M for Mystery
Tropes and Archetypes
Index: Underlings | The Villainous Way of Command | The Villain’s Apprentice
Deserved superiority | The Quest for thy Hate | Farm Commonwalker
The Definition
The Secret Badass or Mystery X, is perhaps one of my favorite character archetypes. Key word here is “secret” and, when introduced, our character's hero's journey must be kept hidden from the reader at all costs. Bar some token, carefully sprinkled around, delectable morsels of background information, or a breathtaking cinematic display of skill, the Mystery X wears a nigh impenetrable cloak.
Therein lies the main strength of this archetype – fascination.
Token few heroes or villains know mere specks of relevant information about our Mystery X character. Of course, the reader is provided with clue after clue in a well paced, gradual manner, so they could enjoy piecing everything together themselves. It is exactly like figuring out the mystery of a detective novel; finding out who the murderer is and what their motive/s are.
Mystery X character archetypes are probably best employed in longer stories, where the author has enough space to properly flesh out their mysterious background. The longer the better; an intricate onion made of layers of setups and clues, often purposely vague, hints should be presented to the reader from the very start.
The use of different tropes is welcome but moderation is advised.
Eventually, the reader/player/viewer is to be provided with more clues, but not all of them. Certain important bits of the Secret Badass's background skill or mystic knowledge should always be left to the reader's imagination. Until the story and plot demand another fact be unveiled, our readers must not be deprived of the satisfaction to put their always hungry for a good mystery imaginations to work!
However, up until the very end of this story, token few characters should know what color socks our Mystery X wears.
Character craft
To successfully field such a character in your long stories, one should plan everything from start to finish. This is a complex character archetype whose mysteriousness can rarely survive a missplot. I learned from my own mistakes and discovered that it is best to employ the three main tools of the Secret Badass archetype:
Imply.
Be vague.
The secret weakness.
Imply: Offer a number of carefully woven setups and clues, which, at a later time would help the reader peel off yet another layer of the Secret Badass's background/skill/knowledge Onion. In this, one relies on storytelling rather than storyshowing. The latter should be rarely used yet, when employed, the scene has to display a great level of badassery. Inner monologues and vague conversations with close confidants or allies are one of the best ways to storytell the Mystery X's Onion.
However, when you suggest, please do not write falsehoods. Running Hollywood's “subverting expectations.exe” would most probably cause the storytelling software you are wordcoding to crash. Unless you have planned to deploy one or two well-chosen lies early on, so the late story conclusions are even more impactful, you should stay away from this. No matter how vague the clue you offer, it should never be fake; it could be a tiny part of the whole, but inevitably, true.
Using carefully chosen hints in our storytelling should not confuse or infuriate the reader. Rather, the clue in our setup is a delectable dish we offer to their hungry for interesting thoughts brain cells.
Be vague: While presenting clue after clue, crafting all the needed setups in preparation for our Onion's inevitable final reveal, our storytelling and what little storyshowing there is, should be vague. By doing this we keep the bulk of the mystery a mystery, yet we aim to achieve this by having a wholesome level of obscurity.
Understandingly, to storytell and storyshow with a constant level of vagueness is not going to be easy. Therefore, when you plan your Mystery X character, make sure that the way you deliver your clues and setups to the readers isn't mindbogglingly hard. This is supposed to be something intriguing and fun, not some overbearing chore.
As an example, let us say that another character discovers a book the Mystery X character forgot laying on a table somewhere. Casually turning the pages on their way to return said book, the character discovers an intricate page holder, the likes of which they've never seen. Mystery X thanks the character for giving them their favorite book back and during a short conversation, slips a single, vague clue.
It is maybe an important event in their past which the book reminds them of. Or... the page holder, which already holds the interest of our reader since we made sure to describe it in detail, has a sentimental value for Mystery X. A gift from one of their teachers, a deceased family member, or their tragically lost lover?
Since you have a clear plan, you decided when, how, and exactly what kind of a vague clue shall be presented to the reader. This is a path for their minds to follow every setup leading to yet another and more satisfying reveal.
