In my fantasy series i really do not want to have "another Prophecy" so i am trying to decide how to figure out why these evil men have been trying to end off the bloodline for centuries without having some prophecy of him saving the world, or being able to defeat them using some magic weapon. I fell like these are cliches and i was searching for something else any ideas would help me decide
maybe they want revenge for something that happened in the past. Just think of other types of motives which will create conflinct between the protagonist and antagonist
Using a prophesy isn't such a bad template for a story. What would make it cliche, would be if you use generic characterization to drive your ideas. Make that unique and fresh. I believe if you make your characters real by placing them in well-written situations that your reader has no choice but to believe--no matter how implausible the situation-- and introduce conflict then show them extricating themselves; Any idea will work. Even if you've seen it done repeatedly. Remember, there are very few original ideas any more; if any left at all.
How about: The bad guys are fanatics who believe the bloodline is tainted and evil. For example, they may believe one of the distant ancestors was a demon. The bloodline belongs to the greatest hero there ever was, and has historically produced quite a few heroes, so the bad guys believe it may eventually produce someone capable of defeating them. It's not prophecy, just sensible precaution. At one point in history, the entire known world was ruled by one king. The kingdom fell apart long ago, but some people want to re-establish it, and need one of the old bloodline to pull it off. The bad guys try to stop them by killing off any potential candidates - present and future. Perhaps because the bad guys are lead by someone who is taking a shot at becoming world-ruler himself, but is not of royal blood. Or maybe because a unified rule is the only way to stave off an invasion from the bad guys.
How about adding a flaw to the good guys? Maybe they tried to rid themselves the evil guy’s ancestors and were a little zealous about it. In your timeline, revenge then becomes plausible and some might say justified.
Islander, you have just solved a major plot dilemma I've been wrestling with in my new novel. Thanks! pippin - personally, I like the 'Hatfields & McCoys' take. The bad guys have been fighting with the good guys because centuries ago a good guy shafted a bad guy, stole his wife, killed his brother, deposed his king, whatever. So now, 200 years later, they're still fighting but they don't know why. Revenge, however diluted, is a great motive, and while it's a common motive, there are a million ways to write about revenge without falling into the cliches about it.
Thanks for all the advice, ecspecially Islander when i read your post i had an epiphany on my novel Thanks again !
im not sure how generic this is, but what about something along the lines of the baddies and goodies have been fighting for centuries, and cant remember why. they have a old worn tablet or parchment (assuming this is medieval) that condems the good guys for some terrible crime - which of cause the goodies deny- like the massacre of a city, but the tablet/parchment can be interpreted two ways, or it is worn, and the baddies just filled in the worn bits to start a war, cause they proffit from war. there are several ideas there, if you where to include them all it would be terribly complex. but there is my two bobs worth
The bad guys have suffered misfortunes for generations. Each time, someone of the targeted bloodline has been present, so in their dim ape minds, they have concluded that the bloodline is cursed to them. Therefore, they resolve to put an end to it. You can leave it to the reader to decide if there really was some destiny involved.
I always like the mafia take on this. Somebody from the family insulted one of the bad guys, so he decides to wipe the entire family out.
Perhaps the good bloodline possesses something that will one day destroy the world, only they have no idea that it will. So the bad guys pursue them in the hopes of saving the world, but the bloodline worships this object as if it were a god, or something along those lines. So, all in all, the image of the 'bad guys' and 'good guys' becomes blurred, or even switched. I don't know, maybe that's a little too obscure... just a passing thought.
There's a lot of good ideas bouncing round already. Another possibility is that, rather than a Prophesy, a historic bad guy or other laid down a Curse upon the good guys. For example, "For 100 generations, your sons will all die before their 18th Year". The bad guys may feel obligated to their ancestor to make sure that it comes to pass, possibly even in fear of retribution from the scary bad ancestor! ~Tom
