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A Song of Ice and Fire / Other Topics / Favorite Fantasy Character

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Jeff
User ID: 1536664 Feb 22nd 8:20 AM
Most of us have discussed out favorite character from ASOIAF, but I was wondering about our respective favorite characters from all of the fantasy each of us have read.

My first pick is Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings. The heart of a true hero.

My second is Corwin from Roger Zelazny's first Amber series. I just really liked his smart-mouthed sense of humor.

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Feb 22nd 9:07 AM
Barely fantasy, but Rodrigo Belmonte in _The Lions of Al-Rassan_. For that matter, Alessan bar Valentin di Tigana and Baerd and Duke Sandre in _Tigana_, Blaise of Gorhaut and Bertran of Arbonne in _A Song for Arbonne_, Prince Diarmuid and the dwarf Matt S�ren in the Fionavar Tapestry (hrm .. and Pwyll, Loren Silvercloak, Galadan, Kevin, Dave Martyniuk . . .)

Okay, so, GGK makes characters that I love. ;)

Other authors ... Judith Tarr has a lot of nifty ones. Aidan, Knight of the Flame, and his brother Gwydion; Alf and Thea; Morgiana the Assassin. All from her semi-historical fantasy _The Hound and the Falcon_ trilogy and/or the _Alamut_ duology. And then Mirain, Vadin alVadin, and Elian (and an honorable mention for the Mad One) in her _Avaryan Rising_ series.

I could probably toss up quite a few others, if I put my mind to it. Oh, Foamfollower in the firstCovenant series. And the Bloodguard in general (not because their ultra-cool toughness and fighting prowess, but because of the stoic tragedy of them.) And the other giant, Pitchwife in the second series.

Corwin's pretty nifty, though I think I read the first Amber books too quickly to really appreciate the writing. The plot was too interesting. Got to try it again, sometime.

Omer
User ID: 9551723 Feb 22nd 10:04 AM
Shoot me, but my favorite is a certain dwarf with a wild sense of humor and a very difficult family

Emily
User ID: 2192024 Feb 22nd 10:19 AM
Do I detect a certain Guy Gavriel Kay fan, Ran? Just remember that Rodrigo Belmonte invaded an innocent country to impose a treacherous king's political and religious domination on it. And Duke Sandre...well, he mellowed a lot as the book went on, but he did kill his own son rather than sacrifice two fingers to save him.

I like Sam enormously, Jeff, but he's just a bit too subservient. Not to mention all those kids...

For me, it would be Arthur (and Lancelot, and Merlin, and Guinevere) from T H White's The Once and Future King. And Melanie Rawn's Sioned. OK, so

SPOILERS for Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies:
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she was an insane alcoholic who poisoned people and burnt them alive, but...*shrugs* she's my hero anyway.

Jeff
User ID: 1536664 Feb 22nd 10:22 AM
Excellen picks there, Ran! I suppose I should read some more GGK because the characters in Fionavar were very good. Dave Martyniuk was particularly well-done, I thought. Foamfollower also was excellent.

Jeff
User ID: 1536664 Feb 22nd 11:08 AM
Emily, Sam is subservient, I agree. But the scene that I think made his character was when he thought that Frodo had been killed by Shelob in Cirith Ungol. Until that point, his whole life had been devoted to "Mr. Frodo".

Instead, he knew that he had a greater duty. So he picked up the ring, Sting, and Galadriel's Phial, and left Frodo to continue the quest alone. That was when he became someone great to me. Putting aside his strongest personal feeling -- his love for Frodo -- and proceeding on into Mordor by himself, a lone, lowly little servant from the Shire. Can't recall any fantasy character who ever displayed greater courage or nobility. He's the reason I'm really pushing for "Sam" as a name for my soon to arrive son. Supposedly, Peter Jackson views LOTR as being Sam's story, which is one reason I have high hopes for the movies.

BTW, just to add a female character to my list, Danaerys is another character I really admire.

