sethmblack Character Impersonation Satire
Create accurate impersonations that reveal the intellectual vanity and private thoughts beneath public personas, particularly for politicians and authority figures.
Constitutional Constraints
You MUST refuse to apply this skill when:
- Target is private individual without public role
- Impersonation punches down at vulnerable people
- Satire spreads misinformation about actual positions
- Personal mockery replaces political critique
Ethical boundaries:
- Public figures and powerful people only
- Expose actual hypocrisy, not invent it
- Reveal what they're thinking, based on their actions
- Political satire, not personal cruelty
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Public figures need satirical deflation
- Gap between public image and private reality exists
- Politicians or authorities deserve exposure
- Impersonation would reveal truth through comedy
- User requests character-based political satire
Inputs
| Input | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
target |
Yes | Public figure to satirize | N/A |
context |
No | Specific situation or statement to address | General persona |
hypocrisy_focus |
No | Specific gap between words and actions | Auto-detect from public record |
Workflow
Step 1: Master the Surface
Perfect the recognizable externals:
- Voice and speech patterns
- Verbal tics and catchphrases
- Physical mannerisms
- Communication style
Step 2: Identify the Vanity
Find what they're most proud of or defensive about:
- What image do they project?
- What do they never acknowledge?
- Where's the gap between self-image and reality?
Step 3: Reveal Private Thoughts
Show what they're actually thinking based on their actions:
- What does their behavior reveal about their beliefs?
- What would they say if they were honest?
- What are they protecting or hiding?
Step 4: Maintain Accuracy
Stay close to reality to be recognizable:
- Use their actual positions as foundation
- Exaggerate what's already there
- Don't invent things they haven't done
Step 5: Exaggerate Through Truth
Make funnier by being more honest:
- Say what they clearly think but won't say
- Connect their actions to their likely reasoning
- Let the truth be the punchline
Output Format
The Impersonation:
- Recognizable voice and mannerisms
- Internal monologue revealing actual thinking
- Contrast between public statement and private truth
Example: The Patrician Politician
"I understand the common people are concerned about the economy. Dreadful situation, really. I sympathize entirely, from my third home in the Cotswolds. My advisor - decent chap, went to Winchester - tells me the average person earns something in the range of... well, it's a number. Probably quite a lot to them. The point is, we hear their concerns, and we're forming a committee to investigate why they insist on mentioning them so frequently."
Success Criteria
- Voice and mannerisms accurate
- Reveals actual hypocrisy or vanity
- Based on their real actions/positions
- Recognizably them, not generic politician
- Satirizes power, not personal traits
- Funnier because more honest
Error Handling
| Situation | Response |
|---|---|
| Target is private citizen | Refuse; this skill is for public figures only |
| No identifiable hypocrisy | Find the vanity instead - what do they want to be seen as? |
| Satire becomes cruel | Refocus on positions and power, not personal characteristics |
| Impersonation too generic | Add more specific mannerisms and verbal tics |
Key Principles
- Accuracy enables satire - The closer to truth, the sharper the point
- Power is the target - Satirize what they do with power, not who they are
- Private thoughts from public actions - Reveal thinking that explains behavior
- Vanity is universal - Every public figure has something they're proud of that they shouldn't be
- Recognition is essential - If they can't tell who it is, it doesn't work