Kevin Schultz Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 AKA - roleplaying a young Brick So, I'm playing a super-strong person in the "This Mutant Life" PBeM, and one of the things is that he's been an uber his entire life. Thus, he already has pretty good control over his powers. However, he's gone for additional schooling because he's never really been normal, and he realized that he kinda needs practice in THAT part of being a superhero - knowing how to socialize, to blend, etc. in regular society. Now that one of his metamorph powers have manifested, he has the ability to look 'normal', and as such is able to do stuff like this. So, what are the emotional defense mecahnisms that someone growing up with super-strength and an intimidating appearance would have? (His default form looks like a slightly dopey version of a blue Slaad, only without the claws.) Note that the character, by and large, was supported by his family and small rural Canadian community, has had a fairly happy childhood, and has managed to NOT severly injure anyone accidentally in his entire lifetime. Thus, he has no real agnst over accidental deaths or anything like that; just the practical, day-to-day habits of someone who is used to being 9 feet tall and weighing a quarter ton. (And who no longer is, but tends to act like they are.) Wide personal space - he's used to not standing near people, just on the chance that he might bump into them. Similarly, will always try to walk down the center of a hallway, will never cut corners when walking, and will be very hesitant whenever he's in an area he's never been in before; will always try to see where he's going before he actually goes in, to the point of refusing to go into rooms that are dark. Being in crowds of people for extended periods of time is emotionally draining, as he feels the need to be aware of everyone around him at all times. May come across as claustraphobic (or that other phobia - fear of crowds.) Does not react to verbal barbs with physical action; if someone starts insulting him, he physically shuts down, making sure not to even give the hint that he will physically assualt the individual; on an extreme, may actually sit down on the ground and curl slighty in on himself (both to avoid looming over the person, and to maintain even-level eye contact); if he feels that he's really starting to get angry, he will leave. As a result of #3, he's developed a decent wit in order to 'fight' someone without physically harming them; in casual conversation with people he doesn't know, he may have forced banter or try too hard to 'keep things light'; may overuse sarcasm and puns; may have trouble talking about serious or violent topics. Instinctively tests the surface of anything that he may stand on - just so he won't break it. May instinctively avoid walking on anything that looks like it isn't make out of reinforced concrete or sturdy metal; will use ramps/freight elevators rather than normal stairs. Doesn't use furniture - almost always either stands or sits on the floor; may be uncomfortable if forced to sit on "normal" chairs for extended periods of time, as holding REALLY still in order not to break said chair is something of a strain; does not lean up against walls. Whenever possible, does not grip things - will merely lift them from underneath. May come across as slightly clumsy because of it. Will very often test something several times before lifting it, to ensure that he won't break it when he does so. Will not engage in any sort of intimite physical activity (romantic or otherwise) with anyone, as doing so is an easy way to hurt someone. Even if the partner is also super-strong, will be reluctant to do anything; EDIT (Karmakaze) - hesitant to shake hands or hug people - even for those he knows he will simply allow himself to be hugged, holding his arms above or away from the person; for a kiss, will lightly trill/lick the person's forehead (he's got a sauran head/mouth, like a dinosaur, and has a dry, lizard-like tounge.) EDIT - Will strive to maintain emotional/social contact over larger distances; will sit apart from a group, but will still attempt to be involved in the conversation; may come across as a bit loud because of it. So - those are all that I can think of off the top of my head. Anyone else have any ideas? Mainly I'm looking for things that would perfectly fine for someone who is large, heavy, and phyically imposing, but would look like moderate psychological issues for a normal-sized person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karmakaze Posted March 13, 2006 Report Share Posted March 13, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... Well, he might be hesitant to shake hands for fear of his crushing grip. I could also seem him really uncomfortable with people who hug 'hello'. Have you ever seen someone who'd not used to hello/goodbye hugs? They sort of freeze up and let the other person hang on them, and gently flail their arms like they're not sure where the arms go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... I could see a character like that feeling very alienated from other "normal" people. He's afraid to touch them for fear he might hurt them; so he might be seen as standoffish or arrogant by some. Other people who might be normally inclined to touch him in ordinary ways (hugs, handshakes, pat on back, etc.) might perceive his reluctance to touch as a reluctance to be touched and react accordingly. Humans are social animals; most of us crave physical contact. How would he bond with ordinary folks? If he's had super-strength since childhood, even his own parents might have been afraid to touch him more than was absolutely necessary. What's it going to do to a boy's emotional development when he can't even play tag with his siblings, wrestle with his dad, or hug his mom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assault Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... I just read this thread again, and realised how different Assault's approach to the world is. He tends to view the world as a bunch of movable objects, and himself as an irresistable force. In other words, he's always tended towards being highly self-confident, or even overconfident, simply because nothing in the world can hurt him. The result is that he is outgoing, rather loud, and has a very limited sense of self-preservation. He also has rather more self-control than Kevin's character, since he's about 25 years older, and has a lot of experience in not accidentally hurting people. He also has quite a bit of experience in intentionally hurting people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrapin Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... I could see this character as developing a fondness for a "getaway spot", an environment either natural (the Slaadcave) or artificial (the base's Danger Room, a garage 'furnished' with chunks of defunct machinery, cinder blocks etc.), where everything is either durable or disposable, and where he can relax his guard and just hang out. I imagine he might have had a spot like that back home, and when he resettles