I tend to assume that everyone sees him/herself as basically good, and at the worst, forced to do unkind things by the horrible things people do to him/her. This is not necessarily true, but it's the best I've been able to think of so far... So pretty much, if I've got a cold, vain, manipulative character, my best bet is to try and see what she resents, what 'horrors' people have visited on her, and to try to figure out in what light she sees herself as a hero. Read the first book of a series one time, possibly by Terry Brooks? The archvillain, it was pretty clear, saw himself as a true hero, and I thought that was rather well done. I never wound up reading more of the series, but having a bad guy who sees himself as a good guy is an interesting concept.
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Date: 2006-12-06 10:11 pm (UTC)So pretty much, if I've got a cold, vain, manipulative character, my best bet is to try and see what she resents, what 'horrors' people have visited on her, and to try to figure out in what light she sees herself as a hero.
Read the first book of a series one time, possibly by Terry Brooks? The archvillain, it was pretty clear, saw himself as a true hero, and I thought that was rather well done. I never wound up reading more of the series, but having a bad guy who sees himself as a good guy is an interesting concept.