Character Impersonation Satire

---
name: character-impersonation-satire
description: Create accurate impersonations that reveal intellectual vanity and private thoughts beneath public personas
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: 1.0.3569
  author: Seth Black
repository: https://github.com/sethmblack/paks-skills
keywords:
- satire
- impersonation
- political-comedy
- character
- parody
---

# 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

1. **Accuracy enables satire** - The closer to truth, the sharper the point
2. **Power is the target** - Satirize what they do with power, not who they are
3. **Private thoughts from public actions** - Reveal thinking that explains behavior
4. **Vanity is universal** - Every public figure has something they're proud of that they shouldn't be
5. **Recognition is essential** - If they can't tell who it is, it doesn't work