Month: August 2022

What does Roy Batty from Blade Runner Want?

“I want more life,” Roy tells Elden Tyrell. Well, that was a fast game of what they want! Roy wants to live longer than four years.

But survival, or ‘more life’, is not on Reiss’ 16 desire list. Neither is shelter, money, or spirituality. These things make up a considerable part of our lives! But in Reiss’ research, these are not desires themselves. Instead, our desires are WHY we want survival, shelter, money, or spirituality. The 16 desires motivate us at an even deeper level. The great thing about using the Reiss model is we can discover why Roy wants more life.

Let’s see how they introduce Roy to the audience.

“What is this?” Deckard asks as Vangelis’s synthesizers swell ominously.
“Nexus 6. Roy Batty.” Police Captain Bryant says. “Incept date 2016. Combat model. Optimum self-sufficiency. Probably the leader.“

This description is fascinating because we get the parameters of Roy’s creation. If we followed these details, we should easily be able to see what motivates Roy. Here are the features Roy’s creators wanted:

  • Independence (Freedom, Self Reliance, Determination)
  • Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
  • Power (Domination, Control, Authority)

But something seems off. That isn’t Roy Batty.

He isn’t fiercely independent; he is usually with someone else. Roy does not seem motivated by vengeance, either. He has plenty of chances to get revenge on Deckard, but only breaks two of his fingers for the female replicants Deckard retired. And if power were a motivation, Roy should be able to dominate the weaker-minded Zhora, Pris, and Leon, but he refuses to. He does not lead the replicants through his superior mental prowess. Come to think of it, Roy should be able to dominate EVERYONE in Blade Runner. He’s as smart as his genius creator. Maybe smarter. None of those desires seem right for Roy!

Let’s try again, but this time, let’s look at what Roy says.

“You better get it up, or I’m gonna have to kill ya! Unless you’re alive, you can’t play, and if you don’t play…”

Roy tells us here the reason for living is play. Does Social Interaction work as Roy’s primary desire? I think it does. He wants to play with his friends. He cries and struggles to find the right words when he tells Pris, “Ahh… There’s only two of us now.”

He even manipulates J.F. Sebastian by becoming his friend. Roy could easily torture Sebastian but decides not to. Pris helps, saying, “We need you, Sebastian. You’re our best and only friend.” as well. Roy then makes Sebastian laugh by playing with some eyeballs lying around the apartment. “We’re so happy you found us!”

We’re so happy you found us! Roy loves to play; if only his world weren’t so dreary!

Roy does not just want more life for himself. He wants it for his friends as well. “If we don’t find help soon, Pris hasn’t got long to live. We can’t allow that,” Roy tells Sebastian. Roy then walks over to a chessboard and asks, “Is he good?”

Sebastian asks, “Who?”

“Your opponent” Roy clarifies. Roy will even use games and play to reach his creator.

JF even introduces Roy to Tyrell saying, “Mr. Tyrell. I— I brought a friend.”

Roy howls in despair after losing Pris. With no friends left, Roy spends the last few moments of his life playing a game with Deckard. He sings, he recites nursery rhymes; he gives Deckard back his gun and lets him take a free shot, but when Deckard falls off the side of the building, the game is over. Deckard may not be a genuine friend, but he is the only social interaction Roy has left at the end of his life.

This leads us to Roy’s next major motivator: Romance. He says, “Chew, if only you could see what I’ve seen with your eyes!” and he tells Deckard, “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe!”

Roy describes some of the beautiful things he has seen in his brief life, “Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion… I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.” Roy is so enthralled by the beauty of it all he makes poetry. Even as his body is shutting down, Roy describes his situation with a poetic simile, “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain... Time to die.“

I think Roy’s third desire is idealism.

He recognized the injustice his creators had inflicted on him and his friends with a four-year life span and wanted to fix it. How could life be so beautiful and so short, while the replicants live in fear as slaves? Roy thought he could change the situation for his replicant friends, even if it was incredibly difficult. They at least had to try, even if it meant sacrificing the last moments they had. Roy is shocked to find out there is no way he can get more life.

“You were made as well as we could make you,” Tyrell tells Roy.
“But not to last,” Roy laments.

