Character Development (first draft)

Name: Kitsune.Suzuki or 鈴木 きつね

I chose the character's name to be Kitsune because I wanted to tie my hypertext story to Kitsune/Fox Folklore in Japan. Thereby creating a digital story. The character which I am fabricating is intended to experience influence from different cultures.

I will be intentionally plagiarizing the ancient Japanese folklore related to foxes.

I will write a short entry on a regular basis which will reflect my version of the story and will also incorporate the changes that occur over the course of the quarter.

If you are unfamiliar with this Japanese folklore which is presumably well over a thousand years old, you might find it interesting because the story has a parallel related to infiltrating and manipulating through the art of trickery.

By infiltrating, manipulating and the art of trickery, I mean that in Japanese folklore a kitsune/fox is depicted as having the power to transform into a human form or impersonate a specific person and to be able to mingle with human beings. My character, similar to Japanese lore, acquires characteristics from other virtual bodies and thereby creates its own identity. In parallel, my character will be fictional but will be interacting or mingling in a virtual space with other entities.

In most Japanese folktales a kitsune tricks humans, but they are also portrayed as faithful guardians, friends, lovers and wives. In my digital folklore I would like to give back to the people that participate in this project knowingly or not. Without their curiosity my fictional character would not be able to develop and evolve. I will give each participant a bound copy, not digital, of the story once it has reached its completion.

I would like to incorporate ideas that there are still "kitsune," who create illusions by manipulating reality. What I am trying to impart is we humans are able to trick one another or even ourselves into believing something that is fictional.

I wanted to take into consideration that a virtual fabricated character and humans who just surfs the internet environment live closer to one another even though they don't live in the same country. The internet brings the proximity of people closer.

For example, my character is an exchange student studying in the United States, but by utilizing the virtual space Kitsune is able to connect with many Japanese people who live in Japan as well as others from various countries who live around the world. They will feel some connection to the character even though they are being tricked.

Another layer of surrealism I am creating is the way Kitsune appears on the internet.
Kitsune will look like an animated character with blue hair and excessive make up. This look is adapted from anime and manga comics as published in Japan that depict humans with slightly exaggerated features.

This will display that she is fabricated; however, it might go the other direction when viewed or interacted by the audience/participants and portray how much she is "real" as she appears to look like a "cosplayer".

The way people react to the character depends on each person because the internet reveals yet keeps a wall between people. Nothing is revealed unless the person expresses themselves in text, but sometimes people who reside within this virtual space have the ability to tell a lie or an exaggeration from the truth. We are able to experience these hypertext stories each virtual bodies provide us whether it is fabricated or not.

In a virtual space, skepticism is necessary but does it really matter if what one is reading, seeing or hearing is fabricated?
Does it still provide some sort of art, culture and technological experience?

I do feel it provides an opportunity for people to participate in the hypertext story whether or not they like it.

In Japan when kitsune transform into a human being they will continue to have a reflection and/or shadow of their true form.
In my project Kitsune has some characteristics derived from myself.
Even though I steer away trying to create a character that is completely different from who I am, it is impossible to not incorporate the truth about myself. Part of her personality is created by my own ideas as well as with a combination of others, which is why she is similar and at the same time very different from who I am.


In a virtual space we have the ability to create our own stories.
We enter this space and the space is unlimited.

Not only myself, but others too are creating their hypertext stories. Everyone is a "Kitsune" and always will be in a virtual environment. Therefore, we are creating digital folklore through the utilization of newfound technology.