Monsters born of the minds of humanity.

[Jerynboe]

So I am slowly planning out a Real Book (tm) and the core magic system is based on belief. I won’t go into it, but the part I thought would make for a fun prompt is that excess magical energy from belief pools and eventually calcifies into creatures. These creatures tend to be built around archetypes that people (rationally or irrationally) believe exist.

The examples I’ve made up so far are two extremes: the Lurker in Darkness and the Chad Incubus.

The Lurker in Darkness is born of the irrational, primal certainty that there is SOMETHING watching you from the shadows. Anytime someone walks home alone and jumps at every sound, they feed into the collective pool that spews these things out. They come in humanoid and animalistic forms, always indistinct, and flee from lights. They will only strike if someone is completely isolated, and are responsible for many random disappearances.

The Chad Incubus is the composite of everything people hate or fear about successful men in the current dating market. He’s unreasonably handsome, he’s successful, he’s charming, he will promise whatever he needs to, and he will string along as many women as he can. He doesn’t care about any of them personally no matter what he says, and if he can get away with it he will do unspeakable things to them before vanishing and using his powers to make a whole new identity.

So, what do you think and are there any ideas that spring to mind for more creatures that could fit into this paradigm? Good, bad, neutral, or esoteric are all on the table. And if I ever stop writing what I’m currently working on, do I have your permission to use your ideas if I like them? Lol.

 

[Placeholder]

The self-made man billionaire. Emerald mine heir, runs a space program, ketamine addict, secretly a fascist ...

 

[CharlesEBrown]

If you want you can use this: The Other.
It looks almost like you but different enough that something is off. It always seems to be friendly, but it also always seems to want something, and that something becomes stuff you value more and more - first it wants to be friends with your kids, then it wants to marry one of them, then it wants your job, eventually taking everything that makes you you in the process...

 

[eternalparticle]

Complex Demons

Born out of human complexes, these are psychogenic manifestations that gather around a human whose psyche is dominated by a single complex. The stronger and more polarised the complex, the stronger the demon becomes. These are rare, not found easily because they are parasitic and need a human host psyche to exist, not to mention the host must have a single strong complex. Complex demons feed on the conflict between belief and identity.

Examples (based on host):
- God Complex Demon (Human host has a strong god complex): The demon feeds on delusions of grandeur. It will appear as a radiant divine entity (god) making the host believe in him (or it?) and keep up his facade until the host sacrifices his sanity while worshipping this monster.

- Control Complex Demon: May appear as a "dark" side, or "inner voice" that guides the host into achieving the control that they want, the demon will guide the host into manipulating and deceiving others. In reality it is the puppeteer and the host becomes the puppet.

- Inferiority Complex Demon: May appear as a weak human bounded by chains when the host looks into the mirror. The demon will make the human believe that they must destroy and dominate others to prove their worth for they are not good enough.

 

[Jerynboe]

Complex Demons

Born out of human complexes, these are psychogenic manifestations that gather around a human whose psyche is dominated by a single complex. The stronger and more polarised the complex, the stronger the demon becomes. These are rare, not found easily because they are parasitic and need a human host psyche to exist, not to mention the host must have a single strong complex. Complex demons feed on the conflict between belief and identity.

Examples (based on host):
- God Complex Demon (Human host has a strong god complex): The demon feeds on delusions of grandeur. It will appear as a radiant divine entity (god) making the host believe in him (or it?) and keep up his facade until the host sacrifices his sanity while worshipping this monster.

- Control Complex Demon: May appear as a "dark" side, or "inner voice" that guides the host into achieving the control that they want, the demon will guide the host into manipulating and deceiving others. In reality it is the puppeteer and the host becomes the puppet.

- Inferiority Complex Demon: May appear as a weak human bounded by chains when the host looks into the mirror. The demon will make the human believe that they must destroy and dominate others to prove their worth for they are not good enough.

I like the idea in broad strokes, and it gave me another idea. More than half of the people I know who have mental situations (ADD, anxiety, etc) like to externalize them. Having what my friend calls Jerk Brain actually be an external entity stalking and fucking with people who are neurotypical could be fun.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Ah heck - the first time I ran into this was in the novelization of the Dexter series, but apparently a few serial killers have used the term: "The Dark Passenger" - a tiny monster that latches onto people and gives them a dopamine boost whenever they engage in violent or destructive actions, as it feeds on the chaos and pain generated. After it is fed once, it can communicate with them, at first in simple urges, but over time in actual dialogue. In some extreme cases, the "host" surrenders all control to this Dark Passenger and goes on a homicidal spree until they either regain momentary control and take their own lives, or are taken down by external forces.
Forces likely to have the Passenger find THEM appealing...

 

[Jerynboe]

Ah heck - the first time I ran into this was in the novelization of the Dexter series, but apparently a few serial killers have used the term: "The Dark Passenger" - a tiny monster that latches onto people and gives them a dopamine boost whenever they engage in violent or destructive actions, as it feeds on the chaos and pain generated. After it is fed once, it can communicate with them, at first in simple urges, but over time in actual dialogue. In some extreme cases, the "host" surrenders all control to this Dark Passenger and goes on a homicidal spree until they either regain momentary control and take their own lives, or are taken down by external forces.
Forces likely to have the Passenger find THEM appealing...

“There must be something that makes people act like that” is definitely a belief a lot of people have, not to mention the killers themselves, so I could use that one.

 

[Tsuru]