December 5, 2008

The villain. Any good story must have a great bad guy. I think there is one of those mathematical calculations that determines the greatness of the good guy is inversely equal to the absolute wickedness of the villain. In my story I have tried to craft a truly unique villain.

The antagonist in The Claw and Fang is a demon named Noro. His name is from the virus that can make us all ill – the norovirus. I was hoping for a subconscious connection to help make him more loathsome and vile.

The demons in this world come from two places: the Realm of Light and the Realm of Darkness. Now, just because a demon is from Darkness he/she isn’t necessarily evil. A demon can be good or evil regardless of their origin; I wanted this to parallel my observation of humans. People can be good or bad regardless of their childhood or experiences. Everything is not relative.

Noro a demon of Light was banished from the earth long ago by humans. Demons love the earth because they receive their greatest pleasures by influencing humans to do good or bad (good demons for good deeds and evil demons for evil deeds). Demons don’t die; well at least none have died thus far in the history of this world. Instead demons get banished for a set period of time, a very long period of time in a very dreadful place.

Noro’s last banishment was truly hell for him, however out of that misery he was able to figure a way in which he would never be banished again. As always with something so grand there must to be consequences. By cheating banishment from the Earth, Noro is bound to the earth. Unable to travel ethereally; he is stuck using public transit like the rest of us. No more insta-travel anywhere on the globe.

To solve this problem and others, Noro now seeks the “Eye” a relic used by mortal shamans of earth to travel between the demon realms to bring balance and order. The “Eye” will allow Noro travel ethereally on earth and let him travel to the Realms of Light and Darkness. The Firewoman is the current keeper of this sacred object. The Firewoman is seeking the current incarnation of the hero’s soul so she may return the “Eye” bringing balance back to the earth. Tribal Shaman were tasked in ancient times to maintain the health of Earth and Humanity. The Shaman are the only ones allowed to travel to all realms: Earth, Light and Darkness. Noro seeks to end that.

Cheers,
Mike
THE CLAW AND THE FANG