Just a quick question...

[ladyofleithian]

What makes a good movie hero/heroine? Mostly because one problem I'm having regarding adapting Knights of the Old Republic II into screenplay format (pardon the redundancy. XD) is that I'm finding my heroine is kind of...falling flat. She keeps having her spotlight stolen, so to speak, by the supporting cast. So...any favorite movie protagonists? #Needs the help badly.

Comments

[darth-eldritch.livejournal.com]

Is there any description that defines her?

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Well, she's quite motherly (to the crew, really), the "lioness" of the EBON HAWK (so to speak), brave, a tad naive mixed with being a tad cynical, has a strong sense of justice but also has a bit of black-and-white morality (which Kreia kind of sort of talks her out of), empathic (sort of got this idea from the TV Tropes Fridge page: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fridge/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic), a bit of Beware the Nice Ones in her (indeed, Sion and Nihilus nearly break her over the course of the game). She also has a very strong sense of loyalty, capable of being cunning/clever when the situation demands it, etc. etc. In short, she's kind of a bundle of contradictions. Small, but also strong, etc. etc. *Hopes it answers your question* *Also hopes that it doesn't sound too...y'know. :)*

[darth-eldritch.livejournal.com]

She sounds good, maybe more of a POV of her from the other characters?

Warning: Rambling. XD

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Definite thanks. :)

Okay then... Kreia's mostly frustrated with her if only because of a seeming "refusal to listen" from her (she's quite the rebellious spirit) *, she and Atton...well, their relationship is complicated to say the least: they quite like each other, but they're not exactly ready to "fall in love", so to speak, Sion's infatuated with her (as you may already know. ;-) which leads to quite the interesting Cat and Mouse series of scenes, she and Brianna become close (she sort of becomes the Cool Big Sis mentor for Brianna), she and Mical are more like brother and sister than anything else (same goes for her and Bao-Dur, although Bao-Dur plays more of the Big Brother Mentor for her), she and Kavar (along with Atris) used to be really close (it's sort of my headcanon that Kavar used to be her Master -- or one of them -- before she headed off to the Wars), and she has a very complicated love/hate relationship with Revan that she eventually has to deal with over the course of the movie in order to "get better", so to speak. Atris, of course, also has a love/hate relationship with her (which ultimately boils over at Telos). Visas' perception is...kind of similar to Kreia's, in the sense that at times, Arawn tends to alarm and confuse her (the scene on Onderon when Visas endorses General Vaklu over Queen Talia comes to mind), but at the same time, she quite admires her (I think deep inside that twisted black artery that passes for Kreia's heart -- semi-kidding. :P -- she does kind of admire Arawn's idealism -- even get a bit wistful when she thinks back to...before she was banished from the Order. **). And in the end, Arawn is perhaps one of her only sources of joy, considering what Nihilus did to her on the Ravager. Nihilus, of course, treats Arawn with a degree of contempt -- after all, he's the devourer of planets; what can one puny Jedi do against him? (Spoiler alert: a lot) But I think at the same time he'd have to have quite the amount of Genre Savvy considering that you *don't* want your villains to look like total idiots. ***

And I'm done for now. Thoughts? :)

* But knowing Kreia, she loves Arawn nonetheless; it's kind of my headcanon for Kreia that the Exile was really her only true source of joy.

** Keeping with the Arren Kae thing, I think some of Kreia's actions may have been motivated out of a sense of despair.

*** I guess a bit of arrogance works, but this is a gorram Force Wound he's dealing with. He can't really afford to be stupid. :P

Re: Warning: Rambling. XD

[darth-eldritch.livejournal.com]

It seems like you have her well defined. I would have passages where the other's POV her.

Re: Warning: Rambling. XD

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Ah. Okay. :) *Makes note to write them* And thanks. :)

Re: Warning: Rambling. XD

[darth-eldritch.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

It should be interesting!

[coldthermistor.livejournal.com]

I think the bundle of contradictions bit and all sound like you have your character well-defined. What I'd suggest, so as to speak, is conflict. Not just with characters (does she have any conflicts with members of the supporting cast?) but THE defining conflict. Don't forget that KOTOR II is still about a journey - the Exile's journey, and when you're stymied, sometimes conflict can be a driving force that brings about change, keeps the audience's interest firmly riveted on your writing, and most importantly, solidly defines who your character is and what she stands for, more than any bio can.

In all honesty, THE crisis point is probably with Kriea, but even then, I wouldn't go so far as to say so. I'm certain your heroine is perfectly able to meet a series of criss points on the way.

I mean, theoretically, from a literary perspective, heroes need heroic traits. Otherwise, they're antiheroes. Or Byronic heroes, or tragic heroes...you get the perspective. If you want me to speak about it from a generic understanding of 'hero', it's this:

We care for them. Your audience cares for your hero in some way (yes, I'd argue that happens even for an antihero, since the only difference is that an antihero has traits we don't usually consider heroic/flattering - but we still root for them anyway.)

As to how to get that audience empathy, like I said, usually, crisis points. Interaction with the other characters (I'm guessing this one isn't a problem, from what you've said.) Take a look at Frodo and Sam and Gollum. It's the crisis points which make us root for them: minor things that really bring a character to life for us, like when Frodo stands forward, regardless of the danger, and says, "I will take the Ring, though I do not know the way," and likewise, when Sam refuses to abandon Frodo despite the threatening dangers and goes, "I may not be able to carry your burden, Mr Frodo, but I can carry you." When he sacrifices all he has for Frodo. Even the conflict between Frodo and Sam as characters (over what to do with Gollum) fleshes them out.

Same for Gollum. I'm not sure about you, but no matter how he'd mostly done nothing except to attract a bit of pity and a bit of hatred (Shellob's lair! Framing Sam!) from me - there's still a strange feeling of rooting for Gollum when he wrestles the Ring from Frodo and falls into the fires. Typical antihero - although yes, it's arguable if the shoe even fits, or if Gollum should be booted out of hero category.

tl;dr - I tend to ramble, I know.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) *Keeps in mind*

[scythe-of-time.livejournal.com]

This is exactly what I was going to say.

I once read that writing interesting stories is as easy as taking one or more characters and throwing rocks at them. The audience doesn't particularly care (yet) that your character has a black and white morality or maternal traits; they care only when those aspects of the character surface, usually in response to rocks/crisis points.

As a writing excercise, try taking your heroine and at least one other character, and start lobbing stones, just to see what happens.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Okay. Thanks. :)