I enjoy fantasy stories. As bloated as Tolkien's books are, the sections where he actually discusses topics relevant to the plot are some of the most engrossing pieces of literature I have ever read. It was the epic scale of his writing which inspired me to write my own stories (minus all the unnecessary crap that bores you to tears). Every time I would read a book written by someone else, I would be left missing something. It was not until I wrote my own stories that I realized what that was, because unknowingly I have made every story I've written match that criteria. If you read each of my stories, you will see the same exact formula:

1. The main character is good, but flawed.

2. The story is always good versus evil.

3. The main character is always inexperienced and/or young, and has a mentor or someone else who has greater experience and knowledge of the world around them.

4. The main character always has a hidden power.

5. The main character always wins, completely and undeniably.


Here are the facts proving the above 5 points. WARNING! Spoilers abound. Do not read any further if you ever plan on reading one of my stories. As always, you can find them here.

1. Chiitsu wanted to help people, but his vampire side (mostly his thirst for blood) caused many different problems. He also had issues with interacting with other people. Kobal felt he was a failure and had low self-esteem. Ren couldn't wield his sword and thus had "short-man" syndrome.

2. Chiitsu vs. the evil vampires. Kobal vs. the evil zintobi. Ren vs. the evil demons.

3. Chiitsu was a normal guy who became a vampire with extraordinary powers, but no idea how to use them. Yoshi acted as his mentor. Kobal's handicap hindered his ability to learn zintobi techniques. Aji was his mentor. Ren's inability to wield his sword hindered his ability to fight demons. Mostly all the other demon hunters acted as his mentor at any particular time.

4. Chiitsu had the power of Earth. Kobal had mystic Zin. Ren possessed the Paradigm Sword.

5. Chiitsu disintegrated the main villain. Kobal chopped the main villain into tiny pieces. Ren impaled the main villain through the head with his sword.


The unfinished story I have lying around here somewhere follows the same formula. Mostly, it's just a beginning and then a bunch of ideas scribbled on a notepad. The most memorable idea that I can think of off the top of my head was the following scenario that I'll share with you:

Imagine the main character, Saburo Sasaki, is quite similar to Kobal -- he is a warrior-in-training, but is a failure. This time, however, it's not a physical handicap such as the one placed on Kobal, but a mental one. Saburo fails to believe in himself, and thus fails at everything he attempts to do. The theme here being that the power of will is stronger than anything else.

Enter a token villain. As most token villains, it's quite the small spectrum. Shift him a bit to the right and he is pure evil. Shift him a bit to the left and he's a good person. At this time, he's right in the middle, and is looking for a fight. The unique power this villain has is that he is able to see the power within everyone. He can see what they are capable of, even if that person doesn't know it themselves. What's special about this, is that even though he can see it, it doesn't necessarily mean the person is capable of displaying it. The villain, of course, is unable to understand this, and is simply looking for the strongest person around to fight, because any good villain loves to fight.

This villain is feared across the entire planet. When word of his eminent arrival in Saburo's village is heard, panic ensues. The strongest warriors train night and day in preparation, so they will have some semblance of hope to defeat him and survive.

The day comes, and the villain arrives. The strongest warriors of the village are there, waiting for him. The rest of the village is watching from a distance. Imagine everyone's surprise when he bellows the name of his chosen opponent: Saburo Sasaki, a mere student on the verge of dropping out of the academy.

What is even more unique about this idea is the way in which Saburo is able to defeat the villain. Fighting does occur, and Saburo gets pummelled. The villain keeps getting angrier and angrier, threatening to destroy the entire village is Saburo keeps refusing to display his true power. Saburo can't, of course, because he doesn't believe that he possesses such power. However, even though he cannot win, he continues to stand back up after each bone crunching attack. He puts himself between the monster and his home. A revelation occurs, and the villain realizes that he was witnessing Saburo's true power the entire time -- his refusal to give up, which is more powerful than any physical attack the villain is capable of inflicting. Without realizing it or even trying to do so, Saburo puts a mirror in front of the villain in the form of himself. The villain sees himself: Someone strong, but a different kind of strong. Someone wanting acceptance, whereas Saburo has it all inside of him and the villain expresses it through violence and wanting to be the (physically) strongest. This makes the villain realize there's another way, and he stops. He and Saburo become friends, and share a mutual respect for one another.

That's just one of the ideas that I have bouncing around in my head, and it will serve as a "mini-plot" within the main story, much like the "fire demon" story within Kobal, or the side story about Kaori and her father in Paradigm. A lot of the time, these mini-stories end up being my favorite parts of the entire production.


The cause of this rambling was a blog post I read earlier today about fantasy fiction, and it just got my mind moving on some of these things again. It's been a while since I've looked at the Saburo story, and I'm sure I could punch all sorts of holes in it at this point. Don't expect to see any chapters uploaded in the foreseeable future, cause as I said it's mostly notes on a scratch pad at this point. I think the last time I worked on the story, I was beginning to feel it becoming too similar to Kobal. But we'll see.