Power of Will characters fear showing any sign of weakness or vulnerability. They fear that remorse, compassion, empathy, compromise or forgiveness leaves them soft and open to possible attack by others. These characters believe there is no mercy in the jungle that is the world. There is only survival of the fittest. The biggest, toughest, meanest dog wins. Might makes right. Demand what you want and back it up with a big gun. Case in point, John Wayne in the 1948 movie Red River:
These characters speak in a manner that is:
Confident, Robust, Lusty, Passionate, Direct, Bold, Commanding, Incendiary, Ebullient, Decisive, Strong, Energetic, Aggressive, Powerful , Authoritative, Assertive, Forceful, Magnetic, Unyielding, Larger-Than-Life
They can be in speech and action:
Brutal/Brutish, Rash, Impulsive, Thuggish, Exploitive, Reckless, Controlling, Implacable, Territorial, Vindictive, Confrontational, Cruel, Loutish, Pugnacious, Dictatorial, Paranoid, Obstinate, Predatory, Belligerent, Oppressive, Autocratic, Bellicose, Savage
These are all action words. Put “to be” in front of any of these words and you have what the character plays in any scene. If the character is not playing one of these actions in a scene it’s probably a good idea to rethink the scene and its objective.
For more on Power of Will Character, both heroes and villains click HERE
For more examples of all the character types, you can purchase my in-depth e-books at the ETB shop, or you can read more articles on all the “Power Of…” types including James Bond, Doctor Who, Batman and Sherlock Holmes, every Tuesday. There are also 9 Pinterest boards full of character examples online. Check them out and let us know at [email protected] if you have any other suggestions.
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In the war between emotion and reason, emotion always wins. Always.
Why? Emotion leads to action but thinking leads to conclusions. If you want to motivate people you must engage their emotions. You don’t need them to think. You need them to GO!
This is something the Democrats will have to accept and utilize– again. Hope, President Obama’s slogan, is a powerful emotion. It drove a wide and varied electorate to the polls and changed history.
Anger and fear are also powerful emotions. Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” implies the country is no longer great and it is, in fact, slipping away. Outsiders are flooding in. Social values are changing. “Real” American citizens are being marginalized and pushed out of positions of power.
Those feelings drove unhappy, mostly white, voters to the polls to reclaim their superiority and assert their privilege. They wanted to change history back before the truly marginalized got “uppity” and forgot their place. They wanted a “strong man” to bully and aggressively “put down” those who want social change.
Power of Will characters, like Donald Trump, divide the world into aggressors and victims, hunters and prey, and the strong and the weak. They believe it is better to be feared than to be loved. They never want to be seen as “soft” or vulnerable. They show no mercy to anyone. But, in the end, it’s all about their own survival.
Power of Will Characters will throw anyone under the bus if it comes down to a threat to their own survival. This is something Trump’s family might want to keep in mind. Love doesn’t figure into the equation.
Tony Soprano, another Power of Will Character, proved this with chilling dramatic effect. Christopher Molisante is arguably one of the people Tony loved most in this world. During a time when Christopher relapses and starts taking drugs again, he and Tony get in a car accident. Christopher is babbling and Tony, afraid his secrets might be betrayed, kills Christopher with his bare hands.
In an earlier episode, Christopher says, “That’s the guy Adrianna, my uncle Tony. The guy I’m going to hell for.” Little did he know Tony would personally send him there. Love is ancillary, promises are meaningless, assurances are worthless, as we’ve seen over and over in Trump’s White House.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6t08B37ugA
Both Tony Soprano and Donald Trump share the characteristics in the infographic below.
The only way to defeat a Power of Will Character is with integrity. It’s kryptonite to bullies. Watch Robert Mueller quietly building a case. No leaks. No showboating. He is slowly assembling the evidence. True integrity will win out. I believe in what Theodore Parker said before the Civil War. I believe in hope.
We cannot understand the moral Universe. The arc is a long one, and our eyes reach but a little way; we cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; but we can divine it by conscience, and we surely know that it bends toward justice. Justice will not fail, though wickedness appears strong, and has on its side the armies and thrones of power, the riches and the glory of the world, and though poor men crouch down in despair. Justice will not fail and perish out from the world of men, nor will what is really wrong and contrary to God’s real law of justice continually endure.
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