Lauren K. Moody (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anthimeria) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
writerstorm2010-04-24 01:02 am
anthimeria) wrote in writerstorm2010-04-24 01:02 am
Shapeshifters
Okay, y'all, I need some help. I'm trying to outline a superhero story, and for hero-related reasons, I'd really like my villain to be a shapeshifter.
The thing is, I can only think of sneaky-infiltration type plots for shapeshifters, and that doesn't mesh with my superhero (she's a little more, hmm, think Wonder Woman or Spider-Man instead of Batman or Daredevil).
I am fully capable of pulling full-blown ideas out of tiny bits, so large or small, what kind of villainous deeds might a shapeshifter commit?
PS: it's set in the modern USA, in a world that's accustomed to superheroes. I'd like to avoid such overdone, boring schemes as "taking over the world," "blowing up something big and important" and "creating new real estate from radioactive minerals."
The thing is, I can only think of sneaky-infiltration type plots for shapeshifters, and that doesn't mesh with my superhero (she's a little more, hmm, think Wonder Woman or Spider-Man instead of Batman or Daredevil).
I am fully capable of pulling full-blown ideas out of tiny bits, so large or small, what kind of villainous deeds might a shapeshifter commit?
PS: it's set in the modern USA, in a world that's accustomed to superheroes. I'd like to avoid such overdone, boring schemes as "taking over the world," "blowing up something big and important" and "creating new real estate from radioactive minerals."
no subject
ETA: It depends on what scale and tone you want for the villainy, really: is it something that's going to threaten the nation, or harm a single person? Comic-book style melodrama or subtle creepiness?
(For the latter, how about having your shapeshifter murder someone and then replace them: shift to look exactly like them, move into their life, take over the murdered person's job, their partner, their house, their family ... and no-one will ever know.)
no subject
The idea of taking over someone's life is great, but the caveat for the writer is, of course, that my superhero has to be able to catch the shapeshifter! Though the smarter the villain, the better the story, as far as I'm concerned.