BlackHeart Biohazards

Save me, chessmaster!

So I saw a post today about how there’s a certain character who, when viewed from the typical POV of the series protagonist, seems very put together, cool and aloof. But then, when we see material from the actual character’s POV we learn that they’re secretly, actually a dork.

The character in question specifically was Miles Edegworth, but the post got me thinking again on a topic that’s been needling the back of my mind for a few months. And that’s that this is the case with a certain type of character across the board.

Let’s call him (it can be a her or a they, but it’s usually a him) The Chessmaster. The Chessmaster is a character who is introduced to us from the point of view of a protagonist who is impressed by him, but doesn’t understand how he thinks. The protagonist either adores and hero-worships the Chessmaster, or some aspect of him, or else despises him and puts him on a pedestal of villainy. Sherlock Holmes is the most visible heroic example of this (and Moriarty usually falls into it in derivative material as well).

Either way, we are not privy to the Chessmaster’s thoughts through the protagonist. If the protagonist ascribes a certain way of thinking to the character, there is generally some obvious flaw in their understanding of that, because we’ll see the Chessmaster take actions that confuse the protagonist, and don’t mesh with the motivations and values the protagonist ascribes to the Chessmaster. The protagonist usually sees the Chessmaster as he (probably) wants to be seen– dignified, aloof, mysterious, in control at all times. More god, perhaps, than man.

And that’s how we the audience are used to seeing the Chessmaster.

But here’s the problem. Nobody (nobody who isn’t actually a god anyway) is like this all the time, and certainly nobody is like this all the time in their own head.

So if we shift POV from the usual protagonist to make the Chessmaster our POV protagonist, suddenly our understanding of the Chessmaster sharply shifts.

He’s not just a man who keeps control on a situation no matter what, and solves problems with flashes of insight. He’s a man who struggles. He’s a man who has stray thoughts. He’s a man who is sometimes– god forbid– wrong; even if he manages to make sure those times when he is wrong don’t show outside of his head.

Not only that, everyone has their tender, flexible moments. They say that everyone is the hero in their own mind, so of course the Chessmaster will see himself perhaps as acting in ways that are kind, or attempting to be nice– even when outwardly the actions that stem from these thoughts aren’t perceived that way by others.

So, suddenly we have a character who, even if they are acting outwardly the same as they always do when viewed by the protagonist, our insight into their internal process of how they got there is foreign to the reader. It seems, perhaps, out of character. Or even disappointing. Like the protagonist himself, seeing and understanding the Chessmaster as a human being removes the mystique of the character, removes the godhood.

Suddenly he’s not the all knowing chessmaster, he’s a guy who wants a sandwich.

And I’ve come to understand that you need to be very careful with this– especially in the realm of fanfiction.

If you decide to start writing from the POV of the Chessmaster character, it’s entirely possible that your audience– used to seeing them from the adoring POV of the protagonist– will be disappointed and find them out of character.

If you want to keep the veil and mystique up of the Chessmaster character, you have to keep him at a step removed. You have to keep seeing him through the eyes of someone who is impressed by him.

Or suddenly he’s just a guy. Maybe even a silly guy.

And for some people that spoils it.