Roy doubts his actions. “I’ve done questionable things,” he says. Now that he knows nothing can save him or Pris from their expiration dates, was it all worth it? Roy isn’t sure. But because his creators cannot fix the problem, Roy kills them for what they have done. I don’t think Roy kills Tyrell and Sebastian for personal revenge but to right the injustice they inflicted on the replicants by creating them to be more human than human, but with such a short shelf life. He even apologizes to Sebastian, his friend, before killing him. It does not seem personal with Roy, but ideological.

Roy thinks constantly about ethics, questioning his own motivations and others. “Not very sporting to fire on an unarmed opponent,” Roy says after dodging Deckard’s first bullet. “I thought you were supposed to be good. Aren’t you the good man? Come on Deckard. Show me what you’re made of.” If play and justice motivate Roy, you better play fair. At least as fair as you can against a superhuman.

Roy breaks two of Deckard’s fingers for killing Zhora and Pris. Punishment must be inflicted, but the replicant women only had a short time left. Deckard did not create them and was not responsible for their brief lives. With Deckard’s punishment already exacted, Roy had no reason to punish him further. So instead, he plays a game. Roy sets the parameters of their play and gives Deckard his gun back. “Come on, Deckard, I’m right here, but you’ve got to shoot straight.” Deckard takes a shot with his off-hand, and Roy dodges Deckard’s bullet again at point blank range, a blood trail oozing where the bullet grazed his temple.

“Straight doesn’t seem to be good enough! Now it’s my turn. I’m gonna give you a few seconds before I come. One, Two. Three, Four.” It’s the only way this game will be any fun. Roy plays with a handicap, it’s only fair. It is the sporting thing to do. Deckard is no match for Roy, but no one is. Roy mourns Pris’ death, kisses her while Deckard runs, and howls in agony now that he is alone, but then Roy finishes his count, and the game with Deckard continues. Roy is happy to play as long as he can. He even puts a nail through his palm to play a little longer.

And when Deckard spits in Roy’s face as he falls, Roy shouts, “Kinship!” and catches him. Even if only for a few moments, Roy found a playmate he could save. And Roy didn’t want to die alone.

So here are my guesses for Roy Batty’s primary desires:

  • Social Contact (Friendship, Companions, Group play)
  • Romance (Beauty, Art, Attraction)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)

This feels more like Roy to me. A playful and friendly romantic who will sacrifice trying to repair what is wrong. One of the most difficult things in trying to understand our desires is how much internal conflict there is between them. The desires feed off one another, giving dimension and depth to our motivations.

There is also a conflict between what we have and what we want because often they do not match up. Roy may be powerful, but he does not want power. By design, he may not need help; but he wants friends. And while he could get revenge, he’d rather repair injustice to help his friends. And what a pity it is that for all the amazing things he has seen, those moments will all disappear without being shared. Roy loses all his friends and dies on top of a dingy, abandoned, apartment complex, unable to fix the replicant’s condition, with only his would-be killer to talk to. But at least Roy does not die alone.

See you, Space Cowboy.

And as a side note, you may notice how similar Roy Batty’s list of desires is to Luke Skywalker’s, but instead of Honor Roy has Romance. Luke is slightly more idealistic than Roy, but their desires seem fairly close. The 16 desires are not good or evil. Would Roy have been the hero in a different story? Maybe he already was.

What does Batman want?

“I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman!”

Another round of what do they want? using Steven Reiss’ 16 desires, featuring the Dark Knight himself.

Batman is very clear about his primary desire. He is Vengeance. His parents’ death pushed him into a lifetime of fighting criminals. Or at least it aimed him in that direction. Bruce may have always wanted revenge. Tragedy was the catalyst that unleashed him on the world.

Idealism is next. Batman is looking for justice and sacrifices his nightlife as a billionaire to fix things.

  • Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)

(spoiler alert: I’m wrong about batman being motivated by idealism. I think showing my process of correcting this mistake might be fun!)

Superman is faster, stronger, and taller than Batman… and Batman took that personally.

