Well, what do you want to do with them? How do the potential consequences of choosing one way or another on any of those points that you raised play into the stories and struggles that you have in mind for them?
For a few thoughts:
Do you want them to have the problems of in-breeding, and perhaps the temptation to thus bring in "new blood", even if doing so weakens their powers? What about experiencing pressure to marry within the family, despite any other loves? And do you want just any royal to have powers, regardless of lineage?
And as to dependency, having them draw from their people means that their power may fluctuate, and even be threatened entirely. It also perhaps makes a nice metaphor for a ruler's dependence on the compliance of their populace.
Does any of that fit with what you want for them?
Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Dec 1st 2020 at 9:37:45 PM
My Games & Writing
Honestly I’m not sure what exactly to do with them, but thanks.
That's fair! In that case, perhaps go through those questions that I posed and come up with answers that you like. That might give you a starting point, at the least, from which to develop them.
I don't think that there's a single "best" way to develop this set of characters: different choices will lead to different characterisations, and lend themselves to—or suggest—different plots. So pick answers that appeal to you, and see where they take you!
My Games & Writing
On reflection maybe someone marrying into the family has to drink a biological member’s blood/receive a transfusion to be able to transform. Naturally a lot of them would still be extremely selective about marriage, but there’s more room for genetic diversity that way. I’m also toying with the idea that while the island may be a decent place to live now, there have been rulers who abused the power, so maybe having worship be a necessity (as opposed to a long-standing tradition) wouldn’t make sense.
Those ideas all sound as though they could work. ^_^
My Games & Writing
Essentially this idea arose from the idea of that name as a good one for a supervillain faction, but I wasn’t sure how to include villains able to (as the name suggests) transform into Kaiju without them regularly, massively disrupting the status quo, even in a superhero universe, until I hit on making them the royal family (and basically the entire military) of a small island nation. Essentially each member of the royal family has a kaiju form (an ability supposedly granted by a god known as the Elder of the Sea) the appearance and abilities of which are based to some extent on aspects of their psyche. Also, they’re less villains than rulers who put their country first, even if it’s at the expense of the rest of the world, meaning that when the entire planet/human race is in danger, they can be counted on to fight to protect it (so, similar in some respects to Doctor Doom). The thing is I’m not exactly sure how marriage works here. Do they have to resort to inbreeding, does anyone who marries into the family gain the same abilities, or are people who marry in essentially the Team Normals? Also, should their strength be dependent on the people’s (pharaoh-like) worship of them, or not?