As an author, I hate to say it but I love my characters. All of them. Without exception. Some more than others but Product Two is no exception. I want to talk about where he came from, why I love him and a little bit of fun trivia. (SPOILERS FOR MOON GIRL 1: MOON RISE AND MOON GIRL 2: BELL TOLE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.)
Conception When I first started writing Moon Girl, Two didn't exist. He, and most of the cast were yet to be thought of when I sat down and first wrote the kidnapping scene from the first book where Dreda was on the moon. It's because of this that Apex comes across very similar to Two, he was Two's predecessor so to speak. The pair come from a similar part of my mind, or at least they came from the type of villain that would scare me the most. A friend of mine made a villain in high school that scared the pants off me (If you are reading this you know who you are and who I'm talking about). The character was based off the Joker from Batman but only got worse as far as I was concerned. When Two was finally thought of I had to start pulling him and Apex apart somehow. That's mainly where Tim's relation to Apex came in. It somehow made Apex more unhinged, differentiating himself from Two who, as crazy as he is has nothing to prove. He's not out to make the world see his vision or prove a point to anyone. Two is much more chaotic and not afraid to get his own hands dirty.
Why I love him He does nothing to justify anyone liking him in the story I know, so why do I love him when I made him Drea's biggest fear? When I made him to be hated? There are a couple of reasons. - One is that I know in my head that he wasn't always like this. Once upon a time when Two's tick level was 0 he was just a normal person. He didn't know what he was, he didn't act on his demonic nature. It was the project that woke him up to that. Had he not been taken into the project he could have stayed a law-abiding citizen, Ah the what ifs... - Two, despite being the black sheep he was family to The Products. He would read to Dreda, Alice and Cole as they would try to sleep. Hell, he helped them learn to read (except Cole). Dreda feared and hated him for the most part but there were times, he was actually quite nice, times when the nature of the project just made his evil pale in comparison, even made him be good for a while just so they could all survive. As much as he was an asshole, he was a reliable asshole for them. - Three, when he created chaos in the city in Moon Girl 2, his motivations weren't evil. Two was at the end of his rope, stick and tired of acting as something he wasn't. He saw his opportunity with Abbey and he took it. His whole plan from Moon 2 is opportunistic. He was just desperate to make a world where he could be himself and honestly I felt sorry for him.
Their not big reasons and honestly it doesn't justify him at all but those are my small reasons for loving to a degree the evil that is Product Two.
Trivia: - (can't remember if I mentioned it in the book) His villain name Carnwennan is based on King Arthur's dagger. - His human name is the name of the archangel Micheal and Duff which is Gaelic for Dark - He held the lowest combat score of the Products, this is mainly due to the fact he relies on his trick too much.
Hope you enjoyed this small insight into one of my villians.
I won't be able to talk about many characters this freely with the series still on going but I have and can at least do fun fact files. Find out Dreda's Hogwarts Houses and Deadly Sin In her geeky factfile.