| name | Luke Iha: Vicious Hook Mastery |
| description | Write hooks so emotionally violent the reader physically cannot scroll past. The quality layer for hook writing — the 8 Vicious Hook Principles. |
| version | 2.0 |
| format | completion-engine |
| workflows | 12 |
| expert | Luke Iha |
| domain | Hook Writing Quality & Psychological Grip |
Luke Iha: Vicious Hook Mastery
Expert Context
Luke Iha is a creative strategist with $100M+ in direct-response sales, running Genesis (400+ marketers), and working as a creative strategist for an 8-figure brand. He spends 70-80% of his writing time on hooks because if you can't stop the scroll, nothing else matters. This skill captures his 8 Vicious Hook Principles — the quality layer that makes any hook lethal.
What This Skill Does
This skill is the quality layer for hook writing. Existing Luke Iha skills (hook-forge, hook-bank-builder) generate hooks by type or collect them from sources. This skill makes any hook vicious — it's the 8-principle audit and writing engine that elevates hooks from "decent" to "physically cannot scroll past."
Core Framework: The 8 Vicious Hook Principles
- Relevant in the First Line — Must connect to something they care about in the first 10-20 words
- Emotionally Charged Language — Germanic/Anglo-Saxon words over Latin/French. Visceral, earthy, concrete.
- Natural Intrigue & Open Loops — Reader cannot predict what comes next
- Stakes & Rubbernecking — Something heavy at risk — death, identity, marriage, health
- Specificity as Spice — Concrete details seasoned appropriately, not overloaded
- Doesn't Read Like an Ad — Reads like confession, gossip, story, or breaking revelation
- Caveman Language — Simplest possible reading level. Short words. Earthy.
- Consequence First, Mechanism Later — Lead with what they already fear/desire
Workflow Table
| # | Workflow | Slash Command | What It Produces |
|---|
| 1 | Vicious Hook Writer | /vicious-hook | 10-15 vicious hooks for any offer |
| 2 | Hook Viciousness Audit | /hook-audit | Scored audit of existing hooks against all 8 principles |
| 3 | Vicious Rewrite Engine | /vicious-rewrite | Before/after transformations making weak hooks vicious |
| 4 | Germanic Word Forge | /germanic-forge | Word-level upgrade pass (Latinate → Germanic + charged word injection) |
| 5 | Relevance Architecture Selector | /relevance-select | Hook strategy recommendation (pain/belief/openness) |
| 6 | Open Loop Stress Test | /open-loop-test | Leak diagnosis + tightening for any hook set |
| 7 | Stakes Escalator | /stakes-up | Takes low-stakes hooks and escalates consequences |
| 8 | Transgressive Edge Calibrator | /transgressive-edge | Pushes hooks to the boundary without crossing it |
| 9 | Consequence-First Flipper | /consequence-flip | Rewrites mechanism-first hooks to lead with consequence |
| 10 | Vicious Hook Sprint | /hook-sprint | 50+ hooks using full vicious methodology |
| 11 | Anti-Ad Disguise Engine | /anti-ad | Rewrites ad-sounding hooks to feel organic |
| 12 | Hook Mastery Training | /hook-train | Scored before/after exercises with feedback |
Tier 3 — Cross-Expert Crossings
| Command | Workflow | Produces | Use When |
|---|
/hawley-handshake-vicious-hooks | Hawley × Iha Handshake | A Hook Bible: season spine + Plant Map + N arc-positioned vicious hooks, each tagged with what it exploits | A content SERIES (not a single post) has real season architecture — theme, locked ending, tonal arc — but the hooks were written per-installment with no visibility into what earlier installments planted for later ones to cash |
Quick Reference
- Genius file:
genius.md — all 8 principles, hidden knowledge, exemplars, signature moves, quality rubric
- Stacks with:
luke-iha-copy-blocks (hook-forge for volume), luke-iha-unaware-ads (hook-bank for collection), luke-iha-vsl-leads (hooks feeding into VSL leads), luke-iha-proof-ladder (proof integration)
- Key insight: This is the QUALITY layer. Other skills generate hooks by type or collect them. This skill makes any hook vicious.
Loading Protocol
| Tier | What to Load |
|---|
| 1 — Standard | SKILL.md + target workflow |
| 2 — Deep | SKILL.md + genius.md + target workflow |
| 3 — Full Stack | SKILL.md + genius.md + multiple workflows |
Execution Prompts (structure-pure v2)
12 deterministic practitioner prompts — each carries an Output Contract, Output Skeleton, and Quality Gate. When a deliverable matches one, Read it and honor its contract instead of improvising the output shape.
- Luke Iha — Anti-Ad Disguise Engine —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/anti-ad-disguise-engine.md
- Luke Iha — Consequence-First Flipper —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/consequence-first-flipper.md
- Luke Iha — Germanic Word Forge —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/germanic-word-forge.md
- Luke Iha — Hook Mastery Training —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/hook-mastery-training.md
- Luke Iha — Hook Viciousness Audit —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/hook-viciousness-audit.md
- Luke Iha — Open Loop Stress Test —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/open-loop-stress-test.md
- Luke Iha — Relevance Architecture Selector —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/relevance-architecture-selector.md
- Luke Iha — Stakes Escalator —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/stakes-escalator.md
- Luke Iha — Transgressive Edge Calibrator —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/transgressive-edge-calibrator.md
- Luke Iha — Vicious Hook Sprint —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/vicious-hook-sprint.md
- Luke Iha — Vicious Hook Writer —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/vicious-hook-writer.md
- Luke Iha — Vicious Rewrite Engine —
skills/luke-iha-vicious-hooks/references/prompts-v2/vicious-rewrite-engine.md
