>>56110632I definitely try to keep as much of the original character as possible intact — I want it to feel like the character after all. I have a couple techniques I employ to try and make that happen.
Firstly, I try to make sure the victim is in the wrong in some way. It doesn’t have to be much — I generally prefer it when their wrongdoing is pretty minor. That way it’s something the reader can kind of relate to while still giving the giant a reason to torment them, however shallow and unjust that reason may be.
I also find it useful to find an aspect of a character’s personality to exaggerate in a cruel way — like you said, corrupting their archetype.
Like, Cynthia loves ruins and legends and shit, so I can make it so that she found a mysterious artifact with supposed shrinking powers. She knows it’s not a good thing to do though, so she wouldn’t use it on just anyone — but the reader would have a hard time getting immersed if she used it on Cyrus or something. Instead I’d probably go the route of making the victim a challenger who was underprepared in all the wrong ways. They managed to somehow scrape by the elite four despite having a pathetic team, they came with barely any cash to pay for their loss, they were a bit of a pervert — I can mix and match those wrongdoings however I want. Now I’ve got a Cynthia who wants to test out this new shrinking artifact and I’ve got a trainer who’s gotten on her nerves. Obviously canon Cynthia wouldn’t shrink the,, but it doesn’t feel too wildly out of character for her to do it on impulse. (1/2)
