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Q&A Painting ritualistic murder in a "good-guy" light?

How can I make this leap? The MC needs proof he cannot deny. Perhaps, by his own hand, he doesn't just shun them, he takes action to prevent this ritualistic murder from happening. What are t...

posted 6y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-19T22:13:37Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40513
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:17:41Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40513
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:17:41Z (almost 5 years ago)
> How can I make this leap?

The MC needs proof he cannot deny. Perhaps, by his own hand, he doesn't just **shun** them, he takes action to prevent this ritualistic murder from happening. What are the consequences of that?

There better **be** some consequences, or these ritual murders are not accomplishing a damn thing!

But there are consequences, weird consequences that cause extreme pain or even death to innocents, perhaps to children. And the weirdest thing about these consequences are that they are precisely what the "good guys" **_told_** the MC would happen; and they are too magical or weird for the good guys to have done this harm themselves.

In short, the MC believes this is **_proof_** the good guys were right. Once he knows that, he can still try to squirm and see if there is any other way to prevent the consequences without having to commit torture and murder. Perhaps that is part of the plot, him trying and failing to find an alternative (or eventually trying and succeeding).

But the turning point is accomplished; at this point the MC has left his "normal world" and believes the good guys are **_on balance_** doing good, and he needs to join them. How long all of this takes depends on whether you have a bigger plot in mind. Just the conversion of the MC could be a story, but it could also be a short intro into a larger story if he has a bigger problem than this to solve.

* * *

### Edit: All that already happened...

The question was how to move the MC from _seeing_ the killings as necessary, into **participating** in the killings.

But the answer is the same, it is still by showing the consequences of NOT killing. He thinks it is necessary? Then invent a reason that makes him the only one that can do it. One or more of the good guys dies, or gets incarcerated or otherwise taken out of the picture, so there isn't enough of them to safely capture and kill a criminal.

Your MC has to step in, **or the consequences kick in.** Force an emergency on him. If he truly believes the killings are necessary, he will blame himself for whatever innocents suffer if he **doesn't** step up when he is needed.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-12-04T18:35:55Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 24