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View Full Version : Help with a story. Assigning "opposition" powers to the Seven Deadly Sins.



Reksew Trebla
2014-08-07, 02:19 AM
Okay, so everyone here has been a lot of help with my story so far, so I figured I'd seek the playground's help again with it.

A tiny little bit of backstory: Satan's son, the Antichrist, is the main villain in the first "half" of the story. Satan himself needs a much larger portal to get through the dimensional wall between Hell and Earth than normal Demons, so he sires children on Earth through Demon hax to get the job done. In the second "half" of the story, it'll be revealed Satan had 7 more children than just the Antichrist, each one based off of one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Now for the power set of these demons, I figured I'd give each of them a power that was sort of the opposite of the sin they represent.

Here is what I have so far:

Lust: Transforms into a loved one of it's enemy, especially if this person is dead already. Is the opposite of Lust because instead of the opponent feeling sexual attraction, they'll be sort of repelled, and be unable to fight Lust as a result.
Sloth: Is exceptionally fast, especially when it comes to fighting. Is the opposite of Sloth because instead of being lazy and doing things slowly, it would be able to get the job done quickly.
Wrath: Has incredibly powerful attacks, that will typically end the opponent in one or two hits. Is the opposite of Wrath because instead of making the opponent suffer, it ends them quickly, in a sort of merciful manner.
Envy: Has a sort of pseudo reality altering ability to mess with the opponent's mind. Shows something the opponent greatly fears, and/or least desires. If they fear it, they aren't going to envy it.
Pride: Similar to Envy, but shows something the opponent deeply regrets and/or is greatly ashamed of. You typically don't find Pride in something you regret.

If you have any improvements on the above, or you think of something better, let me know. Now here is what I really need help on:

Greed: I'm thinking maybe similar to Envy and Pride, but instead any important possessions, even intangible ones like a strong friendship with someone, would be lost, but I'm not really sure, and I don't really want to keep repeating myself with their powers.
Gluttony: I don't have a clue what to do for this one.

I'm thinking Envy and Pride are twins, and since there could very easily be overlap with their powers when used on the same opponent at the same time, I kind of like them having those powers. Lust needs to have the ability to take on the appearance of others because the main character's love interest dies in the first half of the story, and this'll be used against him.

Well with all of that said, any and all help would be appreciated.

Zrak
2014-08-07, 02:42 AM
Why would their powers be the opposite of the vice they're supposed to represent? I don't really see a thematic reason for it and, if anything, it's counter-intuitive. Being unable to fight, say, lust because it makes you not feel lust just doesn't make sense to me. Also, I think a lot of people actually envy things they fear.

Regardless, I'd base Gluttony's powers around starvation and have Avarice remove all desires from its foes.

KuReshtin
2014-08-07, 04:36 AM
Do the powers have to be related to fighting, or can they just be general powers that can be used against people in everyday life?


If they don't have to be fight related, Gluttony could have the power to make food rot or decay to make the person it's aimed at feel a revulsion towards eating. Also, if the target doesn't eat, they won't have the energy to fight.

Personally, I'd make Wrath act in a very cool, calm and calculated way, the opposite of being enraged. It will, however, enrage and frustrate his targets, causing them to get reckless and make mistakes, giving Wrath the edge to defeat them.


To be fair, most of the seven deadly sins have to do with desire. Lust is the desire for sexual gratification, Greed is the desire for money, Envy is the desire for other's possessions or qualities, Gluttony is the desire for endulgence and Pride is the desire for personal appearance, both physical and social.
Only Wrath and Sloth seems to me to not be related to desires. Sloth is apathy and laziness, while Wrath is... Well, wrath. Lack of self control.
Gluttony, Pride, Greed, Envy and Lust could all have powers causing revulsion of some sort as a result.

Heliomance
2014-08-07, 07:23 AM
You could always do something with the Seven Heavenly Virtues (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_virtues).

Frozen_Feet
2014-08-07, 09:29 AM
Seconding the Seven virtues, because it's in line with the mythology and common sense to boot.

Skeppio
2014-08-07, 09:56 AM
I'll third the Seven Heavenly Virtues, seeing as I've been beaten to the punch on mentioning them. :smalltongue:

Zrak
2014-08-07, 11:26 AM
Why would the demons, from Hell, have powers based on the Heavenly Virtues?

Frozen_Feet
2014-08-07, 12:52 PM
Lucifer & Co used to be angels, hey.

Steward
2014-08-07, 03:18 PM
If the virtues aren't for you, I have some ideas:


Greed: I'm thinking maybe similar to Envy and Pride, but instead any important possessions, even intangible ones like a strong friendship with someone, would be lost, but I'm not really sure, and I don't really want to keep repeating myself with their powers.


As someone else already suggested, Greed or Gluttony could have some kind of aura that defiles, corrodes, or destroys the things that people are greedy for (or gluttonous for).

It would really suck to have around a guy who turns wine into warm pus, turns water brackish, fills your food into maggots. If your story wants them to be more physically dangerous, Gluttony's corruption could leach calories or ATP (or whatever) out of the victim's body, leaving them wracked with malnourishment or maybe even physically emaciated. Depending on how fast this works, this could be pretty scary in a fight -- imagine someone being able to turn you into skeleton in less than a second.


Greed could be similar instead, except with physical possessions. Though honestly I kind of prefer your original idea -- greed doesn't have to be only about possessions, it can just be about filling someone with desolation of having nothing, perhaps to the point that they can't even hold material things.

Roland St. Jude
2014-08-07, 05:29 PM
Sheriff: Real world religion is an inappropriate topic on this forum.