Need help with Character Arc: The Lie of a God

ImperiumSega138

ImperiumSega138

"Once more, unto the breach"
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Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire, England
Hey guys, it's been a while but once again I have returned for some much needed advice/guidance.

So I have a character who is the current reincarnation of the Greek God Apollo. Now I say "reincarnation" because in my story/Mythos the Greek gods are actually advanced alien beings from another world, like Thor from Marvel. However, in this iteration of the mythological character, the Greek gods are immortal through reincarnation (thus not being 100% truly "immortal")
Anyway, I'm having trouble with this character because I don't know what to do for his lie. By this I mean the characters outlook on both himself and the world around him, but something about this outlook is wrong or misguided.
I don't know where to start with this one and I know it's like the first hurdle but I'm already stuck (please don't judge me for it)
Now, while he is completely Olympian, he doesn't know it (As this Olympian was born on Earth as a Human and thus lives a Human life). This is due to the fact that he has yet to go through the "awakening" process (Dna rewriting and the return of previous incarnation memories).
Now I know this probably doesn't make for a good start, not knowing what the character's lie is but hey, give me a break! I've only just started delving into the actually process of character creation outside of physical design.
I'm not asking you to writing my characters lie for me but I'm just looking for some examples of other character lies that might help spark some idea or imagination for me to work with.
I got stuck here because he's a God (even if he doesn't know it himself), but what lie is there for a godly character? Maybe it's even a human lie (considering he thinks he is one and lives as one until he is show the truth)?

Also, as a side note, what was Thor's lie? I never managed to figure that one out...who knows, maybe it might help with coming up with my own godly lie?

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this idiots ramblings.
ImperiumSega138 out.
 
Well, the gods of old were quite flawed. You need just read Greek mythology to see their jealousy, envy, lust, vengeance, evil, randomness, pride, etc.

Apollo being associated with the sun and beauty, he would be perfect to be very vain and self-absorbed if taken to the extreme. If you want to normalize it for your MC, maybe he could be an entitled overconfident jock who thinks people regard him better than they actually do. It's an option to explore (there's a deep lie somewhere there). He's associated with other things you can use, like courage, etc. Go back to mythology to find Apollo's personality. What's more, each story about them has their own take on Apollo, so you could mix it up with different interpretations.
 
You could make him an athiest. It'd be a heck of a shock to go from believing there are no gods to discovering that he is one...
 
Lugh is called The Shining One, The God of Light. I have seen him identified with both Mercury and Apollo; the latter, probably mostly because of stature.

godlugh.jpg
 
Also, I know this in no way meaningful to what we are currently discussing (unless, who knows? It might do) but my Apollo is gay. I know from the myths he has had both male and female lovers but in mine story he is first bi, but then ends up meeting another male character (I'll leave the deeper details for another time as they are also directly linked to another story/character arc) to whom he falls madly in love with.
 
Joshua Jones said:
You could make him an athiest. It'd be a heck of a shock to go from believing there are no gods to discovering that he is one...
Click to expand...

A true atheist does not care about god/gods at all. They are just fairy tales to him. Hence no interior conflict when he would find out that he is a god.
Also you should not mistaken a disgruntled believer who is constantly bashing/challenging other believers, into an atheist.
 
scarpelius said:
A true atheist does not care about god/gods at all. They are just fairy tales to him. Hence no interior conflict when he would find out that he is a god.
Also you should not mistaken a disgruntled believer who is constantly bashing/challenging other believers, into an atheist.
Click to expand...
No offense intended, but isn't that kind of a "No True Scotsman" argument? There are some Atheists (Richard Dawkins is a prominent one) who are very aggressively anti-theistic, at bare minimum aggressively against the notion of people believing in God/gods. I can imagine all sorts of internal conflict should Dawkins discover that he were a reincarnation of Apollo... But you are right that it would seem very logical for an Atheist to simply not care, unless they think it is a detriment on society for people to believe in God/gods. Also, that is a really important point to explore in the psychology of the protagonist; are they the sort of Atheist who sees the gods as roughly equivalent to unicorns, or sees belief in them as inherently dangerous/detrimental, or, as C.S. Lewis described of himself, doesn't believe in God and hates Him for it. I think the latter two could lead to some very interesting conflict, as could the disgruntled believer you mentioned (though that type is very prevalent in religious fiction, so fair warning), and the former wouldn't lead to much apart from admitting he was wrong here.
Cathbad said:
Agnostic, then.
Click to expand...
Could work, but most Agnostics I know are either closet Atheists or closet Deists, so the former may have a crisis, but the latter probably wouldn't have much, and an Agnostic who is neither of the above wouldn't have any, as they are simply ignorant (in the proper sense, not the pegorative sense) on the matter.

So, all this to say, I think the most conflict would arise from an Atheist who is hostile to the worship of the gods discovering he is one, as could a disgruntled believer who thinks he is getting back at the gods by not believing in them. An Agnostic could work, but it may reduce the conflict if not handled carefully.

Thanks for the opportunity to explore this a bit!
 
ImperiumSega138 said:
my Apollo is gay. I know from the myths he has had both male and female lovers but in mine story he is first bi, but then ends up meeting another male character (I'll leave the deeper details for another time as they are also directly linked to another story/character arc) to whom he falls madly in love with.
Click to expand...

It might be worth being aware of the "bi now gay later" trope, which is very annoying to some people. (That doesn't mean you should change what happens, or even the character's perception of it, just be aware that it might seem to support the myth that bi people are just gay people who lack the courage or self-awareness to come out yet.)
 
Okay, I didn't even know that trope existed but its not that he's bi then goes gay forever, if he and the other character broke up he could go back to being bi, the whole premise of being bi is that you don't differentiate who you love between genders, right? Love is love and it doesn't make one forever gay to love a guy or vice versa, does it? But as I said, Apollo from the mythology has had relationships with both men and women, so what's the problem? I don't see people having a go at the mythology for the whole "bi now, gay later" trope? Thank you for your comments though, and keep them coming!
 
ImperiumSega138 said:
Love is love and it doesn't make one forever gay to love a guy or vice versa, does it?
Click to expand...

No, that's why I said you might not need to change anything. I just think it's worth being aware how it might be misinterpreted if, say, you worded something a bit clumsily. In an earlier post, you did say:

ImperiumSega138 said:
my Apollo is gay
Click to expand...

when what you meant (I think) is that he's bi but in a long-term relationship with a man. That's why I raised it.
 
Well yeah true sorry. Didn't mean to sound like I was having a go, just trying to defend my corner lol, thank you for understanding what I meant however. Also I had an idea that instead of setting the story in the present maybe it may fit better to do Apollo's origin story in classical times, then in a later story I can bring it up to date with my other modern day storylines, he is nigh-immortal after all, so it might just work. Also if this is going to happen I may hint at him liking both men at women (in a very casual yet subtle way, as its not the main focus of his story) then in the later storylines in modern times he can then have a relationship with that other male character that I mentioned in an earlier post. That might work, overall better right? A bit more organic? What do you think, is this a better approach?
 
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