Ah Achilles. What can I say about Achilles?
A lot. I can say a lot.
I came up with him during Arx's early chapters. Simply, I needed a 'first hero' to encourage Joey along his path or some such.
It didn't take long before Achilles got out of control. When I make a character, I usually find that they tend to make their own decisions on me.
"What? You're the author! Make them do what you want!"
If only it was that simple. I'm sure other writers will sympathize. Characters tend to just do what they want. You can use external forces to push them, but their decisions seem to be their own. I guess that means I made a character that acts enough like a human that they can fool a reader. Or something. Because in the end, characters aren't fully fledged people; they're just a simulation created by an artist.
That's a little too existential. Back to Achilles the problem child.
And yes, he is a problem child. I started out thinking of him as a sort of Superman-alike and within a few days he'd become a Superman-wannabe. And this wannabe basically put himself at the center of a narrative of sorts. He thinks of himself as the original hero, and the paragon everyone else needs to live up to.
He's not. But he's doing his best to fake it. We don't see much of the man behind the mask, but we do get a glimpse in Chapter 12. We see James, a.k.a. Achilles' secret identity, struggling when his public perception takes a dive. I kind of don't blame him for getting down over that; I'd probably feel crappy too in his shoes.
At his heart, James Flores is a selfish person who wants to be special. That's how he's developed thus far, and maybe he'll grow out of that eventually. For now, he's pretty wrapped up in himself. Not a good example for others to follow, but he's pretty good at faking stuff. Except intelligence. That's a bit trickier to fake.
His power, invincibility, is an homage to the Superman thing. Because seriously, if you're writing superhero anything, I feel like it's hard to not be influenced by someone who's so ingrained in pop culture (at least the pop culture I'm familiar with). But the way I write my Miracle Bearers, each person has one gimmick. And exactly one gimmick. There are very few exceptions. Achilles can't be cut or pierced by weapons. Rayguns don't work. Knives don't work. But if you punch him, you can leave a bruise.
And he can't fly or shoot lasers out of his eyes or the million other powers modern Superman has developed. Too OP and too destructive. Because another rule of the gimmicks: They can't cause too much structural damage to Arx. It's basically a massive airplane. You don't break the airplane.
Achilles' power ended up a bit of a counterpart to Jumper's. Jumper does have a two-fold power since it wouldn't really work to have the jump-high power without the fall-damage-negation power. Otherwise he'd break every bone in his body again. So Jumper is immune to a damage type Achilles isn't. In D&D terms, Jumper is immune to bludgeoning, while Achilles is immune to piercing and slashing.
Achilles might also have other damage resistances according to D&D standards, but those are the big two.
As an aside, my editor despises Achilles and enjoys watching him suffer.
Next month I'll post another two entries! One on the worldbuilding and one on a specific character. If you have an idea for what you want me to write about, send me a message on Twitter or Patreon!