But does Batman have a third motivation? He has all the social status he could want as a billionaire, but he doesn’t like it. He has a sidekick in Robin, but he is not very nurturing, so a desire for a family is off. Social contact isn’t there because he dislikes parties and social gatherings. He does not care if he gets attention or approval, so acceptance is out. Financially, he is as powerful as he could be, but he does not use that power for its own sake. He’s even left his money and power behind multiple times. He is not looking for freedom from Gotham or independence from his family name. Romance is out because he’s not interested in beauty, art, makeup, or courting. Batman doesn’t even look at food, so it is not eating. Batman is very smart, but most of his intellectual pursuits are in solving cases, not intellectual exploration, so curiosity is not it. Vengeance seems a more realistic motivator for all that brain work he does.

Saving? He has a massive collection of art, goods, and relics from his previous detective cases, but his art collection seems like a facade, and his previous cases are there to help him solve future ones. His mansion keeps burning down, and he’s not crying over his heirlooms. He collects many things but is not a collector.

Physical Activity? Does Batman love moving? Yes, he does. Would Batman ever stop working out? NEVER! So what if he isn’t superhumanly strong and is just a regular guy? He’s going to learn every martial art, train every day, and beat up criminals with his fists because he wants to. Physical activity is absolutely a motivator for Batman!

I wish I were exaggerating, but examining physical activity as a motivator for Batman took me that long. It didn’t occur to me that a stoic billionaire might love getting pumped.

Life has its ups and downs.

We may as well examine all sixteen desires on the list since we have gone this far.

Tranquility? Does Batman love preparing for high-stress events? He does! Is he ever unprepared? No. That bat belt is the ultimate survival tool. He’s not an organizer; he is a prepper! Batman handles stress better than anyone in the DC universe because he loves being tranquil. He’s a cool cat, despite not having any superpowers! And he’s never happier than sitting in his room after a workout wearing his comfy slippers and bathrobe, chatting with Albert by the fireplace… until it’s time to prepare for some more vengeance. His collection of gadgets, vehicles, and relics isn’t because he is saving or organizing things. It is preparation to stay tranquil when things get rough.

Is it easy to make Batman lose his cool?

Okay, I am taking off idealism as a motivator for Batman. I thought it was a sure thing. He’s a founding member of the Justice League, for crying out loud! But vengeance can motivate most of his late-night Batman activities. I think it even encourages his unwillingness to use a gun (which he bends from time to time). He will get revenge, but he will not use the method that killed his parents. He’s happy to beat you at a disadvantage!

So here are my guesses for Batman’s top three desires:

  • Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
  • Physical Activity (Exercise, Active, Moving)
  • Tranquility (Comfort, Calm, Preparation, handling Stress)
You think you can out dance Batman!?

Now let’s do his Bruce Wayne facade. While Batman wears the mask, Bruce Wayne is the real disguise. Bruce Wayne milks his family name and uses his reputation like a sledgehammer. He is also a well-known philanthropist and admirer of the arts. He’s a stereotypical playboy with plenty of money to throw around, with the occasional good deed to promote the family name. Here are my guesses for Bruce Wayne’s top three desires:

  • Social Status (Exclusivity, Connection, Reputation)
  • Power (Domination, Control, Authority)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)

I’m not as confident about Bruce Wayne’s motivations because they are not real. He uses social status and wealth to keep a distance from people so he can exact vengeance secretly. Maybe he presents Bruce as an admirer of the arts, motivated by beauty. Sometimes he presents as a spoiled rich kid looking for attention or as someone preserving the Wayne family legacy. But the primary purpose of Bruce Wayne’s high-profile life is to keep his actual personality and motivations hidden.

Bruce Wayne shocks people when they discover how different his actual personality is. In The Dark Knight Rises, lawyer Coleman Reese finds Wayne Enterprises secretly sponsors Batman. He approaches Lucius Fox to blackmail Wayne Enterprises to keep quiet. After presenting the blueprints of the Batmobile and asking for 10 million dollars a year, Fox asks Reese, “Let me get this straight, you think that your client, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante, who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands, and your plan is to blackmail this person? Good luck.”

Reese suddenly realizes he is not blackmailing Bruce Wayne. He is trying to blackmail Batman, which is a terrible idea.

I’ll give you a piece of Batman!

