Writing Need some advice on [Indifference to Empathy]

[TrashyCat]

[Just a hypothetical Character for the moment]
​

Lets say there's this monster that's completely apathetic towards humans as the main character of a story.

How do I make this character slowly come to like humans?

Now before you move on to advices, there's two crucial things to know about this monster.

First And Most Importantly: This monster is utterly incapable of harming humans.
In fact, due to a sort of 'Curse' related to his 'Birth', humans are something of a kryptonite of his [Though not really a complete true weakness like supes have with said stone either], which made him lean slightly more towards dislike against humans than true indifference.

Secondly: This monster loves to hunt other monsters, Specially monsters that are equal to or are (Technically) even stronger than himself.

Now, due to a mixture of these two key factors, the monster often accidentally saves humans even without completely intending to.

With this in mind, how do you make this monster gradually come to like humans without it seeming off, out of character, or just ass-pull in general?

It can't be immediate, since I kind of want it to be relevant in the story, but I just somehow can't imagine a credible medium to make it happen in the first place.

Basically: The story starts with the monster only helping humans inadvertently as a byproduct of his own interest, but as the story goes on, the monster eventually grows attached to humans and starts intentionally helping them, at first reluctantly (with mild internal excuses), to, at some point, really helping in his own complete accord.

Of course, this is just completely in the Internal/Mental workings of the monster, because regardless of how he really thinks, due to Factor-1 and Factor-2, his original actions will always seem benevolent no matter what.

[Now, with all that said and done, how do you make this happen?]​

 

[Cipiteca396]

Usefulness, Gratitude, and Personal Investment.

In this situation, humans are very Useful. They might help weaken enemies that are potentially stronger than him, they might have maps or resources that he can use to further the hunt, and in a pinch they can even serve as distractions or outright bait.

These humans, whether they're useful or whether they just happen to be around, may show their Gratitude to their protector. Regardless of how he feels about them, receiving benefits from being around them, be it food, healing, or allies, will make him more inclined to receive less tangible benefits; emotional support, pride in his work, so on.

By making use of them and receiving their gratitude, he will start to become personally invested in them. Saving some random human is meaningless. Saving that human who you accidentally saved before, who then chose to save you in return, who gave you food and let you play with his children? It's a far more meaningful interaction.

Well, those are the first three things that popped into my mind.

 

[Empress_Omnii]

It doesn't really seem like this monster really has any reason to start caring for humans without being out of character.
The most reasonable probably would either having humans as strong or stronger than uim (If humans have any strength in the setting?). By having a character either save him... or more reasonably fight him and show that humans can grow powerful.
This could teach the monster to start to respect humans regardless of many needing saved, even to go as far beliving the ones he saves to have the potential to become powerful and worthy of the respect or interest given to other strong monsters. By having this, even for weaker humans he may treat them as equals, like he seems(?) to for powerful monsters.

 

[Daitengu]

All humans? No one likes all humans. Not even humans. Individuals however can be liked even by people with social anxiety or a human phobia.

My advice is to shrink your scale to individuals, groups, and maybe culturally distinct groups of people.

Just strength doesn't matter beyond basic survival. Trade is often the main way to expose a person to others, and other cultures. They got what you want, and you have to learn to deal with them to get it.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

I think i would use the trait of the monster, that it usually aims to hunt stronger monsters, as a way to build this relationship. If the human is seen as weak and not worth hunting, it might even endure its presense. (I don't know how this cryptonite mechanic works so maybe its not plausible. I mean, if it can't fight humans, it would probably flee unless cornered) So, based on that, a human would stay near it for a prolonged time after said human was "rescued" by the monster, perhaps for the second or third time.

Another option would be that the monster got hurt while fighting a stronger monster and a human that was saved through this act helps treats the monsters wounds. If the monster is long-living and this happens a few times, the neutrality might develop into a more favourable impression of humans.
Anyway, it is highly unlikely, as one negative action of a human might nullify any progress.