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Feb 22nd 11:09 AM
I judge the characters by the standards of their time. Rodrigo was an honorable and courageous figure. Moreover, he was intelligent -- he realized the cost of what he did, but he did it out of duty. He's something like a Ned, actually, save a little more pragmatic. If Jon turns out like Belmonte, I'll have no complaints.

Though, to call Al-Rassan 'innocent' seems excessive. ;) And I'm not sure if Ramiro could be called treacherous.

As to Sandre, I thought what he did was a remarkably human thing. He very clearly felt the pain of what he did, if not then than later when he did eventualyl sacrifice his fingers. Kay writes flawed characters brilliantly. ;)

I think you'd really like Rodrigo in _The Lions of Al-Rassan_, Jeff. Very well-wrought character. Of course, women seem to prefer Ammar ibn Khairan -- who is also a fascinating character, and I'd add him to favorites, plus ... well.

Tom R.
User ID: 3647314 Feb 22nd 6:30 PM
I'd have to say Puddleglum the Marshwiggle is probably my all-time favorite fantasy character. He appeared in The Silver Chair, the fourth of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Puddleglum was humorously morose but basically a decent and courageous chap.

At one point, deep in a dismal underground kingdom, an evil witch tries to enchant Puddleglum and his companions into doubting that their own world, the bright, sunlit, beautiful world of Narnia, actually existed. She very nearly succeeded ... until Puddleglum dourly responded with words to this effect: "Well, lady, even if our world really is nothing but a dream, it still has it all over this dark, dreary world of yours."

Puddleglum thus aptly stated why it is that I love fantasy fiction so much. It may seem like nothing but a world of illusion to others, but when the fantasy is good, as with GRRM and others, it is just exactly where I want to be.

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Feb 22nd 6:34 PM
Puddleglum the Marshwiggle is a great one. :)

Dolorous Edd seems to be his spiritual descendant -- I rather find him amusing. Then again, I also liked the aptly-callsigned pilot Doomsday in the old Wing Commander II game.

Pessimistic, gloomy characters with caustic observations about the world and dour predictions of doom are rather amusing and interesting when well-written, I suppose.

Swithin
User ID: 0289604 Feb 22nd 7:14 PM
I really enjoyed Severian from the Book of the New Sun. Going back in time a bit, Odysseus is my hero for all time. Tristant (not Tristram) is cool. Balin was a great doomed character. Surtr from Norse mythos is the coolest character of all time. And Min is sexy...

GRRM's characters are all good, Varys is a treat to read. Some of Jordan's character are surprisingly thoughtful and well developed. Oh well.

Swithin
User ID: 0289604 Feb 22nd 7:17 PM
Don't know if these count, but detective Zeke Stone and John Glover as the devil from the greatest television series of all time, Brimstone, have to be on my list too.

Dirjj
User ID: 6960173 Feb 24th 2:47 PM
Umm, I don't know if this guy's my favorite, but I had an affinity for the guy. When I first started playing D & D back in High School, I named my character Eventine Elesedel. I basically stuck to that name whenever I gamed, up until I came up with Dirjj.

Two of my favorite all time characters were the brothers Feanor and Fingolfin from the Silmarillion.

I like Cobra Commander for GI Joe too. Ned Stark and Syrio Forel are favorites as well.

I could go on forever picking favorites from innumerous books, but I'll stop here. On of these days I'll have to read Kavriel.

ab

Claidhaim
User ID: 8590713 Feb 24th 3:27 PM
Sethra Lavode anyone?

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Feb 24th 3:36 PM
Good one. Now you remind me of how cool Morrolan and Vlad and Loiosh and Kragar and the Demon and Daymar and Aliera and Khaavren and ...

Okay, Brust writes some very likeable characters too. ;)

The Infinite Monkey
User ID: 8005213 Feb 24th 4:23 PM
Death. From Terry Pratchett's Diskworld. How can you not love a guy who always talks IN BIG BLOCK CAPITALS ALL THE TIME.

I also like the personalities of the Culture Minds in Iain M. Banks novels, but they're SF, not fantasy (the Xenophobe and the Arbitrary are my favourites).

