the power of propaganda is held in the hand of the anonymous masses with no single person being liable or responsible.

• End Rant.

Oh, and Religion's gonna get a thrashing.

Mostly because the internet is spreading and it turns out, the internet is where religions go to die.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rqw4krMOug

edited 4th Jun '13 4:45:41 AM by Natasel

I disagree with "China being the next antagonist" in that, I seriously doubt China is suicidal enough to go to war with ANYONE.

Their track record is Zero wins, All loses against foreign aggression for some reason, and the current big boss (USA) won't really need to sweat all that much to redirect their nukes from turning Russia into a radioactive wasteland, to turning China into a radioactive wasteland.

So its going to be diplomacy, business, politics and the usual BS.

You know, how the world works right now.

Sure, there's going to be a lot spying and covert ops thrown in, but when has that EVER stopped between nations worth a damn?

edited 4th Jun '13 4:51:11 AM by Natasel

The real problem here is that any group that isnt aligned with the new world order is unlikely, for that very reason, to have access to the resources necessary to invent, produce and utilize game-changing technology in the first place. Terrorist groups, small nations, even corporations, if they want to attack somebody, are going to have to go low-tech.

That said, it is possible that, 20 minutes into the future, "low tech" includes things that today are beyond reach, like bio-terror weapons. The only way a techno-thriller can plausibly work, I think, is if the globe threatening technology becomes cheaper and more easily accessible.

It's not a coincidence that I happen to be writing something like that right now...

Maybe not a WAR, but you can't say they don't attack US cyberspace every single day. If they aren't stealing our World of Warcraft accounts, they're breaking into banks, newspapers, and our government websites. These are hard facts.

Technthriller Antagonists =/= War with Protagonist Country.

Again, the "new world order" is hacked daily.

Pretty sure the US does the same or worse. As does any nation worth a damn.

Heh, cyber attacks really arent dramatic enough for a techno-thriller plot, unless they manage to hack the entire electrical system or something... I dont think I have seen that done yet. Still, not exactly the sort of thing you call a spec ops team out to deal with...

I've put some thought into this myself, and have come up with a few options. Before I lay them out, I'll present a broad overview of the early 21st century world just to provide proper context:

The USA remains the world's sole superpower, but is reeling from the effects of the War on Terror, the Great Recession, and unbelievably polarized political situation. Despite this, those who are "well to do" don't feel a bit of it. Europe is mired in debt and doubt to an even worse extent, leading to much sociopolitical disruption on par with that seen in the thirties. What remains to be seen is who the new century's equivalent of communism and fascism will be. Asia meanwhile is stronger and more prosperous than ever before. It's just a question of how long they can keep this up. The Middle East and North Africa on the other hand find themselves in the Arab Spring, with some dictatorships being displaced and others struggling tooth and nail to hold onto power. The future of the region is to say the least uncertain.

My essential point is that the "status quo" as you so put it is by no means on stable ground. I guess in order to answer my question, I would have to assess what disruptions are the most likely/most entertaining for a techno-thriller.

Much as I'd like to finish this train of thought, I must hand the computer over to my brother for now. BRB.

edited 7th Jun '13 9:08:58 PM by goldenerasuburb

Femenism is the new fascism, China grows up crippled as its One Child Policy and traditional preference for sons means a staggering demographic shift of more males than females and falls prey to Western Femenism.

China's economic might is utterly demolished seemingly overnight as the femenist movement spreads through China.

The Middle East's "Arab Spring" turn into another Religious War Zone/No Man's land and Muslim/Democratic rule reigns with over 99% of the population favoring strict Theocratic Rule (anyone who disagrees is dead by Religious Police)

Meanwhile, tech has gotten so good and cheap that "Privacy" is a luxury reserved for people who can afford a small army of body guards, lawyers, a politician or two and/or a private island.

Feminism*

It would be nice if you could at least spell correctly the rights movement you've decided to demonize.

I'm sorry but I'm having trouble seeing feminism as ever being as politically volatile as, say, communism. Nothing in feminism is as radical as wanting to abolish property, religion, the burgeoisie, etc. That's just... really dumb.

Still not something you call a covert ops team out to deal with...

Wikileaks.

The Ebil Feminist Conspiracy might make a good threat for a parody technothriller.

It turns out that all feminists, everywhere, have been lying to us all these years. They have no interest in equal rights, equal pay or anything else with the word "equal" in it. Feminism's sole true goal is the permanent subjugation of all men. (A few nutjob feminists were allowed to express this idea to discredit the notion by being obvious nutjobs.)

And at last, after years of infiltrating the halls of power, their scientists have developed a Gendercide plague that will wipe out 90% of men and leave the rest too weak to resist as they're rounded up into gigolo camps.

Only a small group of Men's Rights Activists (led by one who just happens to be a special ops veteran) have become aware of this and must fight the conspiracy.

I'm going to ignore that bit about the feminists and try to be serious here.

I'd say that corporations make good antagonists for techno-thriller style stories set in today's world. They cross borders, they are incestuous and some of them will do whatever they can get away with to turn a profit. If a writer cast the governments of the world as the hopeless has-beens and a big conglomerate as the Main Evil, that'd be both interesting and relevant.

Especially banks. Banks basically run everything, because to do anything you need money you don't have, and guess who's willing to lend it to you? Even governments depend on banking conglomerates these days.

edited 10th Jun '13 8:52:20 PM by drunkscriblerian

The problem is that, realistically, you wouldn't solve that kind of problem by shooting anyone or blowing anything up.

Hey, I believe that Feminists as they are, not as they say, ARE evil. (Serious here). Email/Discuss in private/elsewhere if anyone care to ask. And if not, kinda gives you an idea of how strong Feminism as a movement/idea is eh?

If not Feminists then how about the Politically Correct Movement? Moral Guardians? Fox News?

Basically any group that thinks its doing what is moral and right will fit the bill.

Heck, even Pedos might be the wave of the future. The ancient Greeks went a lot farther with "Boy Love" than most J-Pop could push it.

An odd combination of NAMBLA, th Catholic church and SCA might be able to form an odd alliance to that goal.

The fact that no one feels like validating your stupidly offensive ideas about feminism and women by responding to you doesn't mean that feminism is a weak idea, it just means that no one gives a damn about your stupidly offensive ideas.

As for techno-thriller antagonists, just look at today's problems - decentralized NG Os or individuals who can inflict grievous harm on a large scale. They can be state-funded, meaning that you can still have the traditional "boogeymen" of China/Russia/Iran/whoever as enemies.

edited 11th Jun '13 5:54:51 PM by Lhipenwhe