Tamil-coded villain, avoiding violent MOC tropes
Anonymous asked:
I have a dark fantasy novel. This novel is about a cast of villains with a focus on deradicalization via queer self-discovery (I am queer), but for a good part of it they’re all pretty horrible people.
Morally complex Tamil-coded man
The character I have in mind is Tamil-coded, who I want to be a love interest for the (white) villain protagonist. He isn’t the only POC in the story, as only two members of the 5-person main cast are white, but I feel he’s the most morally complex. Part of what I’m worried about is that the first introduction to him is a scene showing the aftermath of a battle he fought in, that the other main characters stumble upon. They’re pretty horrified by what they see, and the main protagonist (who is a known douchebag and hypocrite) denounces the culprit for his brutality. But when the man in question first appears physically on-screen, his first action is to rescue the protagonist from a bad situation, saving his life.
His characterization continues a trend of him being
very down-to-earth
kind
helpful to the protag
refuting the initial assumptions of him being only brutal and violent, focusing mostly on humanizing him.
He does showcase tendencies of using
emotional manipulation,
lying, and
gaslighting against the protag to get what he wants
and I have a scene planned where he gets the protag drunk in an implied attempt to get his guard down and perhaps get some information from him (I haven’t ironed out all the details).
He’s very morally complex and I’ve tried really hard to avoid the “violent MOC” stereotype by showcasing that he has a lot more personality and history to him than just his tendencies in battle (in fact, he fights very little on-screen, and his combat is justified by being a mercenary from a dangerous place). A lot of this section of story I’m currently in is actually *about* developing all the characters more while still moving some of the plot along.
Manipulation and violent Man of Color stereotypes
Another thing I’m worried about is this: at the end of this current section, I have scenes where he betrays the protagonist and his friends after manipulating them all to achieve his goals, in turn revealing that he’s one and the same as this morally-grey demon who is known to punish sinners (eg, those who bring harm upon others) in the afterlife by torturing them as a sort of attempt at justice. I’m worried that this might play into the “violent MOC” thing again, even despite all the previous work I’ve done to try and defy that trope.
The other Tamil-coded characters
Another thing that I should probably mention is that he’s not the only character who’s shown to be Tamil-coded. His (completely human) family appears later on, for example, and they’re all depicted as being normal civilians who love him very much even despite not having been in touch for a while. And there are a few background/side characters who are Indian-coded, but are not necessarily Tamil. Nor is he the only character shown to be violent—all of the main cast does some fighting at points, and both white characters in the main cast are shown to be vicious at times as well. The only reason he’s singled out is to showcase the white protag’s hypocrisy, especially when it comes to comparisons of his own actions vs the Tamil-coded character’s deeds.
[ask partially reduced for length]
I think what bothers me more about your story is that in a story featuring people who are mostly villains, regardless of their growth over time, the majority of them are non-white. From an optics perspective, that is not great. I think unless you include more white villains to reduce the vibe of “Majority POC group = villainous” you may wish to ere more on the “anti-hero”/ “flawed protagonist” side for at least several of these POC villainous protagonists. I wish I could tell you we are at a point in time with media where the optics don’t matter. Alas, they do.
- Marika.
My question is what does Tamil-coded mean? Do you mean people from Tamil Nadu, that is the Southern peninsula? The women that gossip about family as they get older while letting their bones start to creak? Men that spend their nights at the Madras club and only come home for a quick meal and some sleep? Or do you mean Indian in general? Also, a villain revealed to be a demon that is ostensibly dark-skinned? Indian comics do feature light-skinned Indians, but the demons tend to be grey. Yes, even Indian comics can be very racist. You may be treading into dangerous territory.
If you want a good example of an Indian demon, look at Vicky from The Good Place. Without spoilers, she manages to be a full character who messes with the protagonists, and is hinted to be crushing on one of them to extend her torture. The heroes did admit she had a point once. Vicky is flawed, self-centered, sadistic, and all-out mean. She also is really funny and you can understand her motivations without any ethnic implications.
Also, your main character is white, and the villains are mainly POC? That’s not just optics but also an implication issue. He also exists to show the white protagonist that he’s wrong and a hypocrite? That’s what I’m seeing, and it’s a lot to unpack.
- Jaya
I agree with Jaya to be more explicit about how you are coding this character. As another South Indian, all I picture when someone tells me “Tamilian” is lots of rice, thayir shaadam as a cure-all and Tamilian movies (haha). I like the idea of more morally ambiguous Indian characters just because Hindu folktales can be so binary when it comes to good/ evil. However, Tamil Nadu and the Tamilian diaspora are so diverse religiously that not all Tamilians may feel the same way. I think Jaya’s recommendations with respect to colorism are very important to note. Colorism is a big problem in India in terms of negative stereotyping, including for Tamilians, many of whom are assumed to be dark-skinned.
- Marika.
Thoughts from our Tamilian followers? (Tamilian only, please)