Another option is, if the monster is forcefully tamed and, after years of spending time with its tamer, it is set free. (either when the tamer dies or when the tamer decides to release his companion. During the time tamed, it needs to interact with a few humans to develop a positive attitude towards humans as a whole and not just a single person.

An attempt to peacfully tame it, by feeding it, etc. might also work.

Humans could also start to worship it as some kind of forest guardian or god, depending on their level of civilisation.

If the monster has offspring, there is also the option that humans save the offspring.

A shared enemy might also work.

Okay, i'm out of ideas. So thats it from me.

 

[jrell]

I'd make it personal for the monster. I'd tell a backstory about how he spent all his life in loneliness and was perfectly comfortable this way. But one day, he meets a girl, a really young one, the kind that makes you feel better with that toothless smile of hers, freckles, and ringing laughter. All she cares about is collecting mushrooms for her old grandpa, her little basket in hand, rain or shine.

While the monster kept his distance at first, over time, he got closer to the girl—to the point where she became his first and only friend. The girl is too naive to understand the true nature of the creature she meets daily, so she welcomes his company. Tell how she's not allowed to go too far into the forest. Maybe add a few events where, unknowingly to her, the monster protects her.

Then, one day, she disappeared. Days turned into weeks and weeks into months, but no sign of her. Desperate, the monster decides to visit the village where the girl lives, only to find it in ruins.

And now, the monster asks every single person he meets about her. Years have passed, yet he continues his search, never losing hope.
He knows humans are very greedy creatures, so he just helps them, hoping that one of them will tell him where she is.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Have a human accidentally help the monster once (could be in the backstory). They keep crossing paths while pursuing their own goals and then suddenly find themselves with the same objective and the monster realizes that they have some sort of connection that it needs to explore. From that it finds that humans are more complex and interesting than it thought (but they still make lousy pets)... It does not exactly grow to LIKE humans in general, but it learns to tolerate them and to like this one specific human.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

[Just a hypothetical Character for the moment]
​

Lets say there's this monster that's completely apathetic towards humans as the main character of a story.

How do I make this character slowly come to like humans?

Now before you move on to advices, there's two crucial things to know about this monster.

First And Most Importantly: This monster is utterly incapable of harming humans.
In fact, due to a sort of 'Curse' related to his 'Birth', humans are something of a kryptonite of his [Though not really a complete true weakness like supes have with said stone either], which made him lean slightly more towards dislike against humans than true indifference.

Secondly: This monster loves to hunt other monsters, Specially monsters that are equal to or are (Technically) even stronger than himself.

Now, due to a mixture of these two key factors, the monster often accidentally saves humans even without completely intending to.

With this in mind, how do you make this monster gradually come to like humans without it seeming off, out of character, or just ass-pull in general?

It can't be immediate, since I kind of want it to be relevant in the story, but I just somehow can't imagine a credible medium to make it happen in the first place.

Basically: The story starts with the monster only helping humans inadvertently as a byproduct of his own interest, but as the story goes on, the monster eventually grows attached to humans and starts intentionally helping them, at first reluctantly (with mild internal excuses), to, at some point, really helping in his own complete accord.

Of course, this is just completely in the Internal/Mental workings of the monster, because regardless of how he really thinks, due to Factor-1 and Factor-2, his original actions will always seem benevolent no matter what.

[Now, with all that said and done, how do you make this happen?]​

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Since the monster hunts other monsters, it is a mutual benefit for it and humans to work together. And, since the monster is 'working' for the humans, they will come to like it, with some possibly bringing the creature stuff just to reward or please it.

They don't understand its dislike, and since it's only dislike, the monster doesn't find the need to kill them to survive. Just avoiding their presence will do, bringing the humans to the wrong conclusion that this monster is relatively harmless, and its hunt for other monsters would be seen as a benefit, even a form of 'unspoken assistance'. Hence, the need for them to express their gratitude to it, as I stated above.

Little gestures often becomes big, and you can start from there, changing this monster's attitude towards the humans.

 

[RecursiveDescent]

Just a small addition but it would also be a good development later on to show the growth by having it find a way to break out of the curse but still choose not to make use of it.

