Annotations: Opening Quote

Note: This post contains spoilers for Ghost Girl and the Ghost Giant and a minor plot point in the Witcher book and game series from Baptism of Fire onward.

I’m a big fan of Les Brown, and in terms of the theme of this book, I couldn’t think of a better line to set the stage. A lot of sad and difficult things happen throughout the tale, and I feel that the contrast between those lows and the highs only serves to strengthen the triumphs—and, by extension, the resolution at the end.

I think this idea is part of the reason why I enjoy dark pieces of media because if a character can succeed in a brutal setting, then we love them all the more. One of the keys to creating compelling characters is competence. And if the mere act of surviving in a harsh world is a feat in and of itself, then it automatically elevates the character and also helps the audience root for the underdog.

Villains

To that end, I’m also a fan of overpowered opponents. Case in point, the Witcher’s [Higher] Vampires are ridiculous. Contrary to the reader/player’s beliefs (and tragically those of the inhabitants of that world), those vampires are not weak to silver or sunlight, staking or garlic, or even holy water or fire—in fact, they’re completely immune to the latter as showcased by one of them grabbing searing hot metal barehanded. Such displays are terrifying in and of themselves (especially if they were tried in an attempt to slay said creatures), but naturally, they’re also far faster and stronger than mere mortals on top of everything else.

In the same vein, I leaned into making the antagonist’s supernatural abilities appear similarly overwhelming. But naturally, I didn’t stop there. As is my tendency, after tackling high fantasy concepts, I scaled back and tried to come up with a character that would be intimidating even without such abilities in a low-to-no fantasy setting.

While doing so, I stumbled upon an article (which I can no longer find¹) that suggested that biker gangs were the group that police officers were most wary of (ahead of street gangs and mafia members). Naturally, that’s a broad generalization that varies by location and individual, but the idea of a group existing in a sweet spot on a spectrum of violent to organized crime seemed like an appealing one to run with.

Thus, a giant, roided-out biker seemed like the most terrifying person one could run into in a back alley, and so I worked around that archetype to create the story’s villain.

Footnotes

1. If anyone reading this does manage to find it, I’d be eternally grateful. Specifically, I believe it mentioned “Canadian biker gangs”, which naturally made me also imagine a lone officer’s point of view when chancing upon an armed convoy in the remote wilderness without backup. ↩