How to create a sympathetic Kid Social Darwinist hero

Name: Warren Hiedler the Bald Eagle Theriomorph/ The Apex Predator/ The Emperor of the Blood Order/ The Salvator

Age: 11

Personality: Warren Hiedler acts like a strong leader even though his is eleven years old. It is due to in fact of his villainous monster Theriomorph body after he was forced into a process by Megiddo scientists that he killed and escaped from the hospital and his Social Darwinist philosophy that you can infer from this speech:

• "To this day forward, we will create a new world, a new age of the Cycle of Conception. The Strong will inherit the Kingdom Earth and make a world of free of this False Gods and Adversarial Devils of this old, weak world - a world of darkness, suffering, ignorance and weakness. Today, the weak will perish and will be ruled by the strong - the strong will murder the weak without guilt, shame or fear. The Lion shall not sleep with the Lamb but eat the Lamb without mercy. We are the Master Species, and our world is our ecosystem - eat the weak as they are not worthy of the Paradise. Do not feel guilt as it is the creation of Satan and feel blood that atones the sin as it is from God instead. Exterminate the weak humans and we rebuild the ashes of the Supremacy and let us rule because Judgement Day for humankind has come to purify this apocalyptic cesspool of humanity by the God's Wrath and my followers. The Parasite and Undesirables, heed my warning: The reign of Apex Predator and the Master Species has begun. Kill or be killed that is the Law of the Emperor of the Blood Order."

He also believes he is the Salvator of the Strong and he is the Emperor of the Blood Order. He absolutely hates the Supreme Leader of Megiddo calling it Satan or the Parasite. He calls him self a Apex Predator and believes in a insane form of Abrahamic religions mixed Social Darwinist, Fascist and Nazist principles which include Moral superiority, a holier than thou attitude and belief of a bloodthirsty and vindictive God and a wicked and savage Satan.

Abilities: Steel Feathers, Sharp Talons, Teethed Beak, Superhuman Condition, Heat Concussion Eye Beam and Flight.

Weaknesses: His easily berserk to thoughts of Atheism and Nihilism and frequently attacks anything that is Megiddo related.

Goals: To stop the Parasite and the Megiddo criminal terrorist organization from creating a Nihilistic world of evil and chaos and create a Social Darwinist world.

Motivation: His Social Darwinist philosophy is based off his villainous monster form and from watching too much National Geographic and cartoons. He wants to find and reunite with his parents.

Role in the story: A 11 year old boy turned into a Theriomorph by Megiddo after he was kidnapped, he makes himself a Salvator, a Emperor and a General in a war between Megiddo and the Blood Order formed by him, Warren Hiedler.

Backstory: He was just a normal 11 year old boy kidnapped by Megiddo and turned into a Bald Eagle Theriomorph against his will. After many events with humans, he concludes humanity is weak and the world is cruel and stupid. He forms the Blood Order with other Theriomorphs and declared the Emperor.

Relevant Tropes: Sociopathic Hero,Kid Hero,The Social Darwinist, Blood Knight, Dark Messiah, Half-Human Hybrid, A Nazi by Any Other Name, Despair Event Horizon, Black-and-White Insanity, Hobbes Was Right, With Us or Against Us, Utopia Justifies the Means, Final Solution, Horrifying Hero, Species form of Master Race Übermensch, Might Makes Right, Violence Really Is the Answer, Murder Is the Best Solution, Knight Templar, Beware the Superman, Holier Than Thou, Lawful Good, Messiah form of A God Am I, God-Emperor and For Great Justice.

(Note: Copied from the Hero Critique Thread and updated)

So I have a few questions I have to ask?

• How do you make this character sympathetic to the audience?
• How to make this character justify his social Darwinist views.
• If I were to hypothetically wrote this for a younger audience, what should I tone down without removing the Social Darwinist views?
• What allies he could make?

edited 9th Sep '16 3:44:44 PM by Huthman

Character sheets are only useful for you as a writer. It's impossible to tell how likeable a character is without reading him in action.

"Kid social Darwin hero," is really just a description.

His philosophy of life has little to do with it, though. I've read and enjoyed psychopathats that are charming—as they usually are.

It all comes to how rounded as person you write him and how he interacts with your other characters.

edited 9th Sep '16 4:22:31 PM by Nightlikeday

Okay... I'm just cuirous on how to make a sympathetic character.

By spending time with them, mostly. In real life, we don't think of people as "nihilist-atheist-socialist-democrat-antihero."