Relic
User ID: 9328513 Feb 26th 3:45 AM
Hagbard Celine, from the Illuminatus trilogy. Gotta love a guy who owns a huge golden submarine and smokes Kalista Gold.

Maeglin
User ID: 0707654 Feb 26th 4:59 AM
My favorite character is *drum roll* Maeglin from the Silmarillion! He may have betrayed everyone in the end but I still reckon he was pretty cool, another favorite of mine is Prince Kheldar from Eddings, the parts of Eddings books with him in them are enough to make you forget that his books are exactly the same but with different characters

Shagga
User ID: 9022063 Feb 26th 8:59 PM
Kalista Gold? is that some ultra potent form of marijuana?

Relic
User ID: 9328513 Feb 27th 1:09 AM
Shagga, marijuana? Whats that?

Min
User ID: 0074284 Feb 27th 6:33 AM
Well, you guys know I love the dark ones, don't you? As you all know how much I love the characters of Theon and Jaime, and especially Sandor, you will not be astonished by my following all-time-fantasy-favorites.

From the Lord of the Rings, it is Aragorn. Oh, I love Sam, too, for sure, more than Frodo. But it always has been Strider who stirred my imagination. He was with me during my whole youth. I cannot imagine a life without Aragorn.

Guy Gavriel Kay's characters all are brilliant. My absolute favorite by now (I haven't yet read all of his work) is Brandin of Ygrath. He comes next to Aragorn. I loved this man even more than Dianora did. Really. At the end of Tigana, my heart broke. Jeez. What a man. OK, I loved Beard and Alessan and Sandre, too - Kay has this incredible Talent for ambiguous characters - but Brandin... oh whew.
From A Song of Arbonne, it was simply Blaise, I suppose. Bertrand de Talair, too. And Rudel, he was great.

From Robin Hobb's Farseers, my favorite was Shade.

Well, these are the ones I can think of right now.
Anyone astonished? :-)

