2

In my novel, I'm working on having some form of clan/club/group of 'pure-bloods' that are descended from Van Helsing that are now an entire organization (in the 21st century) still working to carry out his will and finish his work of 'purifying the earth'. The founder of this organization is Van Helsings' 4th generation grandaughter.

Their goal is to eliminate all supernatural creatures, because of course, they are inherently evil. But the wall I'm running into is this: why? What would be a justifiable reason for them to believe themselves purer than these other beings? And how could they be wrong?

Do they believe that vampires, and faeries, and all else are demons? Do they believe they're created from dark magick maybe? And if so, what makes them so sure of that? I've been playing with the idea of opposing/fighting gods - one over the Van Helsings and one who created all the other creatures that are supposedly evil - but I'm not sure the reason is strong enough.

VLAZ
  • 7,889
  • 2
  • 24
  • 56
Florence Fable
  • 31
  • 5
  • Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. – Community Mar 15 '23 at 17:11
  • 2
    Hello @FlorenceFable, welcome to [worldbuilding.se]. I apologize for voting to close your question, but it's Too Story-Based. We help people build worlds, not tell stories. This means we don't answer questions about character or organization choices or motivations. Stack Exchange requires questions to be specific and focused (only one question per post) with a reasonable possibility for an objective best answer. I strongly recommend you carefully read our [tour] and the following two Help Center pages: [help/on-topic] and [help/dont-ask]. Thanks. – JBH Mar 15 '23 at 17:11
  • BTW, whenever you see that message from the Community BOT, it's a red flag for you. The Community BOT is software that runs a rough analysis of your post against Stack Exchange's rules. We have no control over it, but it is a useful indicator. You might consider using our Sandbox for new questions to help you learn how SE's system works. Thanks! – JBH Mar 15 '23 at 17:14
  • 1
    Are the Van Helsings themselves supernatural? – Daron Mar 15 '23 at 17:16
  • 5
    "I'm working on having some form of clan/club/group of 'pure-bloods' that are descended from" Heinrich Himmler "that are now an entire organization (in the 21st century) still working to carry out his will and finish his work of 'purifying the earth'": Such an organization did actually exist. It was called the SS. It is very easy to find out how they attempted to justify their murderous policy of racial cleansing in favor of their own master race. – AlexP Mar 15 '23 at 17:25
  • 2
    Hm, I actually think this question is allowable under the cultural exception. That is, he's not asking why a character does something, but why a culture has developed to this particular end. – JamieB Mar 15 '23 at 18:37
  • 2
    @JamieB But that seems to be something for the OP to figure out: inventing an organization with a very specific goal, only to ask others why the organization was established, seems to very much story-based. Moreover, a single organization's traditions are, I think,not the 'culture' referred to in WB's policy. – Joachim Mar 15 '23 at 20:03
  • 1
    I really like this question, but it's definitely a matter of deep philosophy. I could readily do a cross-examination of how previous pieces of fiction have approached this, and mix in some Third Reich psychology. In the end, though, the answer will either be either "survival" or some irrational motivation like racism, purity, religion, or team spirit. You don't even need to stick to just one of them. VTC because the true answer would be endless philosophical blathering with no conclusion. – Robert Rapplean Mar 16 '23 at 03:52

3 Answers3

2

"Only Man is made in the image of God, everything else is a wicked perversion of his divine creation by the Arch Nemesis".

Don't over-complicate it. History is full of examples of Group A wanting to eliminate everyone else because only Group A are special (according to Group A)

TheDemonLord
  • 24,259
  • 3
  • 25
  • 104
1

There are a few reasons.

1 Bad theories: a lot of atrocities are done because people have a faulty understanding of reality. For instance, a certain failed painter thought his nation could only thrive if it was entirely self sufficient, and all the citizens were entirely dedicated to the cause, so he waged wars of conquest, and killed citizens who had other loyalties, or even just were perceived to have them.

Other species have been eradicated because of bad theories related to ecology, and most of the plastic pollution we deal with is a result of people decades ago having ridiculous theories about were paper "really comes from".

2 fear of being replaced: regimes come and go, systems are born, age and die, and this is even true of species. When a system is aging, it is sadly common that those in power become increasingly tyrannical, and cruel to any perceived rivals. Perhaps the pure bloods are losing power, or maybe it is only the current leaders who are losing power. Either way, other magical beings could be used as scape goats, or examples to try to keep other rivals in line.

3 some magical reason. Maybe magic is limited, and they are actual competition. Maybe there is a prophecy about a magical race that they want to avoid, or capitalize on. Maybe they don't want to eradicate them, because they want their gall bladders so much that they may as well be trying to exterminate them. Or Maybe they are afraid the other groups will want their gall bladders eventually.

4 maybe there really is a danger other beings pose, and the pure bloods care more about that than they do the benefits of keeping them around. See rabbits in Australia. Humans aren't native either, but that doesn't mean we want to let other animals run roughshod over places.

0

Vampires feast on the blood of the living. Murder. Wipe them out.

Faeries sneak into our houses at night and play pranks. They swap the salt and sugar shakers. They tie our shoelaces together. Breaking and Entering. Sabotage. Wipe them out.

Daron
  • 66,136
  • 9
  • 129
  • 236
  • 1
    I don't know about where you're from, but B&E isn't a capital offense in any jurisdiction I'm familiar with... – Cadence Mar 15 '23 at 17:26
  • @Cadence Where I live you might get a slap on the wrist. But faeries are tiny so when you slap them they go splat. – Daron Mar 15 '23 at 17:40
  • Folklore also states that fairies give people (elf) stroke and steal babies. – Mary Mar 16 '23 at 00:35
  • @Cadence in any states which implement castle doctrine, which is most of them, breaking and entering, is a de facto capital crime, just one only the homeowner can execute you for legally – Daniel B Mar 16 '23 at 01:13