As the title suggests, I am in need of some ideas for a PC character hook from their backstory.
Now with a "normal" PC it can be such things as; edgelord, have a family, lost something. Easy things for the DM to mine for sandbox adventures.
Except this time my character cannot fit any of those ideas or tropes because of how they came to be
Their origin is that of a simple crocodile living in their swamp, when a Tiefling Sorcerer fell in, and they were delicious. That night the magical essence trapped within their last meal transforms said crocodile into what will count as a Lizardfolk.
I have plenty of reasons to adventure, the only one of their kind, completely ignorant to the rest of the world etc
Now what deeper lore can I give this character?
So far this is all I have come up with
The person I ate was someone important?
Their magical energy was meant for something else?
And that is all I have got
The Tiefling was cursed with a Geas/Quest by a powerful mage to do something in the swamp, and so now you had to fulfill that for him or perish. In your experience, you learned some basics of lizardom/humanity.
You could "be" that sorcerer but don't remember, as you lost your memory since you lost brain mass. In random moments as you two have merged you may have "instincts" on how to do things. For example, you may act like an amnesiac. You may not know what a fork is, but you can pick one up and use it properly. Or you may be passing someone on the street and say, "Hey Carl", and they would look at you like you are some monster, and you have no idea who Carl is.
Perhaps the Tiefling was trying to find something for a demon, and so whatever powers the demon blessed the tiefling with, now you are subject to. However, the demon previously dealt with this wimpy guy you ate before, now he's dealing with a Croc! Rawr!
Who says this was exactly your first encounter with humanoids? Maybe you escaped from a circus or something. You might remember the smell of cheap fast food fondly, or you might want to eat that filthy animal trainer alive. Or you might be a former animal companion and so be known to some druids.
If there were other monsters in your swamp - most swamps seen to be overflowing with critters - you might have previous experience with fey or nagas or hags or something. You might have been summoned (summon nature's ally) as a goon a time or two.
There might be a ley line through your favourite sunning beach, or a gate to the first world on an island in your hunting grounds.
You'll probably want other crocs around at some point, mating season if nothing else. This might mean acquiring a moat or a stretch of land or the services of a druid who can cast awaken.