Inhuman Characters As A Gimmick: A Literary Babbling

Posted by TaciturnTiger 5 years ago

 

Figured I'd replace the prior entry with something nicer. Something that matters to me as a person. In this journal entry, I'll be babbling a bit about my literary projects and how I wanna handle my inhuman main character. First off, here's a YouTube link of someone whose video inspired this chat: a guy by the name of TazerLad, who recently uploaded a video where he discusses gimmicks in anime.

https://youtu.be/FecFoYB-m8g

It's a good video, and got me thinking about what I took away from it. For me, the three anime shows Tazer mentions are two good examples of how to handle non-human characters in a story, and one example that didn't put in enough effort. I don't wanna spoil the video too much, but he makes it clear that if you're going to include non-human main characters in any form of media, go all the way with integrating their intrinsic traits into the story.

All too often, I feel that a lot of non-human races are treated as reskinned humans, sometimes differing only in appearance and other times being a rehashing of real-life cultures. For those reading, it's likely no surprise that I'd like to write about a lion-girl protagonist in a short story series eventually. Something with an elevator pitch akin to this: "Kiki's Delivery Service", except Kiki is a leonine adventurer in a faux-Mediterranean fantasy world. As such, the closest example of the Leonine race I've concocted would be the Khajiit from The Elder Scrolls series. Unfortunately, Khajiit are basically just faux-Arabian, talk in the third person, many are thieves and fantasy-drug addicts and... that's it.

As much as I'd like to integrate some bits of Arabian culture into that of the Leonine, I don't intend to stop there. The fact that I'd like to write about a bestial humanoid as the main character should imply that she doesn't have everything in common with how humans act... thus, making it a bit of a culture shock to both the catgirl, and the humans of the town she settles down in, when she goes out in public.

For instance, she'd likely wonder: why is there no midday nap period? Cats sleep a lot and are most active at night, so I feel Leonine culture and businesses would work around their feline need for rest during the daytime. Likewise, she might also wonder why humans close up shop "early", when Leonines likely invented the first versions of her archaic world's late-night restaurants... to say nothing of other types of workplaces and services. Heck, she might even long for a good supplier of gazelle meat in her human-centric settlement!

One big thing that I feel would impact her motivations also comes in the form of lions' pride structures. Even if humans in their archaic cultures are more male-oriented in terms of the workforce, it doesn't mean that the lion-gal would necessarily be the type to be a housewife or nanny. Furthermore, it also means she'd get lonely before long, and desire to try and form the tight bonds of a pride by finding friends she holds as near-and-dear as a family. Inevitably, I'd like the MC to use these bonds and commitments to those of her new home as a reason to strive and slay, even if being an adventurer isn't all it's cracked up to be.

So yeah, I need to actually write prose in the near future. And maybe watch Kiki's Delivery Service again, for the first time in many years. Long story short, TazerLad's video definitely gave me some food for thought.