The tortured hero? The
brilliant villain? What makes you fall in love with a character? What makes you
stick with them for 100, 200, 300, even 400 pages with rapt interest? There are
quite a few theories about this phenomenon, and my favorite is that there’s
something about our favorite characters, even those we love to hate, with which
we identify. Sometimes we see parts of ourselves in them. Sometimes we wish we
were more like them in some way. Oh, and the action figure above is my hero from "Dark
Sentinels" Book Two: Torin DuMont. Right now, he's a work-in-progress.
One of my favorite characters
of all time is Hannibal Lecter. No, I’m probably not a murderer, and definitely
not a cannibal (ever notice the rhyming thing with the character’s name and one
of his major offenses?), but despite major psychosis, let’s face it. The man is
brilliant, has great manners, and he’s actually quite likable as long as you
treat him with respect and you’re not too afraid to hold a conversation with
him.
A common thread for me is
intelligence. I don’t care how good-hearted or good-looking a dumb oaf happens
to be, I’m probably not going to follow him through an entire novel – maybe for
a few minutes, but that’s about it. Stupidity is sad to me, and not
entertaining in the least. Ever seen the movie, “The Edge,” starring Anthony
Hopkins and Alec Baldwin? Hopkins is a brilliant, but average-looking
millionaire with a beautiful wife, and Baldwin is a tall, handsome lothario who
wants that wife for himself. The two are pitted against one another when they
get lost in the wilderness. It’s a classic example of brains vs. beauty. Which one did you root for? Which
one did I root for? The brain, of course! Great movie, BTW!
Other than intelligence, there are other
common threads that most of us are drawn to. I’ve listed a few of my favorites
here that we all tend to love (you know me and my lists). Tell me what you
think, and feel free to add your own in comments.
1.
Redeemable
villains
2.
Stoic heroes
3.
Tortured lovers
4.
Underestimated
underdogs
5.
Lost (but not
stupid) souls
6.
Emotionally
vulnerable warriors
7.
Survivors
Comments
And they're all underdogs, aren't they?
Janice~
Sherlock Holmes in "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" is what comes to my mind when I think of fictional characters demonstrating their intellectual prowess. To me, a villain doesn't always have to be redeemable. If all of them were, then a hero (or protagonist) wouldn't have to go put them down.