Ok so I have two assasin antagonists. One is the big bad, the HEAD of the assasins guild. The other is her lover/tool, a younger woman of middling skill, prone to pettiness, sadism and unecessary acts of destruction. She makes a better torturer (sorry, can't think of the right word) than an assasin. The guild leader is a cold, manipulative person and is not outwardly mad. She is only with this lover for a bit of usefull information. While they are together the guild leader treats the younger woman like she is an indulged pet. She enven goes so far as to raise her rank to second within the guild. All with the intention to kill her once she is of no more use.
The guild leader does not get the chance to do this because my MC kills her. The other girl persues my MC in search of vengence. She want the MC to suffer, not die. She goes afer MC's friends, sells MC into slavery, brands MC with acid, etc. Her obsession is driven by the ghost of, the hallucination of (?) her dead lover and the bitter humiliation at her loss of power and status. Subconsiously she knows that the guild leader had it in for her. But its buried pretty deep in there.
I want to make her more than random crazy lady. I need links to descriptions of various different mental illnesses, maybe some gory stuff and anything you think might help me round out this character. Thank you for your help.
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130,864 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2009 - 04 59
The New Yorker had an article about studying the brains of psychopaths, and you can find information on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist.
You could also look up Dependent Personality Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder as a reason why the girl was so obsessed with her guild leader.
Hope that helps.
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52,244 / 50,000
nov. 4, 2009 - 10 12
ok well first of the guild leader is classic antisocial personality disorder. aside from the greif at the loss of the lover so would the second assasin.antisocial personality disodered indviduals do not care about anyone else rather than what they can get out of them. the seeing the ghost of the lover could be complex greif. Borderline makes more sense than dependant. Borderlines are prone to disfunctional relationships, are impulsive can be violent and are commonly self distructive. also it would fit as to why she doesnt seem to realize that the guild leader is really just using her. borderlines are prone to something called splitting people are either all good or all bad period there is no grey. i have a BS in psych and am currently getting my masters in clinical social work with a focus on mental health so. ill do more research for you and if i find anything ill post it.
----------i dont really have time for this but to write is to breathe so F*ck it
13,000 / 50,000
nov. 6, 2009 - 13 29
Thanks guys! You've given me some great ideas and I'll check out those sites as soon as I hit my word count goal for today. If anyone has anything else to add I'd be grateful to hear them.
A little bit more about the guild leader. After some thinking on the subject I've decided to make her power games into literally that. They are a sport to her. She likes to analyze people and see how her pawns react to the situations she puts them in. Most of the time she uses them like tools. But if any of them upset her too much she will push them slowly until they break. She doesn't get angry often and is more apt to see setbacks and losses as part of the game. I see her as being a bit of an evil genius and she may have noble or royal blood in her. Still working out the details.
40,003 / 50,000
nov. 6, 2009 - 13 36
Your guild leader sounds like a sociopath, but sociopaths are not exactly known for their good impulse control and delayed gratification.
The second one, if she's grieving someone's death, is not. IDK what she is.
----------I just finished, at 40k. I'll be adding a prologue.