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Q&A Antagonist motivation help

Started a nuclear disaster, potential for otherworldly elements — I'd say he's a fanatic trying to bring about the end of the world so that aliens will swoop down and rescue him. No seriously. The...

posted 10y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:18Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8975
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 · 2019-12-08T03:06:13Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/8975
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T03:06:13Z (over 4 years ago)
Started a nuclear disaster, potential for otherworldly elements — I'd say he's a fanatic trying to bring about the end of the world so that aliens will swoop down and rescue him.

No seriously. The guy doesn't have to be sane. The chain of logic can make perfect sense in his own head (sort of a cross of Heaven's Gate, Rapture-awaiting evangelicals, and Scientologists who believe in Xenu) but be obviously nuts to everyone else.

If you have scenes from A's POV, you could have him "receiving signals from out there," but because he's clearly unhinged and an unreliable narrative view, the reader doesn't know if the signals are real or delusional. That could leave open the possibly that he's actually _not_ crazy and that the aliens _are_ coming.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2013-09-24T10:14:08Z (over 10 years ago)
Original score: 3