Subject: Some thoughts.
Author:
Posted on: 2015-08-04 18:46:00 UTC

First off, I must confess to being a bit concerned about the way you're going about creating characters. This seems more like an exercise in wanting to make agents "cool" and powerful rather than interesting and compelling. Characterization is the most important aspect of creating a character. True, what an agent is can and does inform characterization to some extent, but I would argue that still takes a secondary place.

There is also the issue that many monsters are, well, monstrous. Dragons have the advantage of being shown as intelligent and cunning creatures in many of their portrayals. Most other monsters, however, are single-minded tools of destruction meant to invoke the fear of death in the audience. There are certainly ways to justify having an intelligent version of an otherwise mindless monster in the PPC, but those loopholes can be easily abused.

If you are committed to this idea of classic and modern monsters, however, then I guess I have some suggestions. As Iximaz previously said, I would stay away from necromorphs and xenomorphs. They're both too simple, too destructive. I wouldn't go with XCOM chryssalids for similar reasons.

XCOM Thin Men might be a good choice. They combine a modern fear of the unknown (what with being from space and all) alongside fears about inhumanity and security, as they were meant for infiltration. Thin Men look not-quite human; an aspect that can be played up as an allusion to the uncanny valley.

Some sort of cyborg or humanoid robot could also work well in this fashion. The rush of progress and the possibility of transhumanism can be terrifying things. How much of the original person is lost beyond their mechanized parts? The robot, on the other hand, once again plays into the idea of being not-quite human combined with the idea of uncontrollable technology. Think of all the media that uses out-of-control AI.

All that being said, though, I'd refer you back to my original point. Characters should be based around who they are, not what they are.

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