currently im writing the start of a universe filled with characters and stories that i plan to span across multiple forms of media such as movies,novels,graphic novels,web comics and games.the general feel for setting and whatnot that im shooting for is a neil gaiman "the sandman" feel. the scoop: i currently have a few characters: Lindsey - new found angel of death, in the first story will be worked into her position as angel of death, by multiple characters including the previous angel of death. Dominique - an 8 yr old orphan who sees the cosmic picture as a mosaic before his eyes, through this he comes to gain an understanding of life and existence throughout the series. he also befriends Lindsey when she comes to carry on his recently passed cat. Melancholy(sp?) a fat, cheerful shrekish looking creature that exists soley to test other being''s emotional and psyhcological sanity. should they fail he escorts them to Despair.He''s usually causing trouble somewhere or pulling a prank that backfires. Misery - Melancholy''s accomplice and more responsible half. together they act as harbringers of despair unto a shattered world. skinny green and demon looking he''s usually found hanging from his tail in places that just happen to be where you are. those are the the good " " guys but im not sure what to do for bad guys and for a general story plot currently. any help peoples?

I like those characters a lot, they seem very interesting to me. Hmm, you could do something like "Paradise Lost" and make virtuous angels the "bad guys". An interesting thing that Klonoa 2 (and the philosopher Spinoza) deals with is the necessity for evil in the world. In Klonoa 2 the main bad guy is Sorrow. When you finally get to him you find that he's not some monster bent on destruction, but a meek creature that merely wants to exist like everything else(he can't help it that his purpose is to bring about sadness).

An interesting point that the philosopher Spinoza writes on is how evil is God's will. He argues that because everything in existence was created by God(including evil), and that because God is perfect, all things God created were created without flaw and perfectly to God's design. Therefore, every evil inflicted is not just allowed, but intended.

Additionally(though it's a little cliche), without suffering or sadness we would have no way of knowing pleasure and happiness.
So, the story could be about the morality and justification of these things. I mean, imagine if you, a regular human being, had to go around and bring death to people. Pretend this isn't something you necessarily want to do, but it is something you have to do. There would probably be some people that would be very easy for you to take the life of(evil people), and some people that it would be really diffult for(children?).

You ever read the book "The Giver"? It focuses on an old man having to impart a unique ability to a young boy. This ability is something that no one else in the world wishes to bare the pain of, but someone must. Your story could revolve around the girl's transformation from a regular human being to the Harbring of Death.

As for bad guys, you could use Satan's minions and fallen angels. It is their work to disrupt God's design. If they were able to keep someone who should be dead alive, it could cause some unrest with humans and interfere with God's will. God's will is supposed to be unbreakable and absolute, so if even one thing got out of order, it could bring about the Rapture.

Anyway, I've talked for too long. Hope at least some of this helped.

[edited by - BrentBarrett on April 26, 2004 2:12:59 AM]

ok so i have a few more characters thanks to the sites you guys posted so here goes:

Volac - a cherub like spirit that rides apon a dragon, he will assits the gang in finding Lin''s missing halo.

Vassago - a spirit of oracular vision. he will teach Dominique about his own special vision issues.

still not sure about absolute ideas for villans yet but im going to have the base of the story be about Dom dealing with his parents death, and falling into despair.

You''ve got an angel of death... Where''s God? Gaiman hinted at His presence now and again, but never really addressed the issue. Will you take a similar route?

he adressed the christian god as the creator of hell and heaven. in so far as supreme beings go , gods in giaman''s universe seems to be based on belief equating to power. how will i cover such things, i dont know yet. ill prolly have some kind of chaos and order characters, but they are more of concepts than they are concrete characters that could be mainstays in a story. also by choosing an angel of death to be a character it does put the occasional christian twist to it but not all the characters will be christian and the storys will generally be far from as well.

Flip through Nietzsche''s "Birth of Tragedy". He describes the gods as having arisen from humanity''s attempts to find truth in the world. When they detect an inclination to fight, and a desire for battle, they call that an aspect of their character, and then they imagine a person who has no other inclination than that one, and make him the god of war. Primordial Gods are generally either holistic manifestations of creative power or else they are humanoid entities with one-dimensional personalities and the power to affect people.

So have your pantheon actually arise like that. When people first fight, the god of combat is created. When the first tear is shed, the god of remorse arises. You could have a thousand dieties of varying power within a week of free will''s inception.