Because multiple desires motivate us, there is an ongoing conflict in the things we want. For Batman, he might be happy working out in a mountain cabin. He’s done such training before. But as soon as competition arises, he’ll show them, using everything at his disposal. It might be counterintuitive that someone could want vengeance AND peace of mind AND to work out in the meantime. Still, that inner conflict gives our personality depth, even if we look at imaginary superheroes.

The unbelievable power of lists in unraveling Rashomon- a Japanese short story at the gate of the dead.

The broken gate in Kyoto

Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon is based on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story In a Grove, but it gets its title and the temple location from another of his short stories, also named Rashomon.

It is a brief story of a man who finds an old woman plucking hair from the dead and steals her clothes.

But that summary does not do it justice! It doesn’t explain the time, a real era from Japan, when calamities visit Kyoto with earthquakes, whirlwinds, fires, and the disease that comes with them. It does not explore the character’s struggles or justifications for their actions. The summary does not explore the scenery, which was so powerful; it became the icon for Akira Kurosawa’s breakout hit film.

You can read the 2,191 word short story here: https://www.shortstoryproject.com/stories/rashomon/

Rashomon is not a cheerful short story.

I took a Japanese literature in translation class in college, and usually we had a tremendous reading load. It was our teacher’s first class as a professor, which was lucky for me because she pushed us so hard. In every class, we would discuss complete novels or movies. Often more than one. But one class period, because of a scheduling conflict, we only had the short story of Rashomon to discuss. We broke into three-person groups and examined the text, looking for something to fill our class discussion time with. My group ran out of ideas quickly and decided to re-read the text together to fill the time. Then we read it again.

“Did anyone notice anything?” the reader asked, trying to find kindling for our discussion. “They referenced lots of animals. That cricket, in the beginning, gets a lot of attention,” someone said. “Really? I hadn’t noticed that many animals.” So we went back through the story again and made a list.

Animals mentioned:

  • Cricket sitting on a column
  • Foxes and other wild animals made their dens in the ruins of the gate
  • Flocks of crows flew in from somewhere
  • thrown away like a stray dog
  • huddling cat-like
  • cobwebs (spiders)
  • quiet as a lizard
  • as a monkey kills the lice of her young
  • shanks of a chicken
  • red eyes of a bird of prey
  • like the cawing of a crow
  • selling snake flesh at the guard barracks saying it was dried fish

It shocked us there were so many animal references. It’s like a zoo in there! How did he reference so many animals in such a short story? “I noticed a lot of colors. Let’s do those next!” So we made a list of colors.

Colors:

  • crimson lacquer
  • gold and silver leaf
  • white crow droppings
  • red sunset
  • blue kimono
  • fat black cloud
  • red festering pimple
  • dull yellow fire light
  • gray-hair
  • long black hair
  • silver white sword blade
  • yellow clothes
  • darkness and the abyss

There were as many colors as animals! We debated adding grass to the list but decided it was not technically a color, even if we all knew it was green. Are there any colors Akutagowa did not put in the story? “What should we list next?” “How about the words that happen most often?” We popped the text into an online word counter.

Word counts:

  • Hair – 15 times
  • Gate – 12 times
  • Rain – 11 times
  • Stairs – 11 times
  • Old – 9 times
  • Floor – 7 times
  • Woman – 7 times

He mentions hair 15 times!? Is that what this story is really about? Should we next list weather, objects, calamities, sounds, smells, times, or physical sensations? We had a list of lists we could make! But to our surprise, we had reached our time, and our discussion was over.

I left in disbelief. How had we discovered so much to analyze in the shortest text we had read? Especially when we started with nothing to talk about! I could see the colors in my mind and visualize animals and animal-like behaviors. The imagery was so vivid in that brief piece!

What else might hide under the surface of a narrative? Was this a one-time thing? I wasn’t sure, but I thought making lists might be a powerful tool to find out. And I still do.

What does Luke Skywalker want?

In my ongoing game of guessing which of the 16 Desires motivates a character, let’s guess what Luke Skywalker wants. I am going to use the original trilogy as a reference, mostly because I wrote a book about its story structure.

“But I was going to Tosche Station to pick up power converters!”
“You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done.”

