The Power of Choice in Story
What do choice and consequence have to do with a good superhero story?
It’s required to make it great.
I’m not saying you can’t have a great superhero without it (Superman/Batman) but I think anyone would be hard pressed to create a brand-new hero today without it.
Sure, we can have heroes who are born with their powers or are gods or whatever, but when you do that, you take away a very specific element that I feel, is required for people to love the heroes.
Here are some examples of what I’m talking about. (Here there be spoilers).
Thor. In the movie (not the comic) Thor is banished to Earth and he must come to terms with the fact that he’s not worthy. Ouch. Thor has no reason to believe that facing Loki down at the end of the movie will result in anything other than his death. The writer, very cleverly, took away Thor’s powers so we could empathize with the man. Then they had Thor grow, and learn what true heroism is. When he faced down the Destroyer, he is killed. Only through his choice (Face Loki with no powers to save his friends) and sacrifice (Loki killing him) does Thor truly become a hero. Also, he’s resurrected by Odin. No wonder Thanos waited until Odin was dead to start his war!
Captain America. Born a runt, Steve chooses to face bullies rather than hide or cower. Each time he knows he will be beat down (I can do this all day!) Even when given the opportunity to serve as Cap, his power is still limited to a dancing monkey. It isn’t until he chooses to go after Bucky, to disobey orders, that he truly becomes a hero. He has every reason to believe that he will spend the rest of his life in prison for disobeying orders. And still, he turns himself into the Colonel at the end. He must choose (save Bucky) and sacrifice (court-martial) to be the true hero.
I’ve said before I have two favorite superhero heroes. Spider-Man, and Captain Marvel (comics). There is a ton of history on both of them and I don’t have the room to go over it here (also you wouldn’t want to read it). Suffice to say, in the comics I love Carol Danvers because no matter how bad things get, she refuses to give up. She’s always willing to push herself a little harder, a little further.
The same can be said for Spidey. I’m going to stick with the movies here because while the origins are very similar to the comics, they distill them down to their essence. Plus, you’ve likely seen the movies.
Spider-man Homecoming was and wasn’t an origin story. While you don’t see Pete get his powers, you do see him become the hero. From Civil War, we know that something bad happened because he refused to act (Ironically Cap’s entire argument about the accords). The rest of the movie is a master class in choice and consequence, wants and needs. I won’t go into what I didn’t like about the movie (Basically everything but Pete and the Vulture) but none of that matters because of how they did it.
When faced with the threat of a very real death from Vulture, Pete is given a choice. Go into the dance, have a good time, go home and let the Vulture, vulch.
Pete wants to do this. He wants more than anything to dance with Liz. But he NEEDS to stop the Vulture. He chooses (stop Vulture) and sacrifices (dance with Liz). In the seminal moment of the movie, when he’s trapped underneath the HVAC machinery, he has a choice. Wait for help or push himself past what he believed possible. He has no reason to think the entire thing won’t collapse on him. But he has to stop The Vulture. Needs to.
I really loved Captain Marvel. I understand why it made some people mad, and I can see their point of view, but we’re not going to go into that here. We’re going to talk about what was in the movie.
Spoiler warning one more time. If you haven’t seen Captain Marvel, go see it and come back. It’s really good. Carol, when faced with the possibility of her friend and mentor, Mar-vel (cleverly gender-swapped so we the audience don’t see it coming) dying trying to prove her hyperdrive works, volunteers to fly the machine. When they crash, and Mar-vel dies, it’s up to Carol to keep the Kree from getting the experimental hyperdrive.
What does she do? She can’t run, her devotion to her friend prevents her from fleeing. She does the only thing possible. She chooses to destroy the drive, with no real possibility that she will survive the explosion, she does it anyway. Choice and consequence. And because it’s a movie, we know this is what gives her power. Not only does she make a choice and sacrifice her life, but she is also rewarded for it!
Choice.
Consequence.
Wants.
Needs.
