Tests of Character

[fluke]

I'm working on a cross-genre piece, but this part is more fantasy than anything else.

The story has an adventuring party consisting of two White Knights, a Pirate swashbuckler, and two Cowboys (told you it was cross genre). This arc belongs to one of the knights, Sir Michael. He just earned his spurs. In the final fight, he needs to decisively prove that he has the character of a White Knight by overcoming several tests of character.

Four tests came to mind, and I like them. However, it seems like that's one too many. The story needs to be about 18,000 words long. It's on pace for that length so far. Here are the tests I have planned for Michael as the party faces Queen Vivian.

• Desire-Mike is tempted to unchastity by an illusion of Dame Helen the Gracious (the other knight in the party). He does not know this is an illusion, and I don't want him to invalidate the test by piercing it. He will simply not succumb to the illusion's charms.
  
• Fear-Queen Vivian summons a great monster. Michael and the others will fight it even though Mike is "quivering in [his] steel boots." It's the act of cowardice not the feeling of fear that is wrong.
  
• Dark Self-Michael and the others face their evil doppelgangers. (If not here, Michael has to defeat his earlier as the doppleganger has taunted them already with his visor down (that is, they don't know the black knight is Michael's doppleganger)).
  
• Pride-Queen Vivian offers Michael a place as her new right hand. He will be a legend if he accepts. Naturally, he won't.
  

Please tell which of the four you would drop OR if you would leave all of them in place.

[metalikhan]

If necessary for the length requirements, I would drop Fear as you specified it.

The main reason I pick that one is because I'm assuming he's had to face both the feeling as well as the possibility of committing a cowardly act somewhere during the process of earning his spurs. The monsters from without may be scary, but the monsters from within are much tougher to beat.

[lexkx]

Actually, I would drop the "dark self" category. Because it seems to not have the element of self-awareness that the others have. While I would define the categories differently, the others are reasonably in keeping with the verse that talks about three things that bring down a man: lust of the eyes (envy), lust of the flesh (addiction), and the pride of life (arrogance).

My 2 cents, anyway...

[This Baron of Mora]

I can't quite decide.

The Fear test (the description of which somewhat confuses me, is Michael fearful but fights anyway, or fearful and cowardly?) seems to be broadened (though perhaps it will be in actuality, this is after all a quick summary).

The Dark Self test, as ruffly mentioned above, seems to lack a exact moral lesson, this however might be fixed by adding some sort of further temptation, after which I would support it above the fear one.

[fluke]

Nov 1, 2013 20:01:35 GMT -5 This Baron of Mora said:

The Fear test (the description of which somewhat confuses me, is Michael fearful but fights anyway, or fearful and cowardly?) seems to be broadened (though perhaps it will be in actuality, this is after all a quick summary).

Yes, he is afraid but fights anyway.

Keep talking, friends. It's all helping.

[rjj7]

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality." ~ C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

I voted to drop the test of fear because my inclination would be to portray each and every one of his moral decisions as courageous in some way rather than putting courage into its own category.

However, I will second the folks who express concerns about the evil doppelganger test; I think it could be done very well, but you haven't really said much about how it will look.

I would also like to say that I think that these tests all need to be heavily personalized. Specifically, your Pride test seems to be a bit generic, capable of being used on anyone (in fact, such a test already has been used on everyone and his grandmother). That is not to say it is a bad idea; rather, it is to caution you that you will need to use the idea as a starting point, not an ending point. Make it your own. Bind it to your story and characters so closely that no one could try to separate them.

In conclusion, what tests you use will heavily depend upon what has led up to this point. For the tests to mean much to the reader, they will have to mean much to the character. If the test of Fear is more appropriate to your character than the test of Pride, then you would be better served to ignore my opinion re Fear.

EDIT: I did vote before the poll closed; I just didn't get around to replying till this morning.

[metalikhan]

Question about the evil doppelganger, fluke.

Is it a manifestation of the dark side of the character?
Or is it more of an evil twin, an opposing foil, that's an entity unto itself?

[fluke]

Metalikhan,

The doppleganger is an opposing foil. It's not his dark side come to life, but the two are opposite in ways that matter. Michael is smart but has low will power. The Black Knight (that's his name so far) is dumb but strong willed. Both are honorable (stick to a rigid code of ethics enforced by an outside authority), but Michael is good where BK is evil.

rjj7,

Thank you for your input. The tests are more personalized than I summarized here. I didn't want to bore people or give too much away. I might have said too little, but one of the tests is the climactic scene. His success there (and let's face it, he will succeed) is meant to be what seals the victory and shows that he has learned the lessons the story has been teaching him.

[rjj7]

Great. Sounds like you've got what you need then.