The Generic Monster Movie

The morphological system here attempts to recognize formulaic elements which could be used to generate many examples of stories similar to the wide variety of horror movies centering around the appearance and defeat of some sort of monster. Here monster is a generic term, and this class of stories could just as easily include slasher film such as Friday the 13th or alien-invasion movies such as Independence Day as it can true monster movies like Frankenstein. I make no claim that the elements here are comprehensive, simply that they can generate representative samples of the genre.

Several elements of plot and character are referred to by generic terms to allow them to generalize to many different types of elements. Sometimes the same element of a Story can change roles over the course of the story (for instance a member of the Party can be corrupted and become Evil, or be captured and become a Prisoner), so these definitions are not static. They are:

• The Evil - The evil is that which must be overcome in the story. It could be one of many things:
  • A person somehow given monstrous characteristics or tendencies (such as a serial killer).
  • A nonhuman creature of some sort (such as an alien).
  • A human who has become inhuman through some process of corruption (e.g. a vampire, werewolf, ghost, etc.)
  • A group (swarm, army, etc.) of any or all of the above.
• The Party - A term stolen from role-playing, this is the protagonist or group of protagonists who must overcome the Evil. The Party could be:
  • An ordinary human.
  • A superhuman being endowed with powers useful in overcoming the Evil.
  • A reformed creature/person who was formerly Evil.
  • A group of any or all of the above.
• A Prisoner - This is any individual or group of individuals who are captured by the Evil and held (for some reason or other) without being killed or corrupted.
• A Parallel Story or Sequel - This can be any secondary story growing out of the primary story. It may begin after the end of the primary story (as its name suggests) or could begin earlier and be intertwined in the storytelling of the main story. A Parallel Story or Sequel can be a complete story in itself, including any and all of the elements of the story system below, or it may be only a partial story which rejoins the primary narrative at a later point.

The story then follows a certain group of standard elements. They are presented here in the order that they happen chronologically in the universe of the story. Some tellings of a story may present the events in a different order through use of flashbacks, or by presenting them only as they are discovered by certain characters (for instance, revealing how the monster was created only when the protagonists findout, which may be very late in the story, is common). Additionally, any plot element can be skipped entirely.

Chronologically, the story begins when the Evil is loosed upon the world. This can happen in several ways:

• The Evil is created completely independantly with no explanation necessary.
• The Evil arrives from a faraway land, different planet, etc.
• An ancient evil is reawakened, either independantly, by the Party (leading to elements of guilt later in the story), or by unrelated characters. (Often such a story will include a parallel plotline describing how the Evil was defeated a previous time.)
• The Evil is created accidentally. (Again with possible guilt on the part of a Party member later on.)
• The Evil is created and loosed on the world with malicious intent. In this case, the creator of the Evil is usually an Evil in itself.

The bulk of the story is made up of a series of events as the Evil demonstrates its danger and the Party attempts to learn more about the Evil and to overcome it. These elements can be combined in nearly any order (except for obvious limitations, such as a party not being able to be reunited if they were never divided, etc) and different incarnations of the same sort of element can be combined in the same story. These events are split up into categories as follows, with specific events in each category:

• The Evil has an encounter independant of the Party
  • The Evil performs some act of destruction.
  • The Evil takes a Prisoner.
  • A Prisoner of the Evil escapes.
  • The Evil seeks methods of increasing its power or knowledge, and carries out a plan to do so.
  • The Evil obtains an important artifact or piece of information.
  • The Evil sets into motion a plan to overcome the Party, or the world in general.
  • The Evil divides to become two separate Evils. This could be the result of the original Evil creating or freeing a new minion, or freeing its master, as well as the simple division of a plural evil (such as a swarm of killer bees).
  • Two Evils encounter each other and:
    • They come into conflict and one is defeated.
    • They come into conflict but part ways without a defeat, possibly leading to one of them becoming a candidate for turning to the good side.
    • They join forces to become a single Evil.
• The Party has an an encounter independant of the Evil.
  • The Party witnesses the results of the actions of the Evil, thus motivating their attempts to overcome the Evil.
  • The Party forms a plan or discusses their options.
  • The Party obtains an important ally, object, or piece of information which will help them overcome the Evil.
  • The Party divides to become two separate Parties.
  • A Party (usually not the only one in the story) becomes Evil.
  • The Party frees a Prisoner which turns out to be Evil in istelf. This leads to an encounter between the Party and an Evil, as described below.
  • The Party frees a Prisoner which turns out to be on their side. This leads to an encounter between two Parties, as described below.
  • Two Parties encounter each other and:
    • They come into conflict due to differing goals, and one is defeated.
    • They come into conflict but part without a defeat, possibly leading to one of them becoming an Evil in itself.
    • They join forces to become a single Party.
    • One Party provides the other with an important object or piece of information before disappearing, dying, or otherwise becoming inaccessible.
• The Party encounters the Evil, leading to one or several of the following:
  • The Party is defeated. This leads either to a conclusion, or to continuation with a Parallel or Sequel story with a different Party.
  • The Evil is defeated. This leads either to a conclusion, or to continuation with a Parallel or Sequel story with a different Evil.
  • The Party gains an important object or piece of information from the Evil.
  • The Evil gains an important object or piece of information from the Party.
  • The Party and/or Evil is wounded or lessened in numbers.
  • A member of the Party is captured and becomes a Prisoner.
  • A member of the Party is corrupted and becomes part of the Evil.

Finally, a conclusion of some sort is reached. Usually this results in the defeat of the Evil, but that is not always the case. Most of these conclusions depend on one side defeating the other, and there are many different means of defeat, which can be mixed in the case of. They include:

• One side destroys the other. In a sequel-hungry genre, this is usually the only permanent defeat (and even it is not always permanent).
• One side subdues the other temporarily, often through imprisonment.
• One side subverts the other, convincing their opponent to change sides. This can be the redemption of an Evil, or the corruption of a Party.

Possible conclusions are as follows:

• The Party defeats the Evil in a permanent manner. This leads to a 'happy' ending.
• The Party defeats the Evil in a temporary manner, leading to a Sequel story when the Evil rises again.
• The Party defeats the Evil, but a new and greater evil is discovered behind it, leading to a Sequel story.
• The Evil is defeated by another greater Evil. That greater evil may then disappear (due to disinterest, or a bargain with the party) or go on to be the subject of a Sequel story.
• The Evil defeats the Party in a temporary manner, leading to a sequel story where another Party (or the same Party) arises to defeat the Evil.
• The Evil defeats the Party and is triumphant in a permanent manner. This leads to a 'sad' ending.
• The entire conflict is discovered to be unfounded (for instance, the aliens are not destructive, but only misunderstood and frightened) and the two sides settle their differences peacefully. This leads to a 'cop out' ending.

The conclusion then leads, as appropriate, either to the end of the story, or to a continuation with a new Sequel story.