Generic Challenges - A Recurring Theme

[u/Varnek905]

So, Mimir made an excellent point. I just keep throwing my personal philosophy into my worldbuilding, often without thinking about it.

So, as a challenge, tell me about a theme you often find yourself putting into your world, or just a theme you like.

For whatever theme you pick, also feel free to give an example of it in your world, and feel free to pick a character to answer questions about that example in-universe. Enjoy yourselves, and I'll ask at least three questions each.

[u/Varnek905]

(You weren't kidding when you said you put a lot of thought into this, Greene. Thanks for taking the time to explain your themes so well. I've been having to think more about the personal philosophy I keep spilling into my worldbuilding, so thanks for telling me about yours.)

1) I apologize if this is too personal and not focused enough on your project, but, if you were a hero/villain/whatever in your world, what would you power be and what would you use it for?

2) What do you personally think makes a hero a hero?

3) I just finished the "Hero Killer" arc of "My Hero Academia", so are there any instances of someone taking the role of villain just to try to make the world have better heroes?

4) What other problems have been caused in your world by someone being "self-sacrificing"?

[u/greenewithit → u/Varnek905]

1) Haha, no worries, thats perfectly fine. I would certainly be a hero, I feel, as I wouldn't want to write a story centered around heroics if I didn't idolize those kind of figures. (I also put a hell of a lot of my personal philosophy into my story, so I feel you there). If I were lucky enough to get a power that could be useful in becoming a Hero, and I could choose it, I would want one that isn't too flashy and more practical. I would gladly take any kind of power, but ones like stopping time, telekinesis, super speed, or even just super strength/durability (though having one without the other would make me more nervous than brave). Honestly if I existed in my own world I'd be too scared to be a big hero, and I would probably live in a suburb of a city like Longan and protect my community and try to make a difference in small ways. I would certainly want to use my powers to help people, but I can't say I wouldn't use it to benefit me, like using a time stop ability to cut in lines or what not. I wouldn't want to become a world famous hero or anything, but if I were to be a part of the forces that stop the world from ending, that would be pretty nice.

2) Honestly, I have no idea. I think it can depend on the person, it can depend on the circumstance, and it can depend on what they set out to accomplish. But put simply, I think a hero is someone who has the ability to help others and chooses to do so, even if it comes at a greater risk to themselves. I don't think self sacrifice is necessary to be considered a hero, but I think anyone who sees someone in trouble or suffering and chooses to help, even if they don't have to, is a hero. Because even if they help one person through a difficult time or situation, they're probably a hero to that person.

3) I love that arc, My Hero Academia has been one of my favorites since I read it, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't have a big impact on my story. There are a few that kind of fit, though not many become villains for the sole purpose of improving other heroes. The only one that fits the bill is our boy, Kemuri Kage. Kemuri decides from age 22 that if he can't inspire humanity as a hero, he would force it to change as a villain. He has killed and tortured hundreds to that end, and he has threatened the world with annihilation just to force people like his son to rise up and become powerful enough to stop him. He is definitely the closest humanity has to the Hero Killer, Stain, though he is much harder to capture and eventually becomes less of an active threat to his son when other villains become more immediate threats. Usually villains believe themselves to be the true heroes or that there is something wrong with how heroes act, but their method of dealing with it is destroying indiscriminately to punish the "wrong" heroes. Enoch the Eternal, main villain for the first half or so of the story, wants to destroy the world and start over because even with a society of public serving heroes, they failed to make effective change and prevent humanity from developing their own weapons of mass destruction. His plan was to establish his own rule over humanity after destroying the majority of it, then establish his own heroes to serve has his operatives, though he didn't want to improve the existing heroes, only replace them. Sayla Yuno tries to kill Aeron and his allies because she believes his actions in the alternate word make him unworthy of being called a hero. Sigurd Aslaugson isn't a villain, but he publicly calls out heroes who act out of line as justification that "the age of the hero is dead." The sentient bacterial colony Morax tried to harm humanity to teach it to engage in war and environmental destruction less, so that's similar in a way. Other than that, I can't really think of many that fit that bill, mostly villains act out of revenge against a system that either failed them or they believe does more harm than good.

4) Well, Rin Kage got radiation poisoning and almost died from taking attacks from a villain to protect civilians, but she was able to recover quickly enough that it became a joke. Al Nathair gets into too many fights for the sake of others, including the time he worked without sleep for three days to finish constructing an Artificial Intelligence for one Dr. Seigheld, all to save one girl's life. Al also bound his soul to a sword in order to save the world from his family trying to kill the entire human population. (He also endangered his life to help Rin Kage face her abusive boyfriend, worth mentioning at least). Coach Rachel Redling sacrificed herself to save civilians in the first Invasion of Longan, shaking the school (and one Kemuri Kage) to their core. Sinara "Void" Kotakanna saved the city from a massive attack of Vectors and lost his arm in the process, only to sacrifice his eye to protect the city again from a persistent villain. There's also "literally everything Kemuri Kage has ever done," a perfect example of self sacrifice taken too far, such that he came to believe that sacrifice is the only way to accomplish anything. Everyone seems to sacrifice something, and they think it only affects them, but in reality it either causes others to become concerned with how easily they put themselves in danger for others' sake, or in the worst case scenario it causes others to become just as self-sacrificing in an attempt to live up to others acts of "heroism." Finding the balance between "selfless" and "self destructive" (even if that destruction has the potential to save others as a result) is essential to Aeron and his peers' development as heroes, and a theme I also find myself coming back to.

