Creating a "Lawful Good" Hero

[ImperiumSega138]

Hey, its been a while since I posted anything as I've been redeveloping my WIP (This time round, its more gritty and dark rather than "the hero always saves the day" and spandex supersuits). I know the basis for my character but I stuck on a few things, hoping you guys might have an idea that I haven't yet thought of myself. Any way, this is my main character's "bio"/ profile at the moment:

Real Name: Oliver Dean Haines
Alias: Peacekeeper (Not 100% about this name)
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 22nd April 1997
Age: 23 (The story is set in 2020, hence why he is 23 and not 19) years old
Nationality: Whit British, English
Occupation: ??? (Some special division of the police force that gave him superhuman abilities as a method of the perfect law enforcement officer)
One Sentence Description: A headstrong, stubborn, charismatic young officer with his morals centered on seeing justice done to criminals.
Height: 6ft
Eye Colour: Brown
Hair Colour: Dark Blonde
Alignment: Lawful Good (See and "Alignment Chart on Google Image for reference - Samea as the alignment of what Superman is considered to be)
Superhuman Abilities: ???? (Haven't figured this part out yet but am trying to use non-mainstream or not overused superpowers as I want my superhuman characters to be seen in a different light than the mainstream "namby-pamby" superheroes, but obviously, some characters will have one or two mainstream powers like telepathy or telekinesis)

So for a super powered law enforcer I wanted him to have powers related to law enforcement or powers that will help him (but will not do all the work for him tho!) bring in the bad guys, but I'm not 100% sure on what ones to give him and I don't want them to be OP either (Remember: I'm going for a more gritty and darker take on my characters and their world as a whole - think of it as being more Batman's world than Superman's world)
If you guys have any ideas that might work I would love to hear them!
Thanks,
ImperiumSega138

 

[Brian G Turner]

Honestly, I think you need to spend more time building your own world yourself - the process of discovery and insight is half the fun of writing.

Also, if you're looking to write novels, you will need to read a lot of novels and ensure they form your frame of reference more than any other media.

 

[VinceK]

Building a character profile is a good idea, but to bring that character to life you need to develop them in a way that a reader can relate to. Having super powers is an external trait, having a desire to pick a piece of litter in the street is internal.

Think of how your character views himself as well as how he is viewed by others.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Scrivener has character sheet templates which will help you drill down on the motivations of your character, rather than their cut-out. To me these are far more important than hair colour, etc.

Role in Story:
Occupation:


Physical Description:

Personality:

Habits/Mannerisms:


Background:

Internal Conflicts:

External Conflicts:


pH

 

[TWErvin2]

My two cents:

I think you need to flesh out the range of abilities the police/law enforcement provides. It is something that might also be available to the military, and there might be bootleg versions for criminals, or for sale (black market). THis would greatly affect the world created, and the way law enforcement ran, and the way your character deals with justice.

So, maybe a bit of world building before tackling the specific character?

 

[ImperiumSega138]

I know this going to sound stupid, but how exactly does one world build? The only think set in stone is that its dark and gritty, like Gotham is for the Batman.

 

[RX-79G]

Here you go, kid:

Worldbuilding - Wikipedia

 

[The Bluestocking]

I know this going to sound stupid, but how exactly does one world build? The only think set in stone is that its dark and gritty, like Gotham is for the Batman.

The process is different for every writer. Some people can build pretty fast from the ground up or they build as they write their story. Some people end up with a huge file/tome full of worldbuilding details (See Tolkien and most Epic Fantasy authors.)

My storyworld took more than 15 years of percolating and developing in my imagination to emerge full formed (Note: But no, I am not writing Epic Fantasy at all). Then I started writing the stories set in that storyworld because I knew the rules and the peoples in it and so it was more or less a breeze creating characters, conflicts, and other goodness that a story needs.

The one thing all worldbuilding has in common is that to build your world, you need to take into account the essentials such as culture, geography etc without which any world wouldn't exist.