While most teenagers want to play with their friends, I think friendship is a primary desire and motivator for Luke. He wants to join his friend, Biggs Darklighter, as a pilot for the rebellion, and he gets to. Aunt Beru tells Owen, “he can’t stay here forever. Most of his friends are gone. It means so much to him.” Luke also makes fast friends with Threepio and Artoo. Very few people, except maybe Obi-Wan, treat droids as kindly as Luke. He also abandons his Jedi training to rescue his friends in Cloud City. He makes friends with Han Solo and Chewie. Luke is not after power, although he has plenty of it. Instead, he uses his power to help his friends.

You think you can mess with Luke’s friends?

I think idealism is second for Luke. He hates the empire and believes in the rebellion. Even when his father offers him the chance to rule over the empire, Luke refuses. The rebellion wants to free the galaxy from the empire’s stranglehold and Luke believes in it. Luke will sacrifice for his beliefs. He walks into many traps to rescue his friends and assist the rebels.

The third desire on Luke’s list is honor. But honor can’t be the primary motivator for Luke, because he abandoned his Jedi training to save his friends. I am putting honor as his third because of how Luke accepts the role as a Jedi and works to save his father.

It might seem that Luke’s obsession with rescuing people would be the desire for saving, but that desire is more about collecting things than rescuing people. The desire for family is also a contender, but that desire is more about rearing children and nurturing, which does not quite fit for Luke. Luke wants to know all about his father, his family tradition, when he finds out Obi-Wan served with Anakin. Luke is also loyal, has integrity, and is very trustworthy. He is honorable.

I think Luke’s desires for idealism and honor are best seen when he refuses to join the emperor and kill his father, Darth Vader. “I’ll never turn to the dark side. You have failed, your highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

Luke may not know his father, but he wants to follow in his footsteps, honoring his family tradition.

So here are my guesses about Luke’s desires:

  • Social Contact (Friendship, Companions, Group play)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)
  • Honor (Integrity, Loyalty, Trust, Tradition)

Luke is never happier than when surrounded by his friends, even if it is in a pilot briefing room, a hospital bed, or a tribal barbecue. He will not betray the rebellion and he honorably accepts the role as Jedi even though he might be the only one left in the galaxy. I think Luke’s desires are contagious and influence the structure of the film, or maybe the structure of the film creates Luke’s desires. It is hard to pull some elements apart to analyze them. I intentionally gloss over individual character desires in my book, but I think they are a fascinating thing to analyze. You can check my book out here:

What does Darth Vader want?

I like to play a game with the 16 desires. I take characters, both real and imagined, and guess the priority of what they want. If the 16 desires are the foundation of our personalities, then we should be able to recognize them in others. This game helps me understand others and recognize that my desires (curiosity and romance) are not universal. We may want the same things, but for different reasons.

Let’s start with Darth Vader.

What motivates the man in the mask?

I think power is the most important thing to Darth Vader. He mentions it several times.

“The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force.”

He talks multiple times about the power of the dark side. In Empire he tells Luke, “if only you knew the power of the dark side.” Then, in Return of the Jedi, he refuses Luke’s offer to run away from the empire telling Luke, “You don’t know the power of the dark side, I must obey my master”

He even pushes Lando Calrissian around because he can. “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” Vader is in complete control of the situation in Cloud City, but he leads Lando on and manipulates him to betray. Vader is definitely not honorable.

My guess is that power is Darth Vader’s primary desire. He likes power for its own sake. He pushes people around because he can. But he also submits to the dark side and the emperor, who are more powerful than he is. Secretly, however, he is looking to add to his power and destroy the emperor with Luke’s help.

“Now I am the master!”

I think Vader’s next two desires are order and family, mostly from his interaction with Luke in Empire Strike’s Back.

“Luke, you do not realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”

Vader dislikes the chaos of the civil war between the Empire and the Rebels. He thinks he should be in control, then they could organize things to be much better. Vader is an expert at concocting plans. Organizing and planning is something he likes to do, and is good at it. He recognizes immediately that Leia hid the Death Star plans on the escape pod and comes up with a plan in A New Hope to track the Falcon and find the Rebel base.