We're naturally sympathetic of people close to us, of those we can understand their feelings and their struggles. That has been the success of superhero movies. "Criminal-expert-charismatic-antihero -family man" doesn't mean anything.

Ant-Man or Deathshot (take your pick as it applies to both) doing things they hate for the sake of their daughters does make them sympathetic and even likeable.

edited 9th Sep '16 5:56:38 PM by Nightlikeday

Hmmm... It would be really interesting if I could add likeable things to him.

Say, how do you justify his social Darwinist philosophy?

So, do you want to make your character likable? or do you want us to agree with his philosophy of life? I ask this because both are drastically different goals that require different approaches.

You don't need to agree on someone's views or "justify them" to like a person. I personally don't agree with religions but that doesn't mean I can't like people that do.

If you want to "justify" "social darwinism" you need a logical argument for it to convince people of that ideology. But such justification is more fitting for an academic paper than a story.

If we can understand why your character is a social darwinist and why he feels it's the best choice then we'll be sympathetic to him—regardless if we agree with him or not.

edited 9th Sep '16 6:13:08 PM by Nightlikeday

To try my character to be likeable. As my character is a sociopathic hero, usually committing violent killings of Megiddo Mooks, making rants and preachings of Social Darwinism and survival of the fittest and extreme speeches to his followers. Something like that,

To quote myself:

"If we can understand why your character is a social darwinist and why he feels it's the best choice then we'll be sympathetic to him—regardless if we agree with him or not."

I'll give you an example of a character that has views similar to those you describe: X Men's Magneto. He has tried to wipe up humanity and horrible mutate them for the sake of the supremacy of mutants.

Why isn't he unlikeable?

Because he has suffered from discrimination, hate, bullying and rejection of those that aren't mutant. He does what he thinks is best for a group that is feared and misunderstood. In his eyes, he is doing good and he is standing up against his oppressors.

We don't agree with Magneto's pseudo-terrrorist approaches. But we do understand why he is doing what he does. That's what makes him sympathetic.

edited 9th Sep '16 6:35:47 PM by Nightlikeday

It seems that villains must have some noble or sympathetic moments that used to humanize them a bit such as the Magneto you said just now.

You haven't heard of magneto?

Any who, you're right. Tell us why your character is "a social darwinist" or whatever and he will be sympatetic.

edited 9th Sep '16 7:37:46 PM by Nightlikeday

Hmmm... How did he get his social Darwinist views, I'll tell you: (Note: Covered in spoilers)

• As a young 11 year old boy, he is often bullied at school and had a good relationship with his friends and family. One day, he was kidnapped by a criminal terrorist organization called Megiddo and brought to a hospital where he is turned into a Theriomorph (Human-Animal Hybrid) against his will resulting him going berserk when he awoke from after-surgery. Following his escape, he is joined by two Theriomorphs, 11 year old Meredith the Cougar Theriomorph and 10 year old Anders the Komodo Dragon Theriomorph. After many clashes with Megiddo and rejections by human society, he crosses the Despair Event Horizon and concludes that humans are weak. He rationalizes that he is a Apex Predator and a Salvator (Messiah) of the strong and creates a extreme philosophy of Social Darwinism

Well, when I said "tell us" I made a mistake. I should've said "show us." What you just posted is a nice explanation and I can see the seeds for a sympathetic character in these elements of a tragic past that altered his world view.

But those are just goals (plans if you will). When show us his point of view I'm sure your audience will understand the point of view of your character and in turn he will be sympathetic.

Show us how he got kidnapped, how he was bullied, make me see why he began to view humanity as weak

Good luck.

edited 9th Sep '16 9:06:26 PM by Nightlikeday

I'll show you that: The reason why he is kidnapped is because he was targeted by the Parasite or Laura Satan the Supreme Leader of Megiddo to become a test subject for Megiddo's goals of world domination and genocide with the Parasite's secret goal to create a Nihilistic world of chaos and evil. The events that made him formulate his philosophy are: death of his mother by lynching caused by mind control of the Parasite, first hand realizing himself as a strong Theriomorph into a Apex Predator, and forming the Blood Order to destroy Megiddo.

No. That's still telling.

People on this site seem to love sheets like those. But as I said before, posting tropes and trivia facts are useful for planning, but they don't create any empathy whatsoever.

Are you writing the story? If so, that's where all those amazing facts should be — in story format.

edited 9th Sep '16 9:39:35 PM by Nightlikeday

Yes! - but I'm in a schedule slip right now.

Can we take a break for a while?

Take your time. This is a forum, so you can post whenever you want..