You're an assassin,

[Cavernio]

born and raised. You've killed as a living your whole life, never hesitating once you've decided to do the deed, which also means never hesitating because you take your job seriously and would never accept a contract that you wouldn't do. You also don't just kill for others, but take tasks up on yourself, but all for the better good, not personal glory, money or achievement. (Twisted yes, but that's how you think. Think killing Hitlers or something if it helps.)

What might now, after so many years of close to perfection, cause you to hesitate killing someone that you strongly feel is evil or a threat?

Looking for help in the novel I'm working on now.

[Ninty64]

The first things I think of:
1. You're starting to question something about yourself (i.e. progressively)
2. There's an unexpected twist. (e.g. "Luke, I am your father")
3. You're experiencing something for the first time (e.g. Love)

Which is why I don't write stories, because I'm too cliche lol.

[Sephiroth28]

As you come across the target that is supposedly evil you see them save someones life right before your eyes, and wonder if why someone who was supposed to be bad would do something like that. Then you begin to wonder if your past targets were bad at all, or did you just kill them under information you believed to be true.

That's my thought.

[UnkownMan]

Turns out that said person doesn't actually exist. The story goes paranormal from there.

[A2P]

well...

an arrest warrant would be a pretty strong deterrent

[Emithith]

Originally Posted by UnkownMan

Turns out that said person doesn't actually exist. The story goes paranormal from there.

Or a changed Alias that no one knows about anymore
Off government records (ex. pronounced "dead")

Yeah, there has to be some sort of feeling involved if it's a confrontation where the person they need to kill is in the room, and they can't kill them.

Or maybe they're across a crowded room (eg. party, dinner buffet, etc.)

[Evnoir]

When you try to kill the person, he/she disappears.

World starts to fade away - you lose consciousness.

Regain consciousness; realize you're actually a video-game character lmaooo

Hesitation was from lag.

[Tibs]

it turns out you have been hired to kill yourself oh BAM what a twist

i demand royalties when this takes off

[icontrolyourworld]

an arrow to the knee

[MinaciousGrace]

hasn't the killer that's suddenly grown a conscious been waaaaaaaaaaay worn out by now

like in every way possible

like that village whore that's banged everything with any number of legs in every position imaginable

oh oh oh i got it

what if he suddenly finds out his mark is.... HIS FATHER

oh **** that was done in 1980

yea good luck bro

[Emo_Saur_]

He found out about ffr, never left his room again.

/endstory

[NickGallagher7]

Being a writer of a few novels, most of which went unfinished 75% through.. (I guess I'm bad at ending things.. Always have been.)

And a frequent reader of dark novels.

Why not go with a sort of.. first person.. inside the mind of the character tale. Have him go insane. The reader, reading through his eyes, sees things the way he does. Twisted. Wrong. Differently from society. He stops doing his assignments, becomes a murderer. Before he used his assignments to justify what he was doing, but as he loses more and more of his sanity he no longer needs it. Better yet, make him a girl.

You rarely read through the eyes of a female killer. And never through the eyes of one who is going insane.

The trick is, even though she is bat **** crazy, she is damn good at what she does. Her life as a killer and her life as a normal person start to become one, along with her imagination and reality. Schizophrenia. It leads to paranoia. She is outcasted. But doesn't know it.

She hesitates killing somebody because she pulled a fight club. The person is her. Except it's her.. Superego, whereas the id has manifested itself in her physical body. Although that takes away from the fact that the person you are killing is evil.. If you go this route they don't have to be anymore.

I dunno. It made sense in my head. And I like tales of insanity. And think one through the eyes of a female psychopath would be interesting.

Although I hardly think that was the route you were going for. Oh well. Time to write one myself. Don't worry I won't take your assassin idea.

[Emithith]

I don't know if this is what he just said,

But the twist of the person being made from your psyche is an interesting twist indeed.
When he says Fight Club he means Tyler Durden being seen as a totally different person from the main character, but towards the end of the story he realizes it's himself. What I think "Nick" was getting at is make the Mark a person that in the end the reader and main character realize is them. The person then somehow slips out of insanity and the dark story turns happy and the end.
I mean what? Just make him kill himself because of this new found ego. ROFL.

Oh snap, actually, you know what would be really interesting?
Base this around humanity, make the reader identify with the character to a point where they almost think it's themselves and make the person slip into insanity, have to kill someone and then suddenly sees themselves as a killer, and slowly (insanely) talks himself out of it, goes into a fit and throws himself out of a building. lol

[NickGallagher7]

Originally Posted by Emithith

I don't know if this is what he just said,

But the twist of the person being made from your psyche is an interesting twist indeed.
When he says Fight Club he means Tyler Durden being seen as a totally different person from the main character, but towards the end of the story he realizes it's himself. What I think "Nick" was getting at is make the Mark a person that in the end the reader and main character realize is them. The person then somehow slips out of insanity and the dark story turns happy and the end.
I mean what? Just make him kill himself because of this new found ego. ROFL.

That is just about what I was getting at !

Just took a look at it from a freudian perspective. My Psych final was today and all. So I'm all thinking is psych terms right now. Just like Tyler Durden was essentially the embodiment of a persons Id, perhaps make the next victim the embodiment of an insane girls superego. So reverse it. The physical part of the main character goes insane and the imaginary embodiment is the part that the main character may now realize has been holding her back from her "true potential" for all of these years. Not killing children for example.

For those of you who aren't taking a psych course or whatever it may be:
Superego is essentially the part of you that is rewarded by doing good. Guided by morals.

Id is the part that is driven by pure pleasure and nothing else.

Ego is the part that reasons with the two to come at a good conclusion.
Think the angel and devil on peoples shoulders, with the head in between.

On the other hand I'm totally touched you liked my idea !

[ghost-]

Originally Posted by Tibs

tibs posted

wat

[igotrhythm]

Mainly, hesitation is caused by new input that needs to be processed and compared to what was previously known. To this end I support the idea of the assassin witnessing their target do a redeeming act while doing the necessary research to set up the hit. Perhaps while undercover as a servant, he is checking out the layout of the estate and sees his target do an appropriately altruistic act from an upstairs window.

Alternately, I could get behind the "false information" hook. The Oblivion Dark Brotherhood quest line has it made known that there's a traitor in the ranks, and that traitor uses your dead drop locations to have you knock off other members, so it's not like it hasn't happened before. However, this is less likely to happen given that the situation that led to this isn't a contract kill.

The last thing that could lead you to not pull the trigger is evidence that this target prepared for some other form of trouble that happens to be effective against your murder attempts. Maybe your target is also being hunted by an even more corrupt person or organization, such as a loan shark. This could even tie into the first idea I mentioned. (To catch a thief...)

[Emithith]

Originally Posted by NickGallagher7

That is just about what I was getting at !

Just took a look at it from a freudian perspective. My Psych final was today and all. So I'm all thinking is psych terms right now. Just like Tyler Durden was essentially the embodiment of a persons Id, perhaps make the next victim the embodiment of an insane girls superego. So reverse it. The physical part of the main character goes insane and the imaginary embodiment is the part that the main character may now realize has been holding her back from her "true potential" for all of these years. Not killing children for example.

For those of you who aren't taking a psych course or whatever it may be:
Superego is essentially the part of you that is rewarded by doing good. Guided by morals.

Id is the part that is driven by pure pleasure and nothing else.

Ego is the part that reasons with the two to come at a good conclusion.
Think the angel and devil on peoples shoulders, with the head in between.

On the other hand I'm totally touched you liked my idea !

You had to take psych classes to figure that out? lol I thought it before reading your post, then was like shit, ninja'd.