This is the key to not just superhero origin stories, but all great characters. A hero wants one thing. If you can’t clearly and succinctly say what that is, then your hero won’t resonate with readers or viewers. The great thing about storytelling is that the medium doesn’t matter. Books, movies, comics, it’s all the same. While we write in different formats for it, the story must resonate the same way.
It just so happens that with superheroes I get to create fictional characters with awesome powers, cool costumes, give them wants and needs and let them loose on the world!
Madisun Dumas needs justice for her family. She wanted someone else to do it, but then she had to choose to do it herself. Notice it’s justice, not revenge.
Now, none of this means these things can’t change over time.
Amelia Lockheart starts out needing to find her parents. She wants her childhood back but must sacrifice that to save her parents. Then she shifts into needing to protect them. From Ericsson, from Aliens, the Armory, the Engineer, and finally Chronos the Titan.
What she does next will be determined by her core character need; protect her parents and friends. Whether your reading or writing, look for choice. Choice will help you define your hero and craft a truly exceptional story. Even if your writing isn't the best (I'm looking at you Aquaman).
Wraith 2: Welcome Home and Ancient Arsenal FMS 7 are out now.
The Wraith 3: Urban Warfare will be out next month, followed by Arsenal Reloaded in May. Check back here for pre-orders or on my Amazon author page.
https://www.amazon.com/Jeffery-H.-Has...
It’s required to make it great.
I’m not saying you can’t have a great superhero without it (Superman/Batman) but I think anyone would be hard pressed to create a brand-new hero today without it.
Sure, we can have heroes who are born with their powers or are gods or whatever, but when you do that, you take away a very specific element that I feel, is required for people to love the heroes.
Here are some examples of what I’m talking about. (Here there be spoilers).
Thor. In the movie (not the comic) Thor is banished to Earth and he must come to terms with the fact that he’s not worthy. Ouch. Thor has no reason to believe that facing Loki down at the end of the movie will result in anything other than his death. The writer, very cleverly, took away Thor’s powers so we could empathize with the man. Then they had Thor grow, and learn what true heroism is. When he faced down the Destroyer, he is killed. Only through his choice (Face Loki with no powers to save his friends) and sacrifice (Loki killing him) does Thor truly become a hero. Also, he’s resurrected by Odin. No wonder Thanos waited until Odin was dead to start his war!
Captain America. Born a runt, Steve chooses to face bullies rather than hide or cower. Each time he knows he will be beat down (I can do this all day!) Even when given the opportunity to serve as Cap, his power is still limited to a dancing monkey. It isn’t until he chooses to go after Bucky, to disobey orders, that he truly becomes a hero. He has every reason to believe that he will spend the rest of his life in prison for disobeying orders. And still, he turns himself into the Colonel at the end. He must choose (save Bucky) and sacrifice (court-martial) to be the true hero.
I’ve said before I have two favorite superhero heroes. Spider-Man, and Captain Marvel (comics). There is a ton of history on both of them and I don’t have the room to go over it here (also you wouldn’t want to read it). Suffice to say, in the comics I love Carol Danvers because no matter how bad things get, she refuses to give up. She’s always willing to push herself a little harder, a little further.
The same can be said for Spidey. I’m going to stick with the movies here because while the origins are very similar to the comics, they distill them down to their essence. Plus, you’ve likely seen the movies.
Spider-man Homecoming was and wasn’t an origin story. While you don’t see Pete get his powers, you do see him become the hero. From Civil War, we know that something bad happened because he refused to act (Ironically Cap’s entire argument about the accords). The rest of the movie is a master class in choice and consequence, wants and needs. I won’t go into what I didn’t like about the movie (Basically everything but Pete and the Vulture) but none of that matters because of how they did it.
When faced with the threat of a very real death from Vulture, Pete is given a choice. Go into the dance, have a good time, go home and let the Vulture, vulch.
