When Emergents Collide
Why isn't this just another super hero story?
6/4/20264 min read
I always thought most stories about super powered beings got it wrong. Where does a high school student get the resolve to stand in front of a world-threatening monster and make clever puns while being a moment from death? I mean, it's fun reading, but what kind of real-world psycho could actually DO that? Whatever is lurking in that kid's head is terrifying, and I'd expect one day it would come out in all the wrong ways on all the wrong people.
From time to time, I want to write about stylistic ideas and rationales that I have for my writing. I want to cover the basic types of things you can expect from me as an author (or minimally the things I will strive for, as an author).
Today, I'll cover the idea of combat.
I'll start with my first ground rule for my writing: Every choice— every action— has consequences. Look, this is a world with super powered beings, but that doesn't make them Invincible (pun intended, I love Kirkman's work). It also doesn't make them extremely brave, altruistic or clever. With very few exceptions for a couple crazy characters, no one in my world WANTS to fight. Why? Because it's incredibly dangerous.
A wrong calculation doesn't get you knocked unconscious and a bruised ego. It gets you destroyed. Permanently. A punch from the wrong enemy can tear your bottom jaw off, and that's a terrible way to live (or die).
Valkyrie is a young emergents in the Choir. She possesses super speed and a history of running in an Austin, Texas area gang. She's not afraid to kill and she's not afraid to die. In fact, her favorite weapon to take into battle are foot-long survival knives. A speed demon with a couple knives is a terrifying opponent. When she shows up, you better have a plan for dealing with her already thought up or you're going to be a pin cushion.
But, even if she's too tough to admit it, she's not big on catching on fire. Everyone's got some vulnerabilities and they all would like to spend each night in their beds instead of the hospital (or the morgue). So combat looks different in my stories than most.
It tends to turn gritty quickly. Caped Marvels don't stand back and unload elegant Superman punches on each other (I'll tone down the puns now, sorry). They tend to end up rolling on the ground looking for ways to snuff each other's life out before the other person hurts them badly. Honestly, part of the inspiration for my "superhero combat" is the early days of the UFC when there were few rules and the fighters didn't think twice about destroying an opponent's face if it meant they could just get out of the fight faster.
Not only do the people suffer damage quickly, so does the surroundings. Things will catch on fire, splinter, crack, collapse, etc. That's the nature of super-powered combat. And let's not even talk about the humans. When super-powered people fight, the humans should run for their lives, because their blessed little meat sacks can explode very easily if they get between these people.
This presents a slight problem though. If there is massive potential destruction and chaos, how do you balance it in the world? This is my "wouldn't everyone in Marvel's universe move out of NYC?" conundrum. Because your chances of dying there would be entirely too high. Stay at a good paying job while having to dodge falling building chunks during your morning commute? I don't think I'm alone in saying "no thanks" to that offer.
The counter balance is society WILL KILL YOU if you get out of line. There's really no heroes (or villains) in my world that can't be brought down by a clever human and a high-powered rifle. No one goes on a rampage and causes the US military to retreat (yea... tee-hee... kidding... maybe). So what's an emergent to do? Keep quiet. Maintain a low profile. Stay off the radar. Because if Dominion isn't scooping you up to study, then the government wouldn't be far behind.
Finally, I would be remiss to not talk a bit about the act of dying. There's often a common thread of horror throughout my writing where the person dying comes to terms with their demise (or the act of getting maimed). You'll find scenarios like the super tough guy antagonist trying to pray and say goodbye to his mom in his mind... because he knows the end is near as he crawls across the floor spitting teeth or trying to pick up his missing hand.
You are not going to find many people that take a brutal pounding and then find their magic mojo and fight back to save the day. This isn't the WWF and these ain't Hulk Hogan's cousins. They're kids in impossible situations coping in ways that are diverse and often terrifying.
Could someone bounce back from a crazy beating to save the day? I suppose. But more likely the person taking that beating has a concussion and will soon be at the whims of their assailant (who is more likely to head stomp them than wax poetic about the triumph). Again... consequences baby.
I'm also not big on the "last minute save by the friendly army". If my characters make a shitty plan going into a fight, I probably have to write a bunch of new characters for you because I just lost all the old ones. Oh - one more thing: Dead is dead. There's no corny "Death of <fill in the blank>" type stuff. I always thought that if you're too chicken shit to own the consequences, don't write the story for the cheap marketing gimmick of it. Whether you like my stories or not, I hope we'll agree one day that I didn't use cheap gimmicks or unwarranted hype about the consequences of events.
So there ya go. Gritty characters, fighting in desperate ways, destroying the environment around them, and often resulting in serious, potentially life threatening injuries. All the while, wrestling for control of the future and keeping under the radar of the world around them for their own safety.
If this sounds like your kind of adventure, I hope you'll stick around to see where it goes.
-Cujo