What do you think makes someone a monster?

LotsChrono

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What do you think makes someone a monster? Just getting opinions for my next novella. So, just give me your honest thoughts.
 

BubbleC

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Monster = inhuman so I’d say...

Physically: Extraordinary size, abnormal appendages, slimy/scaly skin, etc. (Anything opposite to human textures or structures)

Emotionally/character-wise: Cruelty, selfishness (egocentrism), heartless (showing no mercy or concern for others), violence, etc. (Any behavior considered abhorrent or abnormal by societal standards).

I’m assuming by monster you mean a human being that acts abhorrently, so I will elaborate on that. I think the fundamental thing that makes a person seem like a monster isn’t necessarily their horrible deeds, but their attitude towards them. A person who is a monster does not see any fault with their decisions or thought process and will not work to change. They do not understand nor attempt to understand/care for basic morals. Because of this, the ordinary person cannot sympathize with or comprehend them, and it is this disconnect, this belief that this character/person possesses a fundamentally flawed outlook on life, that this person is “inhuman” that makes them a monster.
 

LotsChrono

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Monster = inhuman so I’d say...

Physically: Extraordinary size, abnormal appendages, slimy/scaly skin, etc. (Anything opposite to human textures or structures)

Emotionally/character-wise: Cruelty, selfishness (egocentrism), heartless (showing no mercy or concern for others), violence, etc. (Any behavior considered abhorrent or abnormal by societal standards).

I’m assuming by monster you mean a human being that acts abhorrently, so I will elaborate on that. I think the fundamental thing that makes a person seem like a monster isn’t necessarily their horrible deeds, but their attitude towards them. A person who is a monster does not see any fault with their decisions or thought process and will not work to change. They do not understand nor attempt to understand/care for basic morals. Because of this, the ordinary person cannot sympathize with or comprehend them, and it is this disconnect, this belief that this character/person possesses a fundamentally flawed outlook on life, that this person is “inhuman” that makes them a monster.
Oh oh, nice perspective. Thank you for the answer~screenshotted.
 

C.Sunlight

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Oh, oh, I've answered this recently and I have the best answer-

Wait.

*Squints*

*Squints harder*

Lots, what a betrayal! My answer, my love, wasn't enough for you?! For shame!
 

LotsChrono

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Oh, oh, I've answered this recently and I have the best answer-

Wait.

*Squints*

*Squints harder*

Lots, what a betrayal! My answer, my love, wasn't enough for you?! For shame!
Nope, I have a big appetite~Thus I need a lot of different opinions.
 

LotsChrono

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I like taking the society norms and making an extreme of it. Capitalism has Bernie Madoff, Fascists have Hitler, Authoritarians have Stalin. I have always believed the scariest monsters are the ones we make ourselves.
I see, I see, another avenue to ponder then. Thanks for the answer.
 

Nahrenne

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What do you think makes someone a monster? Just getting opinions for my next novella. So, just give me your honest thoughts.
If you want to be literal, then stuff like vampires, werewolves, demons, witches, etc...
Figuratively, then @BubbleC kind of covered a lot of that.

To me, another way that someone can be a monster is if they manage to manipulative someone considered to be good and pure into someone twisted and tarnished. The act of changing other people for the worse. The act of changing someone's views for the worse. I guess, in a way, someone who gaslights could be considered a monster in that regard. They suck out all the goodness in a person and leave them as an empty shell that's then shattered into pieces and ground into dust beneath their feet.

Hope you find the posts here helpful!
Good luck with your novella!

*huggles*

\(^o^)/

X
 

Macrendil-Ysmir

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Depends on what kind of monstrous MC you're looking for. People mentioned a monstrous appearance, that's a good start.
But character wise, I say it depends on the reaction the MC's surroundings have to his actions. Cannibalism f.e. is a monstrous act, but not if the MC is of a race that doesn't think anything of it, like Ghouls, rats, Goblins etc.

An MC could habitually enslave people and raze cities to the ground while being a Hero. It all depends on the portrayal and reactions.
 

Plantorsomething

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What do you think makes someone a monster? Just getting opinions for my next novella. So, just give me your honest thoughts.
From portrayals/ideas I’ve seen, not much different from what’s already here really. Nature is scary, man. That includes humans. Beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. So, a real monster should probably be something that doesn’t make sense.
A real monster wouldn’t want to grow, to consume, to love, or to reproduce, because those are very life-like things that could be considered beautiful in another perspective. So it wouldn’t have the desire to eat humans or take over the world, but something that just accidentally fucks everything up with complete callousness to anything. Doesn’t care about anything, no real instinctual desires, just does whatever it thinks is amusing. So basically, I think an immortal psychopathic entity that just fucks everything up for fun would be the closest to what I think of as a ‘monster.’ Nothing against real psychopaths though, they can be pretty cool people.
 

