The Law of Infinite Escalation

Iron_Man_3_theatrical_posterThe Law of Diminishing Returns, simply stated, embodies the principle that you can have “too much of a good thing.” Something that is a good idea, such as more people being more productive, eventually hits a point where it is actually detrimental instead of helpful. Movies require a large budget but there comes a point where you can throw too much money at a movie and hinder it, rather than helping.

The aspect of this I want to discuss today is what I like to call “The Law of Infinite Escalation.” It’s a principle that applies mostly to series of all kinds, although you see it in standalone works as well on occasion. It’s a problem that’s been addressed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it’s a problem that Jim Butcher faces every morning when he wakes up and tries to remember how many times Harry Dresden has saved the world. It goes like this.

In the beginning you have your hero, who’s destiny is to save humanity. So you introduce a terrible villain, who wants to rule over them. Your hero fights with the villain, defeats him, and saves everyone. And they all live happily every after. Until the next book.

In the sequel you can’t have the hero defeat a villain who wants to rule humanity, because he already did that. Doing it again would be a cakewalk. And boring. You need to raise the stakes, make this villain even more scary and intimidating. So instead of having him want to rule humanity, he wants to destroy it. Oooooh, scary.

Once again the hero defeats the villain, saves the world, and they all live happily after. But this book sold really well too, and now you need to write book three. You can’t have another world-destroying villain, because you already did that and it’s not scary anymore. You need something bigger. So you invent a villain who wants to destroy the solar system. Then in the fourth book he wants to destroy the galaxy. Then he wants to destroy the fabric of reality and time itself. And so on.

Eventually, at some point, you’re going to run out of things to save. Around book 6 you’re going to have to give up and start going backwards, and that’s anti-climatic. You are suffering from the Law of Infinite Escalation.

So what can you do to avoid this law? Well, if you’re planning a series start with the stakes relatively low. Then you have room to grow. If the first thing your hero does is save the world then you’re going to be in trouble later on. But if the first thing is does is save his neighbour from being evicted and discover some new sciency thing, then there’s nowhere to go but up.

The second thing you can do is avoid sensationalism. So many times the only reason we have these epic quest novels and galactic stakes is because the authors and creators think that if it’s small and personal no one will care. But they will. If you have a well-written plot and compelling characters you can save just a city, rather than the whole world, and they’ll still be impressed. You can even save the same people over and over again because they keep getting into trouble. If your story is about people rather than weapons of mass destruction, then you can go back in size without breaking the arc. And then, one day, when the world is in danger, your hero will be ready.

Thirdly: just remember to think things through. As yourself “Why is this important? Why is the villain doing this? Does the whole world have to be affected, or does it make more sense to occur on a smaller scale? Am I writing the story I want to tell or just trying to meet audience expectations?”

Discussion Time!

Do your heroes save the entire world, or just their own personal one? Why or why not? What is your views on trying to make each sequel “bigger and better”? Do you think that the MCU is going to eventually hit a ceiling when it comes to creating larger stakes?

Postscript:

(TV tropes also has an entry about this, except they call it Sequel Escalation. As with all links to TV Tropes, please proceed with caution, and if you find yourself becoming addicted, please seek professional help.)

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