The motivations that drive a killer to kill.
So, I just want this topic to be about brainstorming new and interesting motivations behind why killers are driven to kill. I always enjoyed reading the killer bios and seeing how their back stories played a role into shaping them into what they became.
With that said, let's explore a few areas that I don't think have been done yet and would be appreciated:
Th instrument of justice/righteous fury: A killer who is motivated by his desire to punish evil. Often, serial killers rationalize their murders by claiming they're ridding the world of filth or sinners. It usually takes the form of murdering what are perceived to be adulterous/promiscuous women but could be manifested in a variety of ways that would be less problematic.
Divine mission/calling: Closely related to the first, but distinctive in a way. Our killer could be suffering from mental illness that manifests itself as religious delusions, like hearing voices from angels that command them to kill. For example, Andrea Pia Yates drowned her five sons because she believed God had commanded her to do so.
Natural selection/social darwinism: This killer believes that his killing is a natural part of the circle of life. Spiders don't apologize for eating flies, lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep. This killer believes that his victims are inherently inferior and their removal from this earth is simply evolution playing out its normal course. To quote Hannibal Lecter "It's only murder if they're your equal"
Money/Profit: This one is simple and bit obvious, but could still be interesting. Not something as boring as a hitman, but something much darker, like say someone who kills people to sell their organs on the black market could be intriguing.
Fascination/Curiosity: This killer isn't fueled by malice but rather a perverted sense of scientific progress. He/she could start out exhuming bodies for study similar to how Leonardo Davinci did, but to further his studies, live subjects were needed. I think this is similar to the doctor, but distinctive in the sense that the doctor ended up becoming motivated to kill as a result of his research, as opposed to his research being the motivation itself.
The aesthetically driven killer: This killer sees beauty and poetry in death, fueled to kill by a perverted and warped sense of romanticism. This killer doesn't merely get off on snuffing out life, rather feeds off the drama and theatre that the perilous situations his victims find themselves in create. Since this one is a bit more abstract than the others, I'll illustrate a bit more in depth. Let's call our killer "the mad playwright" who finds inspiration by kidnapping families and lovers, placing them into situations where they might be forced to kill each other. The words they say to each other or the acts of bravery they perform are then used by the killer to put in his work.
Personally, I would really love to see something like the last one.
I'll add in a few more later, but those were the big three off the top of my head. So, what would you like to see? What would intrigue as far as motivations go?
Comments
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@Wahara doesn't the Clown fall into the last category?
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In a way, yes. The clown takes fingers that he finds to be aesthetically pleasing, but that seems to be more of an aspect of his killer persona than a base motivation. The clown is also concerned with physical beauty over more abstract things like poetic beauty.
The playwright, for example, may stalk a family and observe that a single mother of three clearly favors her eldest child over her two youngest. He/she then places them into a situation where the mother has to choose which children live and which children die. Perhaps she would be forced by methods of torture, coercion, etc. to confess why she favored her eldest over her two youngest. Depending on what takes place, such as the two youngest forgiving their mother, consoling/reassuring her for the decision she's about to make, emotionally moves the killer into sparing everyone.
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I miss the sadistic psychopath monster.
Some killer just want to spread havoc and indulge in their power over life and death.
Leatherface for example is just a canibalistic brute driven by lower instincts.In what category you would put someone like Jason or Myers?
They ain't driven by angelic voices of justice. They are evil incarnates.0 -
I don't think they ever figured out what they wanted to do with Michael Myers. At first they wanted to make him an abused kid, then they made him into the cursed reincarnation of a murdered druid or some #########.
I just think pure evil type characters are fairly boring. I don't think something like that has really been done in a way that feels new and exciting since the release of the original exorcist.
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Mikey will kill whoever hits on his Laurie, it's that simple
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@Wahara said:
I don't think they ever figured out what they wanted to do with Michael Myers. At first they wanted to make him an abused kid, then they made him into the cursed reincarnation of a murdered druid or some #########.I just think pure evil type characters are fairly boring. I don't think something like that has really been done in a way that feels new and exciting since the release of the original exorcist.
Your vision of killer and their motivations is pretty… nice?
All just seek justice or vengance or salvation.I like those that just like bloodshed and the thrill of the hunt.
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Fun fact: Myers and Laurie were never meant to be realted. John Carpemter never planned a sequel and didn't even have much involvement in Halloween 2 so his original motivation in Halloween 1 like in the new movie: we sill have 0 idea.
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And THAT original premise of the intangible killer instinct is what makes Mikey my #1Mr_Myers said:Fun fact: Myers and Laurie were never meant to be realted. John Carpemter never planned a sequel and didn't even have much involvement in Halloween 2 so his original motivation in Halloween 1 like in the new movie: we sill have 0 idea.
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