Input needed for this Villian

[effilctar]

So potentially, this book could be another copy of the Magna Carta or a second print of a book that was printed only once?

yep. like it states it contains practically every book ever written, however a little twist i threw in is that if the original was written in say....german, it'll show up as german, not english

OT: How about a relative or close friend/love interest has put under a spell where she's basically dead... but not, and there's one book in existence that has the reversal to this spell, but the exact name of the book AND the author are needed and you can't just say "the book that will reverse the spell on my relative/lover/friend". He doesn't know the name of the book but some evil person does and forces the villain to do his bidding for him to get the name and author? Also with this cloaking Spell he should look like Kurt Russell, so that the guy gets to play him in the movie.

but therin lies a bit of a problem, if he needs both the authors name and the name of the book, why is it he would be able to read all the other books just by their name? although i will throw that into my scenarios pile, mostly because of the fact that i have him written as a loner but at the same time if it's just him...he could be separated from his physical body but his spirit form can still use the book?

He would need the author name for any book. A simple reason for this is shared titles. One example I can extract from my life at the moment: I'm doing a full project on the history of alchemy and I'm looking for books for references. Now there are 2 books with exactly the same title, but one explains the history of alchemy, their practises, beliefs and such, whereas the other is some new-age dribble about using star signs and lunar knowledge to ascend to a higher power. The difference between the 2 is the author.

damn i didnt even think about that, but ya that is a good point, which means alot more writing and fact checking...oh joy...

I've been writing a book in my head for 4 years and it's finished, i just need to write it now. One thing you learn is to tie up every possible loophole, readers hate loopholes.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Both. At the bare minimum he should have a page of detail on him or he's just a pleb with a Big Book O' Doom.

Why is he a villain? What does he want to use the book for? What isn't he using the book for that he really wants to? What does he believe in? That sort of thing.

 

[effilctar]

Uh...there's a lot of detail on his power but none on him. At the moment it's "Billy No Mates and his Book of Doom".

he's basically a guy who owns an antique shop that doesn't want to lose his business, one of those types of people that wishes to spread culture around but doesn't want to see his items just get destroyed and treated like garbage. although you do have a point, i really should put some more detail into his background.

The real problem you have at the moment is that the book is the villain. Not the guy. He needs to have at least double the amount written about him than the book does.

double in detail, amount of text or both?

Detail. End of the day you can write a paragraph, maybe 2 about his personal profile. You can write pages about the book itself, patching up every possible loophole and such

 

[AvsJoe]

It sounds like a great story and I would like to read the finished product, but please don't do that NPH thing. That's just plain silly. I'm not a writer (I don't have a creative bone in my body) so I can't suggest alternative ideas, but please choose a reasonable way to end the book.

 

[shadowstriker86]

So potentially, this book could be another copy of the Magna Carta or a second print of a book that was printed only once?

yep. like it states it contains practically every book ever written, however a little twist i threw in is that if the original was written in say....german, it'll show up as german, not english

OT: How about a relative or close friend/love interest has put under a spell where she's basically dead... but not, and there's one book in existence that has the reversal to this spell, but the exact name of the book AND the author are needed and you can't just say "the book that will reverse the spell on my relative/lover/friend". He doesn't know the name of the book but some evil person does and forces the villain to do his bidding for him to get the name and author? Also with this cloaking Spell he should look like Kurt Russell, so that the guy gets to play him in the movie.

but therin lies a bit of a problem, if he needs both the authors name and the name of the book, why is it he would be able to read all the other books just by their name? although i will throw that into my scenarios pile, mostly because of the fact that i have him written as a loner but at the same time if it's just him...he could be separated from his physical body but his spirit form can still use the book?

He would need the author name for any book. A simple reason for this is shared titles. One example I can extract from my life at the moment: I'm doing a full project on the history of alchemy and I'm looking for books for references. Now there are 2 books with exactly the same title, but one explains the history of alchemy, their practises, beliefs and such, whereas the other is some new-age dribble about using star signs and lunar knowledge to ascend to a higher power. The difference between the 2 is the author.

damn i didnt even think about that, but ya that is a good point, which means alot more writing and fact checking...oh joy...

I've been writing a book in my head for 4 years and it's finished, i just need to write it now. One thing you learn is to tie up every possible loophole, readers hate loopholes.

who doesnt hate loopholes? the biggest problem about my series is how everyone gets their powers. a giant etheral asteroid that NO ONE CAN SEE hits the earth causing waves of "wtf**kery" to encircle the planet, changing peoples DNA and allowing the world to become much more....exciting. Honestly I could not think up of any other way to give people powers that was both funny but out of the box. How the hell am i supposed to tie up that loophole without copping out?

 

[shadowstriker86]

It sounds like a great story and I would like to read the finished product, but please don't do that NPH thing. That's just plain silly. I'm not a writer (I don't have a creative bone in my body) so I can't suggest alternative ideas, but please choose a reasonable way to end the book.

actually this is something im turning into a cartoon, although im torn as to what style im going to use which is why im trying out several styles. the reason why im turning it into a cartoon is because of nostalgia and frustration of the crap i see on t.v. here in the states.

