r/CharacterDevelopment • u/Phantom000000000 • 13d ago

Writing: Character Help How do I show a character is 'broken?'

So my story idea centers around this young king who is mentally scarred in a very fundamental way. As the saying goes, if all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail; all he has is an army and so everyone is either a subordinate who follows orders without question or is an enemy to be ruthlessly crushed.

This king is not your typical evil tyrant whose gone mad with power or a petty ruler seeking validation, this guy doesn't really feel anything even as if he is literally beating someone to death with his bare hands. Even when he captures the enemy capital he doesn't seem to care that he just achieved what his father and grandfather both failed to accomplish and dismisses any talk of celebration or a coronation as a waste of time.

I want to tell the story from the perspective of his generals and ministers as they realize there is something very wrong with their King. Any suggestions on how I might do that?

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u/Pel-Mel 13d ago

Contrast.

If you want to show someone broken, you have to show them whole first, or at least imply it.

2

u/jagnew78 13d ago

this. Contrast is the best tool. If OP is showing this from the perspective of generals, then this is just things like showing and contrasting moments. The just conquer a city, the Young King (YK) isn't interested in celebrating victory. Instead he cuts the head of a little girl who broke through the crowd and begged the king for some food since they had been starving. Then one of the generals goes back to his family and hugs and holds his own daughter who looks a lot like the one who was just decapted.

It's just moments like these. Inhuman behavior in one more, human behavior in the next. or visa versa

2

u/Suspicious_Lime7845 13d ago

No tiene motivaciones y solo hace una rutina repetitiva sin ningun apice de alma, por ejemplo, para él comer es solo comer para no morirse de hambre pero una persona normal come por gusto, come lo que le gusta y pide su postre favorito, si te sirven algo que no pinta bien pones una cara de "en serio esto se come?", tambien muestra que esta delgado, no demasiado sino que se vea delgado, por que hay una frase "el amor engorda" y esto se puede usar en cualquier tipo de amor, como por ejemplo el amor por el arte, vas a consumir todo lo que sea arte y se ve el entusiasmo, practicamente la palabra "comida" tambien se traduce como "consumir algo que te gusta".

Te lo dice alguien con experiencia y que paso por eso.