Pete wants to do this. He wants more than anything to dance with Liz. But he NEEDS to stop the Vulture. He chooses (stop Vulture) and sacrifices (dance with Liz). In the seminal moment of the movie, when he’s trapped underneath the HVAC machinery, he has a choice. Wait for help or push himself past what he believed possible. He has no reason to think the entire thing won’t collapse on him. But he has to stop The Vulture. Needs to.
I really loved Captain Marvel. I understand why it made some people mad, and I can see their point of view, but we’re not going to go into that here. We’re going to talk about what was in the movie.
Spoiler warning one more time. If you haven’t seen Captain Marvel, go see it and come back. It’s really good. Carol, when faced with the possibility of her friend and mentor, Mar-vel (cleverly gender-swapped so we the audience don’t see it coming) dying trying to prove her hyperdrive works, volunteers to fly the machine. When they crash, and Mar-vel dies, it’s up to Carol to keep the Kree from getting the experimental hyperdrive.
What does she do? She can’t run, her devotion to her friend prevents her from fleeing. She does the only thing possible. She chooses to destroy the drive, with no real possibility that she will survive the explosion, she does it anyway. Choice and consequence. And because it’s a movie, we know this is what gives her power. Not only does she make a choice and sacrifice her life, but she is also rewarded for it!
Choice.
Consequence.
Wants.
Needs.
This is the key to not just superhero origin stories, but all great characters. A hero wants one thing. If you can’t clearly and succinctly say what that is, then your hero won’t resonate with readers or viewers. The great thing about storytelling is that the medium doesn’t matter. Books, movies, comics, it’s all the same. While we write in different formats for it, the story must resonate the same way.
It just so happens that with superheroes I get to create fictional characters with awesome powers, cool costumes, give them wants and needs and let them loose on the world!
Madisun Dumas needs justice for her family. She wanted someone else to do it, but then she had to choose to do it herself. Notice it’s justice, not revenge.
Now, none of this means these things can’t change over time.
Amelia Lockheart starts out needing to find her parents. She wants her childhood back but must sacrifice that to save her parents. Then she shifts into needing to protect them. From Ericsson, from Aliens, the Armory, the Engineer, and finally Chronos the Titan.
What she does next will be determined by her core character need; protect her parents and friends. Whether your reading or writing, look for choice. Choice will help you define your hero and craft a truly exceptional story. Even if your writing isn't the best (I'm looking at you Aquaman).
Wraith 2: Welcome Home and Ancient Arsenal FMS 7 are out now.
The Wraith 3: Urban Warfare will be out next month, followed by Arsenal Reloaded in May. Check back here for pre-orders or on my Amazon author page.
https://www.amazon.com/Jeffery-H.-Has...
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by
Ziggy
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Mar 19, 2019 10:03AM
Playing Devil's advocate: if you replace the word 'hero' with the word 'villain', does your argument change? Or is this a fundamental part of the Spidey Rule: 'with great power comes great (ir)responsibility?'
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If you're writing a book about villains, then yes. Good and bad decisions are choices. However, I don't spend a lot of time (on the page) with my villains. If you do, then yes. All characters must make choices. Especially if your villain thinks they are doing the only thing they can do (Saren from Mass Effect or heck, even Black Widow from Civil War).
Try the web serial WORM that is nothing but the story of the choices the hero's and villains make. "An introverted teenage girl with an unconventional superpower, Taylor goes out in costume to find escape from a deeply unhappy and frustrated civilian life. Her first attempt at taking down a supervillain sees her mistaken for one, thrusting her into the midst of the local ‘cape’ scene’s politics, unwritten rules, and ambiguous morals. As she risks life and limb, Taylor faces the dilemma of having to do the wrong things for the right reasons." https://parahumans.wordpress.com/
Thanks for the well written piece on choices and consequences. I loved the examples you shared. I'm in the middle of my first draft and reading this added good stuff to think about. I want to write great characters I'm emotionally attached to. If I'm attached, then I know my readers will be too. I hope. Thanks for sharing, I really appreciate it!