 

[Pegghead]

You say he owns an antique shop right? GIve him a robe, reading glasses, a guilded blunderbuss rifle and a magnificent blade. Oh and a pompous, pretentious, better than you tone about himself.

 

[shadowstriker86]

You say he owns an antique shop right? GIve him a robe, reading glasses, a guilded blunderbuss rifle and a magnificent blade. Oh and a pompous, pretentious, better than you tone about himself.

what the hell is a guilded blunderbuss? is that some kind of registered retard bus? im kidding, but one thing im having trouble with is just that, what do i make this guy look like?

 

[effilctar]

You say he owns an antique shop right? GIve him a robe, reading glasses, a guilded blunderbuss rifle and a magnificent blade. Oh and a pompous, pretentious, better than you tone about himself.

what the hell is a guilded blunderbuss? is that some kind of registered retard bus? im kidding, but one thing im having trouble with is just that, what do i make this guy look like?

On the theme of my "he's being forced to help a villain to help a loved one" I'd say that deep down he is ashamed of how low he has stooped and keeps his identity concealed

 

[shadowstriker86]

You say he owns an antique shop right? GIve him a robe, reading glasses, a guilded blunderbuss rifle and a magnificent blade. Oh and a pompous, pretentious, better than you tone about himself.

what the hell is a guilded blunderbuss? is that some kind of registered retard bus? im kidding, but one thing im having trouble with is just that, what do i make this guy look like?

On the theme of my "he's being forced to help a villain to help a loved one" I'd say that deep down he is ashamed of how low he has stooped and keeps his identity concealed

just gave me a thought.....what if the first time he's introduced, that it's the only time you see his true face and identity and the rest of the time he's in his "cloaked" form and when people ask what happened, he tells them he had plastic surgery or somthing?

 

[hobo_welf]

Perhaps some theories to ponder on;

1) The idea of spontaneously casting magic is kind of lame. What if the book instead answered any question for him, and he could use it to get out any situation. He'd still be limited by his own physical abilities, but it would tell him the weakness of a monster, or the code to the safe in the bank, or when the guards take their lunch break.

The drawback of this idea is that you'd have to come up with super clever solutions to every problem.

2) Consistently stealing money just to keep an antique shop open is a kind of loose theory. What if instead of turning it into an episodic series, you just wrote a few stories about a guy who used his magic book to keep the antique store open, and then had to deal with the consequences.

For instance, using the book to rob the initial bank created a palpable magical force that was sensed by some super old cult that has been searching for this book for centuries. You could make the book the property of some millennia old demon, who can sense it when it's active. Something like that.

 

[effilctar]

You say he owns an antique shop right? GIve him a robe, reading glasses, a guilded blunderbuss rifle and a magnificent blade. Oh and a pompous, pretentious, better than you tone about himself.

what the hell is a guilded blunderbuss? is that some kind of registered retard bus? im kidding, but one thing im having trouble with is just that, what do i make this guy look like?

On the theme of my "he's being forced to help a villain to help a loved one" I'd say that deep down he is ashamed of how low he has stooped and keeps his identity concealed

just gave me a thought.....what if the first time he's introduced, that it's the only time you see his true face and identity and the rest of the time he's in his "cloaked" form and when people ask what happened, he tells them he had plastic surgery or somthing?

Hiding identity due to shame is a powerful and effective tool used by authors who can't think up a character's personal profile.

 

[Pegghead]

You say he owns an antique shop right? GIve him a robe, reading glasses, a guilded blunderbuss rifle and a magnificent blade. Oh and a pompous, pretentious, better than you tone about himself.

what the hell is a guilded blunderbuss? is that some kind of registered retard bus? im kidding, but one thing im having trouble with is just that, what do i make this guy look like?

On the theme of my "he's being forced to help a villain to help a loved one" I'd say that deep down he is ashamed of how low he has stooped and keeps his identity concealed

just gave me a thought.....what if the first time he's introduced, that it's the only time you see his true face and identity and the rest of the time he's in his "cloaked" form and when people ask what happened, he tells them he had plastic surgery or somthing?

Maybe when he hasn't got a coat he could he could have the stereotypical "Spectacles upon his nose, Greying-brown hair, pinstripe tanned brown vest, stained white shirt underneath, greasy 5:00 shadow heavily clumped around the mouth and nose,sensible eyes/eyebrows, Lace leather shoes, pants with belt with a cool buckle, satchel of miscellaneous stuff with book mostly always coming out and to top it all off a shoulder holster with a guilded, 18th century musket type pistol that's ornate but powerful and mostly white for when he's not in full character. When he is...well uh...I guess I used up all my imagination on that previous statement. Oh and he could like summon fire and such from his fingertips like a sorcerer.