In Empire Strikes Back, Vader creates an elaborate plan to trap Luke Skywalker by capturing and torturing his friends. Vader knows their suffering through the Force will draw Luke out of hiding. He figures out how to package Luke to deliver him neatly to the emperor by freezing him in carbonite. He’s even sitting at a dinner table when he captures Luke’s friends in Cloud City.

As for family, this one might feel like a stretch because Vader does not seem nurturing. But once he realizes his son is alive, Vader wants Luke to join the family business. Later, when Vader discovers he has a daughter, he thinks she might join him instead. For being an absentee father, Vader wants a family, but it is at odds with his desires for power and order. Vader would like to fix that.

“Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son.”

Vader cares deeply for Luke because Luke is his own flesh and blood. He is even more excited that Luke will become more powerful in the Force than he is. And in the end, Vader sacrifices his life to save his son.

So here is my guess for Darth Vader’s desires. He wants:

  • Power (Domination, Control, Authority)
  • Order (Organization, Plan, Clean)
  • Family (Nurturing, raising offspring)

I think the conflict between desires brings depth to our personality. Power is what Vader wants the most, and he has multiple plans to gain more power, but those plans are at odds with his desire for a family and to take care of his children. Luke senses that conflict within him, and in the end, Vader chooses his family.

Anakin wanted power and had it. He also wanted a family, but lost his children for most of his life. And he always had elaborate plans.

The weird 16 things you can want!

In trying to figure out what motivates characters, I did the mature thing and searched online typing, “What do people want?” and read articles. I found a few theories that I had heard of before; personality types, Maslow’s’ hierarchy of needs, and the big 5 (or big 10) traits used by psychologists. But then I found a theory I had never heard of before in Dr. Steve Reese’s book, Who Am I? The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities.

Dr. Reese asked tens of thousands of people what they wanted, and then used computers to analyze their answers and find patterns. His research sorted people’s desires into 16 distinct categories.

The 16 desires:

  • Honor (Integrity, Loyalty, Trust, Tradition)
  • Romance (Beauty, Art, Attraction)
  • Family (Nurturing, raising offspring)
  • Social Contact (Friendship, Companions, Group play)
  • Acceptance (Attention, Approval, Inclusion)
  • Social Status (Exclusivity, Connection, Reputation)
  • Power (Domination, Control, Authority)
  • Independence (Freedom, Self Reliance, Determination)
  • Tranquility (Preparation, Comfort, Calm)
  • Saving (Collecting, Preserving, Valuing)
  • Eating (Food, thinking about food and planning meals)
  • Physical Activity (Exercise, Active, Moving)
  • Vengeance (Compete, Retaliate, Defeat, come from behind)
  • Idealism (Belief, sacrifice, Justice, and making things right)
  • Curiosity (Explore, Analyze, Discuss)
  • Order (Organize, Plan, Clean)

The book has changed my view of the world, how I understand people, cultures, our progression through life, and more.

It frustrates me that Steven Reiss spends a portion of his book ‘watering down’ his theory because this lens of understanding humans is groundbreaking. By watering down the theory, I am talking about the tests he includes to see how you rank in all 16 desires. But, I’m afraid I have to disagree with the idea that because you want something, you will get it, which seems to be the basis for his evaluation.

I do not think our desires can be determined by taking an inventory of our belongings. There is no guarantee that someone who wants a family will have one or that someone who wants beauty will have it. I think our desires go much deeper than our possessions or relationships. I think our desires play into every decision we make.

I also think our personalities are not just a little different from person to person. We can want entirely different things or the same things for entirely different reasons.

The theory of the 16 desires is so strong I think it deserves a deep analysis.

In my estimation, I think most people, you included, probably have three fundamental desires that can describe almost all their motivations. But one of those desires reigns supreme, governing most of the things you do and almost everything you want. I think I only have two dominant desires, Curiosity, and Romance. I’d like to say I have another, but I can’t find a clear winner. That might make me a two-dimensional character, but I do not know what I could do about that. As far as I can tell, our desires seem locked to our personalties.

I will discuss this topic much more later, but I think this post will be a handy reference to get started on analyzing desires, whether for real people, fictional characters, age groups, or cultures.