Pontan

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Psychopaths are monsters, mostly. Another kind of monster is someone driven by completely insane, harmful logic. And/Or: Driven by overwhelming desire and nothing else, like the seven deadly sins. A true monster I think is when you combine psychopathy with extreme, overwhelming desire.
If the desire is gluttony, the monster will mercilessly murder people and eat them. If the desire is greed, the monster would purposelessly accumulate wealth through theft, swindling and perhaps murder. If the desire is sloth, they will make slaves while torturing and blackmailing those who refuse to work for them. They are intelligent and rational while also following their horrendous desire without any empathy for the people it will end up ruining. Perhaps justified by some kind of irrational logic too. That is a true monster in my eyes.
 
D

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Monsters are those who have no remorse for the actions they do that harmed many other lives. They could be blinded by hatred, fear, greed and power, paranoia, corrupt, etc., etc. Monsters villifying whole innocent groups as scapegoats for their purposes and may even justify reducing innocent others to nothing. They may even take pleasure in doing all that destruction they have caused. They like to torture and break whoever they deem fit to get what they want out of them in the most sadistic cruel ways possible. They may just want to destroy or stir up chaos and see how it goes for amusement, not caring how many lives they ruined for their sense of entertainment. Those that prey and take advantage on the weak and vulnerable.
 

Hadassah

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I mean, you’ve got a lot of answers here.

I mean, my personal opinion is “monster” is purely a label of adversary to self by the ‘monstee’. There can’t be a solid definition of it outside context within a universe, a culture, or really an individual opinion.

anyway. Why do you ask?
 

DubstheDuke

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Are we saying a monster as in, a monster, or a monster as in, someone monstrous in their actions?

If we talk about the word 'monster' in of itself, I usually think of a beast without any intelligence. Anything which blindly follows it's own predatorial instincts, attacking without logic or reason and destroying without purpose.

However, if we go a bit deeper and view it such as 'A monster of a person', then I think we can get a bit of a more interesting definition here. I personally think that the number 1 thing which makes someone a monster would be hypocrisy on a massive scale. People who will hold others to standards very different from themselves. Tbh, I think that I could understand just about any villiain and their motivations, so long as they aren't a hypocrite. If they practice what they preach and would accept the situation if they were in someone else's shoes, then that makes them a character who is truly devoted to their own practices. However if, when put into the shoes of others, they freak out and call things unfair, then it makes them nothing more than scum.
 

LotsChrono

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I mean, you’ve got a lot of answers here.

I mean, my personal opinion is “monster” is purely a label of adversary to self by the ‘monstee’. There can’t be a solid definition of it outside context within a universe, a culture, or really an individual opinion.

anyway. Why do you ask?
Writing a novella about the subject of ‘monster’, which you can think of as a short novel. Longer than most short stories, but shorter than a novel. Anyhow, need to see how different people perceive a person as a monster, that’s all.

Thanks for the help as well~
Are we saying a monster as in, a monster, or a monster as in, someone monstrous in their actions?

If we talk about the word 'monster' in of itself, I usually think of a beast without any intelligence. Anything which blindly follows it's own predatorial instincts, attacking without logic or reason and destroying without purpose.

However, if we go a bit deeper and view it such as 'A monster of a person', then I think we can get a bit of a more interesting definition here. I personally think that the number 1 thing which makes someone a monster would be hypocrisy on a massive scale. People who will hold others to standards very different from themselves. Tbh, I think that I could understand just about any villiain and their motivations, so long as they aren't a hypocrite. If they practice what they preach and would accept the situation if they were in someone else's shoes, then that makes them a character who is truly devoted to their own practices. However if, when put into the shoes of others, they freak out and call things unfair, then it makes them nothing more than scum.
Naturally, the second of course. I want to see what people think makes an individual a monster. Everyone can objectively, in some ways, define a beast, but the second is naturally more subjective/interesting.

And oh oh, hypocrisy huh, that’s interesting. I can’t disagree there. Thanks for the help~
 

NotaNuffian

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Err, I consider monsters to be abnormal, so basically anything that does not conform under the bell curve of society/ humanity aka outliers I guess.

A hero that is way too strong is considered a monster, no matter how beneficial he/ she is is to the society.

Someone who is so weak (physical/ mentally/ emotionally) that their existence actually requiring constant intervention may be considered a monster/ hindrance of progress.

Likewise, too cold-blooded and you are a freak, too much of it and people think that you are a scheming bastard or hyper-emotional.

Extremism is not good and that is what I think about when you say monster.
 
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