Saturday, April 9, 2011

April A to Z - H is for Hate

Hate's first target was
the nudist colony.
Appears in:  The Coils of Hate (Virtual Reality 3) by Mark Smith.

Background:  It is the physical manifestation of all the hate in the city of Godorno.  The people there are hateful due to their ruler, the Overlord, persecuting pretty much everyone.

Prominence:  As well as coming into contact with Hate before the grand confrontation at the end, you may encounter it several times before the end of the book.  Also anyone who is hateful starts to show physical signs of their hatefulness such as purple pustules on their body.  So hate is pretty much everywhere.  10/10.

Hardness:  There are three ways to defeat Hate.  One is to be pure of heart and get into its mouth, which also kills you in the process.  The other is to chain it to a church and either cut it up with a magical jade sword or blast it with a magical jewel.  All of these items are hard to find and fighting Hate will kill you if you don't have something that can reduce the damage you sustain.  8/10.

Ambition:  Total destruction of a city.  6/10.

Style:  It works by absorbing hateful people into it (quite original) and smashing things up (not very original).  Bonus marks for being the physical manifestation of an emotion.  There aren't many of those in gamebooks.  7/10.

Diabolical genius:  I'm unsure as to whether Hate is sentient.  It just absorbs and smashes.  1/10.

Total score:  You need to keep your eyes peeled for Hate is everywhere in Godorno.  However, it is just a big dumb monster, so as long as you have the right tools, you will be able to kill it.  32/50

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