David Castro
It can be fun to play the bad guy, to let slip the chains of morality. To take a quote out of context, power doesn’t corrupt, it reveals. When you’re a Scion, you get the power to do what you want to do, so you’ll get to see what your characters want to do, for good or ill. This holds true even more so for Titanic Scions than it does for Godly ones. Titanic Scions have the powers and ability to change the World around them, but unlike Divine Scions they aren’t so restricted by living up to the Legend of their divine parents at Hero levels, and then their own Legend at tiers after that. They’re free to be the villain the World thinks they are, or to reject that story and be the (lower case h) hero.
Maybe your Titanic Scion wants to be the good guy, not merely the protagonist (remember that hero isn’t synonymous with protagonist, nor is antagonist with villain) of the arc. You want to rail against the dark parent who sired, created, chose, or who you used to be. Fiction is full of examples of heroes who overcome their darker natures and use their fell powers for good: Hellboy, Ghost Rider, Spawn, Blade, the list goes on. Oftentimes, but not always, the first or most recurring antagonist such characters deal with is the very source of their powers. Of course, no one expects an Origin or Hero tier Titanic Scion to go head to head with their parent, but wouldn’t that be a fun arc?
That’s not the only reason for a Titanic Scion to turn on their parent. Maybe you were all for being the linchpin in your parent’s plans but there was some kind of falling out. Maybe you weren’t given the place of respect and power you believe that you deserved, or you think you would wear this Titanic Mantle better than mom does. If the rest of the Band wants to take down dear old dad, the enemy of my enemy and all that jazz.
Maybe, just maybe, your parent isn’t the bad guy either. They could be one of the beings that have been unfairly maligned with the title of Titan because the Gods see them as monsters, represent forces or concepts the Gods would prefer to ignore, , or are otherwise inconvenient. It’s not the Monkeys of the Second Sun’s fault that their sun failed and the T?otl Gods threw them away as Titans when they remade the World once again, for instance. These Scions often rail against the unfair systems that leave them in the lurch.
Your Legend is Yours to Tell
It is up to you to decide how your character interprets the legacy of their Titanic parent. The Titan Surtr is a fire giant. A Scion of Surtr can just be an arsonist, sure, but there’s more to Surtr’s destructive power than that. Surtr is meant to come at the end of all things and burn the World with his flaming sword, so the World after this one can be rebuilt from the ashes. Knowing this, it could very well be that your Scion of Surtr turns their fiery gaze to the systems of inequity and injustice around them, so that they can make a better World afterwards. It’s all about perspective and creativity to take the myth and shape it into something new, which is what we do writing Scion all the time anyway.
Theology is Written by the Victors
Just because the Gods won the First Titanomachy, doesn’t mean they’re the side with the moral upper hand. For every God who seems to care about doing the right thing, there are two like Zeus who make you question if the right side won in the end. Many Titans were just on the losing side of a war, forever condemned with no chance of redemption or rehabilitation. The biggest difference between Gods and Titans is which side of the Titanomachy they’re on, and who’s to say which is the ‘right’ side?
For Scions who have such Titanic parents, why not focus on this as your arc. Why should anyone accept Kronos is the villain when we see what Zeus does with his freedom? How do Loki and Sun Wukong keep getting away with their antics while so many others are bound for similar acts? It just isn’t fair, is it?
If I Can’t Inspire Love, I will Cause Fear
All of this said, not all Titanic Scions want to be the (lower case h) hero. Sometimes the World doesn’t want you to be. Fate often has ideas for us all and sometimes your role in the Legend is to be someone else’s antagonist. While you can start mustache twirling and don your black hat with ease, consider spicing up the arc of embracing the villainous with interesting insights and concepts. Consider Adam from Shelley’s Frankenstein. Would he have the Monster and Adversary purviews? Undeniably, but if he isn’t justified in his actions against his creator (and we’re not saying he isn’t), he is at least understandable. If the Gods and their Scions won’t let you be, won’t allow you to live your life the way you want, then make sure they get no peace of their own.
I Wish I was the Monster You Think I Am
Titanomachy and Titans Rising both give players the chance to bring additional complexity to Scion games by playing Titanic Scions. Their natures and the paths they chart create compelling, dramatic story arcs. What if only one of the band is Titanic, or only one isn’t? What if some want to embrace the darkness, and others want to wield it as a weapon for good? How will your Titanic Scions interact with the World and will they push the Titanomachy on, or try to prevent a cold war from turning hot? Will you resist the pull of your Titanic parents or will you resist it? More importantly than which path you choose, will you succeed?