Gods Among Men

One of the toughest parts about writing a character is writing one who has some aspect that is beyond you. This most commonly comes out with really intelligent characters, your mystery solvers. But this can also come in other forms. If you create just about any character that, as the writer, can't keep up with, you risk leaving them a boring, unrealistic character. Let's look at a couple examples.

Let's start with the geniuses. Now, this isn't to say that you, as a writer, aren't an intelligent person. If you're writing, you've probably got a decent head on your shoulders. But if you want to write someone smarter than you, well... that's tough. It's one thing to write someone who's stronger, you can imagine that, but intelligence is something you have to demonstrate. Descriptions of lifting cars can convey strength, but you, as the writer, need to be at least a little clever to convey that in your character. 

That means if you really want your protagonist or maybe even your villain to be a super genius, you'll need to concoct plans that are legitimately genius. If you just tell your audience that your character is smart, that doesn't convey anything. You could try making your other characters a little less sharp to compensate, but that can go against established characters or just plain make people dislike the rest of your cast.

So how do you do it? Well, after listening to a lot of people smarter than me I've come to the conclusion that... you should look to a lot of people smarter than you. Well, that's a start, anyway. Look to others. Take inspiration. Shop ideas around. If your character is smarter than ten regular people... then get ten regular people to consider the character.

Also, take your time. Your character will be showing how smart they are in a split second, coming up with plans off the top of their head. You have to, though. Take time to consider the situation from multiple angles. Run through a dozen scenarios. Figure out what would work best, but take your time. Then just say your character did that in less than a minute. 

Best of all, the same way you write mysteries, work backward. You know everything that will happen. You know how things will end up. Figure out what kind of clues those things would leave. Figure out the elements that would make up everything leading to the event in question. Now let your character in on that, let them follow it back to the end conclusion.

Next, characters so powerful they might as well be gods. Your Supermans. Your Thanoses. Understand that characters with power beyond reason, who can regard normal humans as insects, have a point of view you probably can't comprehend. How do I know this? Because I have no idea what a ballerina would likely choose to eat at a Las Vegas buffet.

Are you following that? I cant' anticipate the actions a ballerina would take because I'm not one. Nor have I researched one. Nor do I know one (actually, I think I do, but that's beside the point.) So all I can do is imagine what one might want if they stepped into a Las Vegas buffet. Or what television show they might enjoy watching. Or what music they might listen to off stage. So if I can't do a ballerina justice, what hope do I have off just winging it with a god?

Like the genius, you need to take time. Think about things logically. Consider the relationship between yourself and animals. Try to find anything that creates a metaphor, something to put the difference in perspective. Do you rely on the interpretations of world religions? Do you consider the personifications of these characters in comics or movies? There's a lot to consider, but I think the most important part is that a character with immense, unfathomable power needs time to craft. 

I am obviously not a god. If I write one, I'll need a long time to consider every aspect about them. I don't think I can write one off the cuff, at least not one that will feel real. Can they be written? Of course! It happens all the time. But the best Iterations utilize mystery and obscurity to their advantage. The less you have to answer about them, the more easily I think the reader can accept them.

The biggest key though, is not to just wing it. You don't want to end up with an aloof character with a superiority complex (unless that's what your specifically aiming for, of course.) It's super easy to just end up with your character spouting mindless philosophical nonsense that thinly veils the writer.

So what do you think? Am I terribly wrong? Did you pick up something useful? Am I the one spouting meaningless nonsense? Leave a comment and tell me about your favorite geniuses and overpowered characters.

DFTBA