Those Who Would Punch Ghosts

Pop quiz, hot shot! What are the three keys to a good storyworld? If you said “Surprise, fear, and a fanatical devotion to the Pope,” you’d be wrong, but I’d toss you a cookie for making me laugh. If you said “Setting, characters, and conflict,” you’d be right, which means you’ve been paying attention, and can probably guess what today’s post is about.

Yup, we covered the setting of the Ghost Punchers storyworld earlier this week, which means today we’re diving into the characters that live there.

As I’ve mentioned previously, storyworlds are too big to revolve around specific characters. Instead, they rely on character archetypes. A character can get you a cool story, but a character archetype can get you a whole world of cool stories, bro.

So who are the archetypical Ghost Punchers characters? Let’s take a look at the most obvious archetypes, the ghost punchers themselves. Without giving it too much thought (remember, I’m creating this storyworld here on the blog, pretty much making it up as I go along), I’ve identified a number of archetypes, divided by how they received their abilities:

• Chemists: It’s all about the drugs for these folks. Some are actual chemists, complete with lab coats and test tubes. Others are more… psychedelic, if you get what I’m saying, man.

• Mystics and Occultists: These punchers learned their craft from ancient tomes or wizened masters in mountain monasteries. (Hmm… I bet I could divide this into two different archetypes if I really wanted to.)

• Hereditary Psychics: Some people are just born with a gift to see the dead. Some of them get movies made about them. Others punch ghosts in obscurity.

• Supernatural Survivors: These people have touched the other side — or had it touch them. These are the survivors of near-death experiences, or chilling ghostly attacks. They’ve been changed by what they’ve gone through. Some say it’s a blessing. Some call it a curse. Many just want to punch something.
  

This seems like a good place to start. You’ll note I didn’t bother with those archetypes that aren’t unique to the storyworld. Yes, we’ve got police detectives, corrupt politicians, and evil corporate bigwigs — but until they start swinging at specters, they’re just background parts of the modern world.