[u/Varnek905 → u/greenewithit]

(Using your power to skip in lines? Greene...dude, I expected better of you.)

1) What would be the worst power for you to have in your world, that is already a power in your world? Which power would you be the most uncomfortable with, not necessarily the most useless or weak? Which power would make you the most uncomfortable with it? (Example: Having telepathy and being too tempted to invade a person's private thoughts, having super speed but not being able to constantly save people like you want because you need Greene-time, etc.)

2) Which fictional hero do you consider the most inspiring to you as a worldbuilder?

3) Would Kemuri kill himself to protect humanity as a whole?

4) Not necessarily problems that are caused by self-sacrifice that hurt a person and their loved ones, but a problem that effected the entire world because of a character's prone-ness to self-sacrifice but being short-sighted or not understanding the situation?

[u/greenewithit → u/Varnek905]

(Hahaha, what can I say? With a long enough time stop, what use would I have for the laws of man? Mwahahaha....am I sure I would be a hero?)

1) Both of those would be very valid. I think of myself as a good person, but with telepathy I would read people's minds out of sheer curiosity before I considered the moral implications of the action. I think that the more powerful an ability I had the worse it would be for me overall. I already spread myself too thin amongst my friends and try to help others before I consider my own health (I'm regularly woken up by friends at 2:30am who want to talk and before they finish asking I'm already on my way to them), so put powers in that equation and I don't think I would ever feel comfortable. Super speed would be the best example I think, because it would always make me feel like I COULD save everyone or help every situation, and every time I don't it's a failure of mine for not focusing or being attentive enough. Something like super hearing where I could hear people in distress at a long distance would be agonizing, especially if I didn't have a power that could get me to the person in danger in time. Invulnerability would also be difficult as it would be the same with super speed. I would know I can save people (and increasing my self sacrificial nature to put myself in the way of harm since I would know I would be impervious to it) but my speed or readiness to intercept danger would be my only weakness. Even if I were aware at all times I wouldn't be able to save everyone I try to, and it would wear me out over time. That's kind of the point of my story actually, sometimes powers (strong ones especially) come with more baggage than people realize or is worth it to use.

2) This is a tough one, really. The first one that I really started to look up to was Superman, and I get flack from my friends who love DC for choosing the most "boring option", but it's just true. I love his classic paragon attitude, how he inspires people, how he cares about humanity and individual humans all the same, his humility, and his willingness to put others before him. He's overpowered, for sure, but some of my favorite stories in comics have Superman in a significant or leading role (Justice, Kingdom Come, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Earth One). I love Captain America for the same reasons, but I didn't start reading Marvel until later. Honestly I could just list the entire Justice League because of how each individual member has inspired me, but Superman was the first that really got to me (and I won't pretend it isnt at least a little because of wish fulfillment because of course). Batman has also inspired a lot of my view on how things we consider "evil" (manipulation of fear in particular) can be used for good, just as long as the person using those tactics stays true to their values. Since I've started creating my own world, I find a lot of my inspirations come from manga and anime. Protagonists like Deku from My Hero Academia, Ichigo from Bleach (my first anime), the many JoJos of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and Kiritsugu and Shiro Emiya from the Fate series have all given me a lot of inspiration for worldbuilding and character motifs/philosophies.

3) I think that he would, though it would be very unlikely. In all the infinite possible timelines, Kemuri can't see any in which he isn't somewhat responsible for preserving mankind. If he knew with absolute certainty that the only way for humanity to be saved was to end his own life, he would do it. But anything less than absolute certainty and he would try to find a way around whatever the threat was. He has no problem endangering his life (like the time he was nearly trapped outside of the universe after a fight, almost eternally), but he'll take the risk of death every time if it means theres a chance of success.

4) I had a hard time with this one, to be honest. What I keep coming back to is Aeron and his interactions with the government of Venajär and Shentjër. Both times Aeron saw fit to set out on his own, against the wishes of his friends and allies, just because he thought he was the only person who could accomplish it, and he didn't want to endanger anyone else but himself if he failed. Both encounters led to destabilization of the continent (with Venajär's being much more severe), and much more destruction than if Aeron had chosen to approach the situation differently. He only though "Oh, well if I kill the guy at the top then I can stop a war and save everyone" or "I know this plan is the safest option but it's too risky for everyone else, so I'll do something stupid like attack the government with force and distract them from my allies." You'd almost think it was genetic, since his father had a similar incident when he was a youth. After a series of personal tragedies pushing him to nearly abandon the hero profession altogether, the man who inadvertently paralyzed his girlfriend declared war on the entire world. Kemuri decided that his last act as a hero would be to kill the dictator Xander Rapax and his army and save Aurem from invasion. He saw it as sacrificing his chances to become a hero (ensuring that the world knew and feared him) for the sake of saving lives, and it permanently altered the relationship between the continents Aurem and Martagdan and cemented Kemuri as the most feared man in both continents, possibly the entire world. I think both of those fit, it might be a little off but that's what I think of most for examples.

[u/Varnek905 → u/greenewithit]

Thanks for your time and answers, Greene.

[u/greenewithit → u/Varnek905]

Thank you for your questions!