Design Diary, Part II

Lateral Movement is, in simplest terms, the story of Lex Legis, my original character. However, if you've read the previous entry in these design diaries, you'll know that the character actually predates the story by over a year; even his first appearance in David Silver's A Dangerous Sparkle came over eight months after his first write-up on my other blog. That is to say, the character was made independent of the story; his presentation - including his personality and his abilities - wasn't originally developed with any greater narrative in mind. As Lex wasn't made to be a literary character - and so wasn't created to serve as part of a greater narrative framework - I wanted to go into some details as to why he was designed the way he was.

Lex's personality and its attendant quirks are a blend of several characters in other media that I'm fond of. To a very real degree, Lex is a composite of these individuals, as their characteristics formed the core ideas of his presentation. This led to my initial concept of who Lex was: someone who was extremely intelligent, and who wanted to use his intelligence in service to his community, but who was so completely lacking in social graces or personal charisma that he inevitably self-sabotaged his every effort. This created a juxtaposition that I found pleasing, as it not only gave Lex motivation for his actions, but also created an inherent conflict between himself and others: would people he met appreciate his genuinely-good ideas, even if they were presented very rudely? Or would they pay more attention to how the message was delivered, rather than its contents, and scorn him for his lack of charm?

For further insight into that, let's take a look at the characters that helped inspire Lex's creation. There were four altogether; two of which were major influences, and two of which were relatively minor. Likewise, two of them were characters that were noble in their deeds, and two that were more twisted in how they approached the world. I've tagged each entry appropriately:

Azalin Rex (major, evil): The presentation of Azalin Rex - king of Darkon, the largest domain in Ravenloft - as seen in Gene DeWeese's novel King of the Dead (and it's sequel, Lord of the Necropolis, though it wasn't as good as the first one) is one that I've long enjoyed. Smarter and more magically gifted than everyone else, Azalin holds everyone else to his own personal code of conduct, and those who fail to live up to it are shown neither compassion nor mercy. Moreover, Azalin refuses to entertain the possibility that his worldview could ever be wrong; to his thinking, anyone that tries and fails to live up to his standards is weak, while those who refuse to try at all are corrupt. Both are unforgivable.

Azalin represents Lex at his worst: a tyrant who is convinced that his superior intelligence and magical prowess justifies his inflexibility and dominance over others.

Doc Martin (major, good): The titular character from the hit British comedy Doc Martin, Martin Ellingham (played by Martin Clunes) is a big city doctor in a rural village in Cornwall. Stuffy and rigid, he has no social graces and doesn't care to learn any, which means that he gets along quite badly with the colorful country bumpkins that are his neighbors. Despite being a social outcast, Martin - who holds himself to be a consummate doctor - never shirks his responsibilities as the town's only medical caregiver. No matter what embarrassing situations he finds himself in, or what trouble the locals cause him (whether intentionally or by accident), he never hesitates to not only respond to various medical emergencies with the full measure of his considerable talent, but also proactively tries to safeguard everyone's health, even when doing so makes him (even more) unpopular. To him, that's what being a doctor means, and he never compromises on that no matter what happens.

Doc Martin represents Lex at his best: someone who is dedicated to doing everything they can to help their community, even when that community refuses to acknowledge the value of that help.

Lex Luthor (minor, evil): Despite what a lot of people think, Lex Luthor was not the source of Lex Legis's name (rather "lex legis" is Latin for "the promise" or "the covenant," and was chosen to highlight his ultra-lawful nature). However, the character - or rather, the version of the character played by Michael Rosenbaum on Smallville (or at least the first three seasons, as those are the only ones I watched) - was still influential. Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor was a young man who was brilliant and talented, but wrestled with overcoming his unhappy upbringing. This caused him to struggle to do the right thing in any given situation, especially when the wrong thing was often easier and more productive; to him, the angels of his better nature were very difficult to hear, whereas the metaphorical voices of his inner demons came through loud and clear.

Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor represents Lex during his darker points: someone who wants to do good but finds that his talents and inclinations make the bad options seem more viable.

Toby Ziegler (minor, good): Played by Richard Schiff on The West Wing (which I think was one of the best shows ever made for television...at least the first four seasons), Toby was White House Communications Director, which was rather ironic considering that he rarely smiled or laughed, instead being cutting and sarcastic with everyone around him. This was borne of his nature as a cynical idealist; he was very cognizant of all the good that could be done (whether personally or politically), but was constantly frustrated by how hard it usually was. But despite his gruffness, he never stopped trying to do everything he could, nor challenging the people in his life to do the same, including the President of the United States.

Toby represents Lex during his more optimistic moments: a person who isn't content to do anything less than his best, and in doing so encourages that same attitude in others.

While there were one or two other influencing characters (Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes comes to mind), these four played the biggest role in terms of showcasing the traits that I wanted Lex Legis to possess. Hopefully, I've done a good job, and I'd like to think that aspects of all of these characters shine through in Lex's presentation to date. Certainly, I'm going to try to make sure that they continue to do so going forward, since Lateral Movement has only barely begun...