 

[Droflet]

I tried writing a book without first building my environment, developing technology and characters. Needless to say it didn't work. How you build your world is up to you. I sat down at my keyboard and started to sketch it out. Then I had a coffee and thought about it. Back at the keyboard I made modifications. I kept that up for weeks until I had it all figured out. (Including maps of the environment for my own reference.)
Brian is one hundred percent right. World building is fun. Use your imagination to create your world. Once it's done you can give yourself a well deserved pat on the back. Then comes the real work. Best of luck to you.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Try writing little sketches with your characters or working out the story because it's hard to flesh out a character when you don't know where they live or what you need to do.

Start with what you have. Look at it and think well what is the worst thing I can think of to do to them?

 

[Brian G Turner]

I know this going to sound stupid, but how exactly does one world build? The only think set in stone is that its dark and gritty, like Gotham is for the Batman.

It simply means asking questions about building your world and story and characters to yourself, rather than other people. That way you're likely to discover other elements that directly connect to other ideas you already have in ways that will surprise you.

 

[Steven Sorrels]

I know this going to sound stupid, but how exactly does one world build? The only think set in stone is that its dark and gritty, like Gotham is for the Batman.

It also means, in a very real sense, "building your world". Construct the geography, socioeconomic climate and conditions, political factions (if there are any), state of world affairs, etc. Close your eyes, create as clear a picture in your mind of your world as you can, and do the best you can to put it to words. Much of that may never meet the readers eyes, but it helps to inform your writing as you construct your story.

 

[Droflet]

Yes, Steven has hit the point. Most of what I wrote didn't get into the book but it was clear in my head by going through the exercise. That is so important. Understand your world and others will too.

 

[ImperiumSega138]

OK, well having taken your advice, I've set the world as being almost real, as in the cities, environments, culture, politics and the like, as they are based on real towns / cities near where I live. But for obvious reasons, certain aspects of the above have been tweaked.
I have three main cities so far (and yes, each one features prominently in my universe), they are as follows:

Imperium City (Formerly, London) - Imperium City is the political center of the country, it is home to the British Monarchy, the British Government and SENTRI (Secret Espionage Network for Terrorism Related Intelligence - formed from MI6 and MI5 when the British government realised they were severely outmatched when it came to gathering intelligence on terrorists when compared to the other major superpowers of the world. Although, SENTRI has recently been monitoring the sudden appearance of "Metahumans" across the country and secretly, the world). This urban sprawl is roughly classed as a "Mega City" due to its expansion in the last decade, which has made it 20% larger than it used to be. The city was renamed at the beginning of the 21st century (like most other Mega Cities in the United Kingdom, its name means "The City of Power". The city is now ruled by one local authority (or council) rather than its previous 33 individual local authorities. Its culture is somewhat the same, but in recent years a new xenophobic/"British And Proud" opinion and movement has surfaced within its inhabitants (largely due to an overflow of immigrants coming into the country, that has now been heavily curbed by the new British Government (one that somewhat supports the public xenophobic opinion).

Vale City (Formerly, the town of Aylesbury) - Vale City is a relatively small Mega City situated in the rural southeast of England, and is a forty-five minute train journey from Imperium City. Vale City is home to the local county council, Vale District Council (Formerly known as the Aylesbury Vale District Council, but changed its name when it absorbed the office and powers of the county council before it, Buckinghamshire County Council). While most of the country adopts a more Xenophobic view towards foreigners, a recent poll of the city's inhabitants relieved that Vale City still has a 70% "Xeno Friendly" attitude. The city is also the largest commercial centre in the country, its downtown area is considerably much larger than its neighboring Mega Cities. The city is also host to one of thirteen SENTRI Headquarters around the country, this SENTRI HQ is the Southeast district office which controls and regulates also SENTRI activity in the Southeast of the country (outside of SENTRI's main HQ in Imperium City). The city currently holds the title of lowest unemployment rate in the country.

