Yet another Humanoid Abomination thread

Thanks to possible trope decay, it's hard to get a handle on the trope enough to apply it to my characters.

I mean, Haruhi, of all people, apparently counts.

I have one that I think counts, in a Dr. Manhattan way at least. Basically an experiment to create an army of Godmode Sues ended up creating something akin to a Time Lord.

But the two I'm trying to get a handle on are the type that will leave mere mortals wondering if they've met Cthulhu in human form, or if not Cthulhu then some other demonic/worse being.

Both of them have the power to essentially drive people insane with their voice, and one of them can essentially Hannibal Lecture you with just his eyes (if he makes eye contact and then wills it, you will be confronted with all of your sins and failings.)

Also, thanks to their usage of necromancy and keeping zombie servants, they often smell like death, which is sometimes the only thing that really seems 'off' about them.

One of them seeks to know all knowledge of the universe, including (or perhaps especially) that which man was not meant to know. The other seeks...I am undecided whether it is an item or a place, but it is her obsession and it was the former's knowledge of it that drew her to him.

What can I do to ensure that they are proper abominations without neccesarily having to have them do things like sell their soul or otherwise make pacts with real Eldritch Abominations? I.e. they somehow earned their Humanoid Abomination status more or less through their own efforts, if that makes any sort of sense.

edited 13th Nov '10 2:31:38 AM by HaseoNatsume

A humanoid abomination is an eldritch abomination first, and humanoid almost as an afterthought.  ^*

Nothing in what you've described so far is anything I'd see as extraordinary for a powerful but still-human sorceror, in an average magical setting.

If you want them to start as human and somehow achieve abominability... what might they have done that might blend, for example, A God Am I and Gone Horribly Right?

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable

Yeah, Gone Horribly Right is what basically happened to the Dr. Manhattan-esque one.

But for the others...care to help me brainstorm?

Also, I could almost buy Haruhi being one, except that it would essentially mean that God himself is one, which means that any inhuman being is one, which just isn't true.

Honestly, if any of them gave off any Humanoid Abomination vibes in the show, it would be Asakura Ryoko.

EDIT: Oh wait...*reads sig* I scorn you. Get back to writing. I'm not writing this year but I do like the whole Na No Wri Mo thing.

edited 14th Nov '10 4:11:48 AM by HaseoNatsume

Pondering one possibility:

They went through some sort of 'veil' between our reality and some other worldly realm, and came back not quite the same. In other words, perhaps they gazed into the abyss so deeply that the abyss gazed back into them.

I think The Slenderman pretty much embodies this trope. He isn't pictured in that page for nothing.

Massive Trope Decay aside (that kinda bugs me) I think it's about psychology, not just power level. As I read it, a Humanoid Abomination is a creature that, despite its human or human-like form, is so utterly alien that even if you stripped them of all their powers and put them in a truly human body, holding a conversation would still be deeply unsettling, even if they didn't intend to terrify you. (That last point is important; Dr. Manhattan, an excellent Humanoid Abomination, spooks even those he considers friends.) Of your characters, the one seeking knowledge sounds like he has the seeds of being such a being. The obsessed one is simply a powerful, somewhat mad, sorcerer; possibly deadly, creepy, and evil, but not a Humanoid Abomination. EDIT: Don't worry too much about that, though; The Unfettered is an excellent trope I think you should consider in her situation. A powerful Unfettered can be just as terrifying, if not more so, than a Humanoid Abomination.

edited 14th Nov '10 3:15:16 PM by KillerClowns

Right, I know they fall short, that's why I'm brainstorming ways to get to it.

And yes, I intend for them both to be Unfettered as well (if you look down I have a thread about Unfettereds as well).

And yes, they'd be unfettered even before they become Humanoid Abomination. Perhaps it even led to whatever put them over the edge, for instance going beyond some veil separating the real universe from some Eldritch Location where they lost themselves for a century or two, only to come back as something alien on the inside.

So, does being a Humanoid Abomination mean they can't have social skills? I can imagine the female one being the one that might 'translate' for the male one when he goes off on some bizarre and cryptic tangent.

That could work. About social skills, you'll notice most of the most horrifying abominations rarely communicate directly with mortals, and the results when they do are often utterly brutal. A nutty but essentially human translator is a pretty good way of allowing the abomination to communicate without sacrificing its essential mystery.

Finally, remember that Tropes Are Not Good. Toy around with your characters, and if you find that you can't make one or both a satisfying Humanoid Abominations, maybe it's a case of Square Peg Round Trope, and more Emotional Torque could be gained by keeping them fundamentally human.

edited 14th Nov '10 4:14:54 PM by KillerClowns

Understood, but sometimes I do like to put the cart before the horse, making a character as a study in the trope to make sure I have a good understanding of it.

Also, I don't think that it should be nearly guaranteed that a Humanoid Abomination talking should = a Brown Note.

For instance, as creepy as Dr. Manhattan was, he never caused any sort of Brown Note from talking.

Also, if you're familiar with Haruhi, I think Asakura Ryoko is also an example of a more 'personable' Humanoid Abomination. Spoilers to follow.

She tries to act human but in truth she is utterly inhuman and admits that she doesn't understand humans, and goes after her goal without regard to anything but her own alien understanding of things. Plus, perhaps thanks in part to her english voice actor, she seems 'off.' Her Dissonant Serenity probably helps in that regard too. In fact, Kyon's reaction to both Ryoko and Yuki are about right for coming face to face with an Abomination.

You can find a clip of her fight on youtube.

edited 15th Nov '10 5:07:57 PM by HaseoNatsume