 

[shadowstriker86]

Perhaps some theories to ponder on;

1) The idea of spontaneously casting magic is kind of lame. What if the book instead answered any question for him, and he could use it to get out any situation. He'd still be limited by his own physical abilities, but it would tell him the weakness of a monster, or the code to the safe in the bank, or when the guards take their lunch break.

The drawback of this idea is that you'd have to come up with super clever solutions to every problem.

2) Consistently stealing money just to keep an antique shop open is a kind of loose theory. What if instead of turning it into an episodic series, you just wrote a few stories about a guy who used his magic book to keep the antique store open, and then had to deal with the consequences.

For instance, using the book to rob the initial bank created a palpable magical force that was sensed by some super old cult that has been searching for this book for centuries. You could make the book the property of some millennia old demon, who can sense it when it's active. Something like that.

i like that last thought cause i never really thought of the origins of the book

 

[shadowstriker86]

You say he owns an antique shop right? GIve him a robe, reading glasses, a guilded blunderbuss rifle and a magnificent blade. Oh and a pompous, pretentious, better than you tone about himself.

what the hell is a guilded blunderbuss? is that some kind of registered retard bus? im kidding, but one thing im having trouble with is just that, what do i make this guy look like?

On the theme of my "he's being forced to help a villain to help a loved one" I'd say that deep down he is ashamed of how low he has stooped and keeps his identity concealed

just gave me a thought.....what if the first time he's introduced, that it's the only time you see his true face and identity and the rest of the time he's in his "cloaked" form and when people ask what happened, he tells them he had plastic surgery or somthing?

Maybe when he hasn't got a coat he could he could have the stereotypical "Spectacles upon his nose, Greying-brown hair, pinstripe tanned brown vest, stained white shirt underneath, greasy 5:00 shadow heavily clumped around the mouth and nose,sensible eyes/eyebrows, Lace leather shoes, pants with belt with a cool buckle, satchel of miscellaneous stuff with book mostly always coming out and to top it all off a shoulder holster with a guilded, 18th century musket type pistol that's ornate but powerful and mostly white for when he's not in full character. When he is...well uh...I guess I used up all my imagination on that previous statement. Oh and he could like summon fire and such from his fingertips like a sorcerer.

wow, thats pretty damn descriptive but from that what popped up in my mind is the toy maker from the movie "the great mouse detective" but in human form

 

[Chipperz]

So some one got into Wolfram and Hart and stole their reference books. That idea was used in Angel.
Also he does not seem like a very compelling character. If he has all this knowledge and hates stealing then why not use his knowledge and powers to get money from say investing. He could whip out every companies stock assessments and see which ones would be good to invest in.
Also, maybe this is just me but, he reads some words and can work magic? That is really lame.

See, I'm with this guy - he can use the book to outsmart heroes, but he's still at the point where he is robbing banks? Paaaaaaaaaaaaathetic! Have him play the stock market, wiping out companies and getting their assets, selling them to make money, and then dealing with the consequences as he realises he's to blame for the mass unemployment gained from him buying and destroying companies in the area. In today's market, that'll make him fair more hated.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

Personally, I think that it's important to show his downward spiral. Start with him only using the book to exploit some really dodgy people to get just enough money to keep the shop running, but then have him becoming more and more dependant on it and start using it for increasingly trivial things. If he only targets a particular person once (to avoid being easily traceable) have him run out of victims he can think of at the time who he can justify exploiting, causing him to turn on someone who is noticably less deserving of their fate.

 

[shadowstriker86]

So some one got into Wolfram and Hart and stole their reference books. That idea was used in Angel.
Also he does not seem like a very compelling character. If he has all this knowledge and hates stealing then why not use his knowledge and powers to get money from say investing. He could whip out every companies stock assessments and see which ones would be good to invest in.
Also, maybe this is just me but, he reads some words and can work magic? That is really lame.

See, I'm with this guy - he can use the book to outsmart heroes, but he's still at the point where he is robbing banks? Paaaaaaaaaaaaathetic! Have him play the stock market, wiping out companies and getting their assets, selling them to make money, and then dealing with the consequences as he realises he's to blame for the mass unemployment gained from him buying and destroying companies in the area. In today's market, that'll make him fair more hated.

This is one of the reasons why im making this series, everyones in this mindset where everything has to be realistic and coincide with our world instead of it being its own world. However a person like me who thinks outside the box tends to forget what its like to think within the box.

 

[SamuelT]

Wait, what?

This book gives him the ability of magic? Where the hell did that come from?

(I have seen that it does change in other books, but this entire 'sudden magic' thing just stood out.)

And perhaps when he's the 'villain' of the story give him some less noble motives. When someone does wrong to do right (Keeping his livelyhood) he can be seen as the hero. Perhaps the anti-hero, but still the hero of the story.

Perhaps let him get mad with power? Of all the cliché's that the most likely that will happen. If you want originality, just make something up in combination with the book. That it has certain effects on the people who use it, or something like that.

You've got a good base, now construct on it.