Stigma City (Formerly, the town of High Wycombe) - The city is the largest Mega City in the county of Buckinghamshire, in the southeast of England. Until recently, the city was still named High Wycombe but due to the nickname its inhabitants gave it, the city's name was actually changed to the nickname, as it is believed to be so unable to be saved from its current deprivation that its inhabitants stopped hoping for it to get better and instead just learned to life with it. It is the primary industrial centre of the country, but it also suffers the highest rate of unemployment and crime in the country due to the collapse of the furniture industry which had dominated the city socially and economically up to the late 1960's. It is also considered the 4th dirtiest city in the country. Its criminal underworld has grown so dominant over almost every other part of the city that crime lords and bosses alike have high profile judges, lawyers and politicians brought for their silence and ignorance of their "activities". 85% of the housing in the city is slums and it is estimated that one crime happens somewhere within the city every 30 seconds during the "Graveyard Shift" late at night. And unlike the inhabitants of Vale City, Stigma's inhabitants are widely and openly xenophobic. The city was once described by a former disgraced major as "being all that is wrong with Man. The allowance of Mankind's backward values that have been given the light of day have infested this city and turned it into the embodiment of humanity's degenerative qualities. This city can not be saved and thus should be allowed to die."

 

[Vladd67]

is Thame now River City? Or has Stigma expanded across the ridge swallowing Chinnor and Thame?

 

[ImperiumSega138]

River City, hmmm, I like it! Stokenchurch is the furthest Stigma City (High Wycombe) reaches in the direction of Thame, and Vale City (Aylesbury) only reaches as far as the village Ford in Thame's direction, so there's enough room to put River City on the map. Why do you ask BTW? Do you live there?

 

[Vladd67]

I used to live in Chinnor. (Kite town?)

 

[ImperiumSega138]

Oh right and haha I like the name but I'm not sure about making it a city in my universe as there are already three Mega Cities within close proximity and I think if chinnor was a another one its going to be a very crowded place.

 

[Mirannan]

The term Lawful Good has of course most often been used in relation to D&D, so I'll use it as reference for matters regarding alignment - if you don't mind.

The point, I think, is that LG is not monolithic. It still allows for shades of opinion and mental attitude within it. A good example I ran into was that of a paladin (the embodiment of LG in that system, in case you don't know) who was dedicated to Ilmater from the Forgotten Realms setting.

The point of this is that Ilmater is the god of endurance, martyrdom and relief (of others!) from suffering. A paladin of that religion would be perfectly entitled to say to someone suffering from extreme pain something like "Buck up! If it hurts, that means you're still alive!". If, and only if, someone else needed the paladin's healing powers more and the sufferer wasn't actually going to die. And if, of course, said paladin actually had some healing ability left! Or if the paladin was needed more, for something more important - a demon incursion or some such.

After all, triage is a thing even in real life. Not carrying it out, when required, actually increases suffering and even death. I've never worked in medicine, but I imagine trauma doctors and nurses have to make some tough decisions and people might die because of those decisions. I think the real question is whether the person concerned has done zer best. Not forgetting, of course, that mere mortals might make mistakes.

 

[ImperiumSega138]

The only reason I used "Lawful Good" to describe my characters alignment between good, neutral and evil was based off of the nine picture alignment chart you can find on Google images under "Superhero Alignment Chart". I needed something as a basis for what each of my character were and how they fitted into different categories of good, neutral and evil rather than just generically defining them as "Good", "Neutral" and "Evil" because its more complex than that. No one choices to be completely evil (unless your the same as Jokers category "Chaotic Evil" but who could say that even still he didn't actually choose to be evil only he was because of his insanity made him as such) as there is normally always a reason or situation that chooses or atleast steers you towards that particular path. Ie, Jason Todd became evil because joker tortured him for a year, breaking him mentally and then he eventually believed that batman had replaced him because he didn't care. While Magneto/ Erik Lehnsherr was made evil by his situation. His parents were killed by the Nazis and because of it, he saw the Nazis and to an extent, humanity as the ultimate enemy of him and his people, the mutants.

P.S. Ive never played D&D so I don't get half of your message but I get what your trying to say overall.