 

[Daitengu]

I'm reminded that cats are theorized to have self domesticated as human habitat has prey that humans don't like. Like rats, mice, and some birds.

Taking that route, your monster could be hunting near humans simply because they attract other monsters to them. It's an avenue to start at least.

 

[foxes]

I have many counter-examples. Empathy alone can make a person indifferent, if only because no one knows they feel the same way. Through hatred and denial, this ability becomes a cynical tool. The way back is to find someone who can understand it all. The monster itself may also have some "friends", through analogies of loss it can attach itself to someone else. But might as well stay away from the possibility of disappointment.

If the monster itself happened to save people, they were more likely to become attached to it, making it an object of worship. And maybe someday they'll help and that's how this whole thing will unfold.

If not empathy, the owner's rights to the territory and the people in it or curiosity can be the beginning of attachment.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

How do I make this character slowly come to like humans?

Seasoning?

 

[ThrillingHuman]

Simple. Make humans useful.
They give the monster what it needs (lol what if it begins taxing them? Do it) and it gains a form of power over them anyway because even if it can't hurt humans personally there are many ways of doing it indirectly, like poisoning the water supply, blockading cities and destroying roads, starting forest fires, helping enemies pass difficult terrains, defending bandits etc etc. So humans would not only give it things but also give it some legal power over them.
Now that they are essentially its lifestock, it would not allow others to milk its cow and would defend them instead. It'd even like them. You don't even need to show that the monster can do that. Anybody with half a brain would understand the possibility, so humans generally would not act agressively towards it, and instead feel positive emotions to it.

 

[QuercusMalus]

Essentially Pavlovs dog.
He doesn't like people, but other monsters do(as a food source), so he does grow to associate them(humans) with a act he enjoys(hunting monsters). So, he comes to associate the sight of humans with good things.

Further reinforced as humans associate him with saving them from monsters and come to venerate him, and offer tasty thank you offering(that he enjoys as well). The offering also attract more monsters, which he gets to hunt, further reinforcing his association of human to good things.

So it becomes a cycle.

 

[3guanoff]

To add to Pavlovs dog, humans are like ants, they reproduce and are plentiful. Does your monster enjoy fighting other strong monsters but not spending long hours searching?
The humans will always point it the right way and save it the trouble of locating prey. They are many and can communicate over long distances, like smoke signals.
It will see them as a tool leading it to food. They might even start trapping monsters for it to fight or chasing them toward it with fire and yelling. Who can hate the pizzaman?

 

[miyoga]

All humans? No one likes all humans. Not even humans. Individuals however can be liked even by people with social anxiety or a human phobia.

My advice is to shrink your scale to individuals, groups, and maybe culturally distinct groups of people.

Just strength doesn't matter beyond basic survival. Trade is often the main way to expose a person to others, and other cultures. They got what you want, and you have to learn to deal with them to get it.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Since the monster hunts other monsters, it is a mutual benefit for it and humans to work together. And, since the monster is 'working' for the humans, they will come to like it, with some possibly bringing the creature stuff just to reward or please it.

They don't understand its dislike, and since it's only dislike, the monster doesn't find the need to kill them to survive. Just avoiding their presence will do, bringing the humans to the wrong conclusion that this monster is relatively harmless, and its hunt for other monsters would be seen as a benefit, even a form of 'unspoken assistance'. Hence, the need for them to express their gratitude to it, as I stated above.

Little gestures often becomes big, and you can start from there, changing this monster's attitude towards the humans.

Hans and Dai are absolutely right. One really good example of this exact story scenario is Demonic Devourer. The MC starts off as a weak monster that doesn't even know exactly what it is and is completely apathetic towards pretty much everything and everyone. So much so that their train of thought for the first 75 chapters (or so) was "if it isn't beneficial to me, I will get rid of it. If it is beneficial, I will make it mine." That started changing when they met the eventual love interest. The progression went from "when you're no longer useful, I'll consume you for your power" to "you're interesting, so I will keep you alive until I understand why" to eventually "I will do everything possible to ensure that you survive. I will be yours and you will be mine for eternity".