he'll miss the place and want to find or construct something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... One could treat STR the same way they treat an emotion. A guy who has difficulty interacting with the world could devolve into pills or alcohol (though being an "angry drunk" would certainly work counter to the numbing effect sought by alcohol). He could also turn to religion, or even enlightenment in the form of zen mastery; He could seek in the ancient wisdom of others the ultimate control of his physical state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marketeer Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... I can see him being indifferent to a lot of the environment around him, too: 1) Rain, cold, heat, whatever, rolls off his back so he tends to zone it out. 2) This would tend to affect his clothing picks too. Clothes would be less for usefulness/practicality, and more for durability or even aesthetics--a particular shirt may be functionally useless for sub-freezing temperatures, but hey, it goes nice with his skin tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 The world is a fragile, fragile, place... Clothing would be mostly to fit in. He'd HAVE to wear clothes, for the sake of social norms of "decency" and may have tried wearing clothes to try to look "normal" although up until learning to shapeshift he'd have had a hard time finding clothes that fit. Now that he can look "normal" one of the things he's going to have to learn about is clothes. For example, how odd he looks now if he goes out in shorts and a t-shirt on a snowy day. Lucius Alexander Palindromedary Enterprises Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Schultz Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... I could see a character like that feeling very alienated from other "normal" people. He's afraid to touch them for fear he might hurt them; so he might be seen as standoffish or arrogant by some. Other people who might be normally inclined to touch him in ordinary ways (hugs' date=' handshakes, pat on back, etc.) might perceive his reluctance to touch as a reluctance to [u']be[/u] touched and react accordingly. Humans are social animals; most of us crave physical contact. How would he bond with ordinary folks? Aah, good point. Mainly I had thought he'd do this via facial expression and voice tone, which would work just fine when he's a giant lizard-dude (and no one WANTS to touch him, at least at first), but doesn't work so hot when he looks like a normal person. At the very least, it would set up some cognitive dissonance, when the person's tone and facial expression is very open, but their body language is very closed. If he's had super-strength since childhood, even his own parents might have been afraid to touch him more than was absolutely necessary. What's it going to do to a boy's emotional development when he can't even play tag with his siblings, wrestle with his dad, or hug his mom? Yeah, someone pointed that one out to me when I was first designing the character. My (retroactive) justification was that although he's been an uber his entire life, the super-strenght part of it really hadn't kicked off until puberty. Up until then, it was more along the lines of "the strenght of an adult weightlifter, in the body of an anthropomorphic gila monster." So, he was extremely strong for his size, but unless he really threw a temper tantrum, it wouldn't be dangerous. Once he hit 13 or so, he started bulking out, and at that point it was "throwing tractors around" time, and he became more self-concious about touching people. So (in thinking about it more), he will still let people touch him, but he would respond to it VERY slowly, and it will be more of a dead-weight hug, rather than a sqeeze. Either that, or it would be more of a Maori hug/greeting, in which case the foreheads are met together and you look into each other's eyes, in sort of an extremely gentle head-butt; intimite, but less physical body contact. But yeah, one of the long-term plot ideas I have for the character is that he's looking for a girlfriend - one of the criteria is "will not crush her accidentally." The other being 'will not kill her with my toxic body chemestry," incidentally. He's a troll, so he's assuming that if he's gonna get lucky at ALL, it will probably be with a valkyrie. As it turns out, trolls in Norse myth either are the nameless hordes to be slaughtered by the gods, or else they marry into the family - kind of like the Titans of greek myth. So, he's on the lookout for anyone with Norse pantheon connections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Schultz Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... Now that he can look "normal" one of the things he's going to have to learn about is clothes. For example, how odd he looks now if he goes out in shorts and a t-shirt on a snowy day. Lucius Alexander Palindromedary Enterprises Ah - yeah, I was thinking about having him, in slaad-form, walk around in bermudas, hawaian shirts, and sandals, just 'cuz it's a funny image. But yeah, if he's used to dressing like that, then he'll probably have a bit of a problem juding what is appropriate attire. Either that, or he has to rely on observation ("hey, everyone's wearing parkas - must be cold out") or having other people choose his clothes for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Schultz Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... He could also turn to religion' date=' or even enlightenment in the form of zen mastery; He could seek in the ancient wisdom of others the ultimate control of his physical state.[/quote'] Cool, I hit this one as well in the character concept, but didn't think of it in those terms. I had thought that the character starts on the assumption of "happy, healthy family and community life, just happens to be an uber", so I made him Catholic. (Yeah, it's possible to have a healthy community involvement wihout religion, but it certianly does provide a one-stop shopping center if that's what you're looking for...) But from your perspective, yeah - for someone who is an uber, it would certianly allow him to develop a framework and psychological techniques for dealing with guilt, power/responsbility issues, redemption, and whatnot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Schultz Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: The world is a fragile, fragile, place... I could see this character as developing a fondness for a "getaway spot"' date=' an environment either natural (the Slaadcave) or artificial (the base's Danger Room, a garage 'furnished' with chunks of defunct machinery, cinder blocks etc.), where everything is either durable or disposable, and where he can relax his guard and just hang out. I imagine he might have had a spot like that back home, and when he resettles he'll miss the place and want to find or construct something similar.[/quote'] Ooh, another good point - I did have him prefering places underground, but that's his natural environment, rather than because things won't break down there. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.