The Secret Weakness: Having established how exactly your character had achieved their super amazingness, you require some sort of a weakness. Since we aren't in the business of creating Mary Sue or Gary Stu characters, said weakness may not be something along the lines of “X hasn't realized his or her true potential yet.”
An example of a weakness could be some injury the Mystery X character sustained during their insane training montage. A bad knee which prevents them from pulling off a specific combat maneuver; a cybernetic replacement limb that could never keep up with the original; a mana imbalance which could cause a catastrophic magical failure.
The debilitating effect of said wound cannot be healed (or if, the recovery is insanely hard) and appears to hamper our character in the worst possible instance.
A vulnerable mystery
Indeed, the Secret Badass should be a proper mystery for enemy and friend. Though, that must not be a invulnerable character especially because they are a mystery. Keeping our readers on the edge of their seats is also not something that they'll tolerate forever. Therefore, one must plan specific instances throughout their long story when Mystery X is placed suddenly and unexpectedly in a most vulnerable situation.
Because this character archetype is established as someone who attained great skills, learned rare knowledge, and pretty much trained themselves to become super amazing, storyshowing them bleeding on the floor yields a much greater storytelling reward.
Imagine Goku from Dragon Ball or Saitama from One Punch Man and how their respective creators managed to place them in situations where even the godly skill they earned could not keep them from harm.
However, characters bleed not only blood; oftentimes they suffer or are affected by wounds of the soul. In using this storytelling device, our Secret Badass is one of the most perfect candidates for lingering mental pain or, for example, constant battle against PTSD. The decision if they are willing to open up and share their pains with a confidant, or face the wraiths of the mind alone, is entirely up to you, the author.
The Indie opinion
I would advise you to plan, plan, and then plan some more, if you want your Secret Badass to be greatly efficient. If you do not over-mystify your character and provide enough, vague, yet true clues to cement your setups, the late story payoffs would most probably be quite satisfying. Moreover, when given a gradual supply of hints, the reader's imagination will be happy and constantly trying to unveil the secrets of your character.
Fellow wordsmiths, I will leave you with an excerpt from my humble writings. This is Captain Anit'za's glossary entry, which I originally wrote as a character craft note. The good captain is my attempt at writing a Mystey X character and, according to many of my most wholesome readers, he is indeed, a Secret Badass extraordinaire!
Keep reading and keep wordsmithing.
“Anit’za of the great Dzenta’rii house Morat’za is the captain of Starshatter. He set out on a “quest” to find a better vintage than the finest Empress Ulit’ze 2833 GSY of which he has the last bottle in existence in the Galaxy. Whether that is his ultimate goal and what his Grand Plan really is, nobody knows.
An enigma to all, even his closest friends like the android sommelier Jovos, Anit’za spent most of his time training himself to perfection. Doing so in secret, in order to not only become “super amazing,” but to fight the terrible boredom of his predestined future and daily, dreary existence. Whenever asked by any member of his crew, he enigmatically answers:
“Why would you like to know all a man’s secrets? If you do, then the man is no more interesting than any other man. We can’t have that!”
Dzenta’rii look very much like humans, but slimmer and slightly shorter than the average human. Anit’za is one of the rare Dzenta’rii, whose skulls are slightly elongated. He keeps his hairdo simple, never colors his long light blue hair and mostly wears it braided, despite what the current fashionistas say. Eyes are black, with blue irises, and his skin pale white.
Dzenta’rii love fine clothes, drink, food and Anit’za is no exception. He had trained himself in the heretical skill of cooking and could openly practice this craft while on board Starshatter. He especially likes an old-school Dzenta’rii navy uniform that looks similar to what 18th-century earth navies wore. One rare dzenta’rii ion pistol and a purposely worthless looking energy saber adorn his belt and are his primary weapons that he wields with great proficiency.”
Keep reading and keep wordsmithing!
Honorable Tags:
It also works well for groups as well as individuals- I did it like that in one of my longer works.
“Why would you like to know all a man’s secrets? If you do, then the man is no more interesting than any other man. We can’t have that!”
Definitely true!