Character Autopsy: The Fox Spirit

This is the character autopsy, where I take a character that I adore and force them down onto the cold and metallic table and cut them open, exploring what about their character that resonates with me and how I can use it in my own writing. On the table today is not a set character, but a mythical one; the Fox Spirit.

Once, during my time at university, I decided to go exploring on one of my many weeks off. I traveled into the city and walked aimlessly until I came across an Oxfam book store. I remember the inside looking like what one would expect a library of a crazed academic that no one in the kingdom takes seriously. Tight corridors, poor lighting and stacks of books shoved wherever they could fit. Among the pile of books, I found Tales From A Chinese Studio by Pu Song Ling, and only for two dollars. Perhaps in the future I may explore the book and all of its tales but for now I am going to focus on the reoccurring character of the Fox Spirit. In the tales, the Fox Spirit is described as a beautiful woman who often finds affection from a man whose love costs him his life. The idea is that the longer he spends times with the Fox Spirit, the more of his life is taken. The symbolism of such a character speaks to me, I like the concept that not only is someone bad for you, but the more you pursue the worse it gets.

I think as humans we can relate to that, whether it is a toxic relationship or some form of addiction, we know that trap. This is the difference, I believe, between a folk character and a fiction one. Most characters, which I am calling fiction characters, just don’t have that ability to be universal in the same way a folk character does. The Fox Spirit has a universal truth to its existence in a way that a protagonist doesn’t, because fictional characters are dictated by the story, where a folk character dictates the story itself. If a story was to include a Fox Spirit then it must follow a certain path because of that character, but for fiction characters, you could mould the character to fit the story. I have adapted folk characters, but I know that my adaption removes the essence of what makes a folk character interesting to me, that universal nature. I may still adapt folk characters in the future, but even if I do, I am not sure if I can keep that universal truth, but then again, I have no interest as a writer of recreating a folk tale exactly as it was told.