Okay to have insane and/or killer angels?

[dragonyphoenix]

I'm writing a story with angels and demons in it, not the Chritian version of them but basically entities that live in other dimensions that are referred to as angels and demons in ours.

One of my angels is insane and at least some of them have no trouble killing humans. Some of the women in my writing class, people who don't read this kind of literature usually, are having trouble with the concept of insane and murderous angels and have suggested I call them something other than angels. My question is this: can I call them angels and have them be insane and murderous or will that be too much for readers to handle?

Thanks!

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I'm not really the right person to ask since that's not a genre of fiction I purchase or read. I hope other people can give you good perspective.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I figure this is a good place to ask because of the crossover with Supernatural watchers. Also people who watch Buffy have probably seen movies like The Prophecy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114194/) which has no problem with murderous angels.

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

I've seen that movie and no, I had no problem with the angels in that film.


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Excellent. Thanks.

[not-vacillating.livejournal.com]

Maybe it depends why you're calling them angels in the first place. If readers are finding that it has a religious or moral resonance which doesn't suit the story, it might not be the right word. On the other hand, if those things are relevant to your story then it might work - I'm thinking of Good Omens, in which the grey-area morality of the world is pointed up by the compromises which angelic and demonic characters make. Or from your description, maybe these angels are taking a viewpoint in which killing humans is morally acceptable at least in the circumstances in which they do it (in a Christian-inspired version, that might be 'well, we know they'll end up in heaven, that's better than forcing them to hang around down here'; I don't know enough about your world to know what it would look like in yours).

Overall, if they are actually beings from another dimension in a sci-fi/fantasy sort of setting, I might lean towards calling them 'aliens' or something similar at least sometimes, even if human characters in the story think of them as angels. It might help Christian readers, or readers not accustomed to the genre, to get a handle on it.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

That's a great point. I should think through why I'm calling them angels and demons much more thoroughly than I have. Part of it would be that the terms have such strong good vs. evil connotations.

[starkat75.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen the film *God's Army* (with Christopher Walker) and the sequels of that film? It's about murderous angels.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

I believe you're thinking of The Prophecy series, the second of which is subtitled God's Army. And yes, those are the most amazing movies!

[devo79.livejournal.com]

Baby, you can call them whatever the fuck you want to.

As long as you make the insanity plausible.

And considering how powerful a character an angel that has lost his mind could be, you shouldn't let some women, who apparently have no imagination of their own, stop you.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

*grin* I wouldn't say they have no imagination. They're just used to the "happy cherub angels" that we have now. But thanks for the support; I feel much more confident calling them angels now.

Also...

[devo79.livejournal.com]

Angels in the bible kill people all the time:

"The angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." 2 Kings 19.35, Isaiah 37.36

"So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind." Revelation 9:15

"And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword." 2 Chronicles 32:21

"On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died." Acts 12:21-23

Just saying...

Re: Also...

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Excellent point! I hadn't thought of this although I should have! Thanks. ;-)