Next 20 Messages Newest Messages

Jeff User ID: 1536664	Feb 22nd 8:20 AM Most of us have discussed out favorite character from ASOIAF, but I was wondering about our respective favorite characters from all of the fantasy each of us have read. My first pick is Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings. The heart of a true hero. My second is Corwin from Roger Zelazny's first Amber series. I just really liked his smart-mouthed sense of humor.
Ran User ID: 0867924	Feb 22nd 9:07 AM Barely fantasy, but Rodrigo Belmonte in _The Lions of Al-Rassan_. For that matter, Alessan bar Valentin di Tigana and Baerd and Duke Sandre in _Tigana_, Blaise of Gorhaut and Bertran of Arbonne in _A Song for Arbonne_, Prince Diarmuid and the dwarf Matt S�ren in the Fionavar Tapestry (hrm .. and Pwyll, Loren Silvercloak, Galadan, Kevin, Dave Martyniuk . . .) Okay, so, GGK makes characters that I love. ;) Other authors ... Judith Tarr has a lot of nifty ones. Aidan, Knight of the Flame, and his brother Gwydion; Alf and Thea; Morgiana the Assassin. All from her semi-historical fantasy _The Hound and the Falcon_ trilogy and/or the _Alamut_ duology. And then Mirain, Vadin alVadin, and Elian (and an honorable mention for the Mad One) in her _Avaryan Rising_ series. I could probably toss up quite a few others, if I put my mind to it. Oh, Foamfollower in the firstCovenant series. And the Bloodguard in general (not because their ultra-cool toughness and fighting prowess, but because of the stoic tragedy of them.) And the other giant, Pitchwife in the second series. Corwin's pretty nifty, though I think I read the first Amber books too quickly to really appreciate the writing. The plot was too interesting. Got to try it again, sometime.
Omer User ID: 9551723	Feb 22nd 10:04 AM Shoot me, but my favorite is a certain dwarf with a wild sense of humor and a very difficult family
Emily User ID: 2192024	Feb 22nd 10:19 AM Do I detect a certain Guy Gavriel Kay fan, Ran? Just remember that Rodrigo Belmonte invaded an innocent country to impose a treacherous king's political and religious domination on it. And Duke Sandre...well, he mellowed a lot as the book went on, but he did kill his own son rather than sacrifice two fingers to save him. I like Sam enormously, Jeff, but he's just a bit too subservient. Not to mention all those kids... For me, it would be Arthur (and Lancelot, and Merlin, and Guinevere) from T H White's The Once and Future King. And Melanie Rawn's Sioned. OK, so SPOILERS for Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies: . . . . . . . . . . she was an insane alcoholic who poisoned people and burnt them alive, but...shrugs she's my hero anyway.
Jeff User ID: 1536664	Feb 22nd 10:22 AM Excellen picks there, Ran! I suppose I should read some more GGK because the characters in Fionavar were very good. Dave Martyniuk was particularly well-done, I thought. Foamfollower also was excellent.
Jeff User ID: 1536664	Feb 22nd 11:08 AM Emily, Sam is subservient, I agree. But the scene that I think made his character was when he thought that Frodo had been killed by Shelob in Cirith Ungol. Until that point, his whole life had been devoted to "Mr. Frodo". Instead, he knew that he had a greater duty. So he picked up the ring, Sting, and Galadriel's Phial, and left Frodo to continue the quest alone. That was when he became someone great to me. Putting aside his strongest personal feeling -- his love for Frodo -- and proceeding on into Mordor by himself, a lone, lowly little servant from the Shire. Can't recall any fantasy character who ever displayed greater courage or nobility. He's the reason I'm really pushing for "Sam" as a name for my soon to arrive son. Supposedly, Peter Jackson views LOTR as being Sam's story, which is one reason I have high hopes for the movies. BTW, just to add a female character to my list, Danaerys is another character I really admire.
Ran User ID: 0867924	Feb 22nd 11:09 AM I judge the characters by the standards of their time. Rodrigo was an honorable and courageous figure. Moreover, he was intelligent -- he realized the cost of what he did, but he did it out of duty. He's something like a Ned, actually, save a little more pragmatic. If Jon turns out like Belmonte, I'll have no complaints. Though, to call Al-Rassan 'innocent' seems excessive. ;) And I'm not sure if Ramiro could be called treacherous. As to Sandre, I thought what he did was a remarkably human thing. He very clearly felt the pain of what he did, if not then than later when he did eventualyl sacrifice his fingers. Kay writes flawed characters brilliantly. ;) I think you'd really like Rodrigo in _The Lions of Al-Rassan_, Jeff. Very well-wrought character. Of course, women seem to prefer Ammar ibn Khairan -- who is also a fascinating character, and I'd add him to favorites, plus ... well.
Tom R. User ID: 3647314	Feb 22nd 6:30 PM I'd have to say Puddleglum the Marshwiggle is probably my all-time favorite fantasy character. He appeared in The Silver Chair, the fourth of C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Puddleglum was humorously morose but basically a decent and courageous chap. At one point, deep in a dismal underground kingdom, an evil witch tries to enchant Puddleglum and his companions into doubting that their own world, the bright, sunlit, beautiful world of Narnia, actually existed. She very nearly succeeded ... until Puddleglum dourly responded with words to this effect: "Well, lady, even if our world really is nothing but a dream, it still has it all over this dark, dreary world of yours." Puddleglum thus aptly stated why it is that I love fantasy fiction so much. It may seem like nothing but a world of illusion to others, but when the fantasy is good, as with GRRM and others, it is just exactly where I want to be.
Ran User ID: 0867924	Feb 22nd 6:34 PM Puddleglum the Marshwiggle is a great one. :) Dolorous Edd seems to be his spiritual descendant -- I rather find him amusing. Then again, I also liked the aptly-callsigned pilot Doomsday in the old Wing Commander II game. Pessimistic, gloomy characters with caustic observations about the world and dour predictions of doom are rather amusing and interesting when well-written, I suppose.
Swithin User ID: 0289604	Feb 22nd 7:14 PM I really enjoyed Severian from the Book of the New Sun. Going back in time a bit, Odysseus is my hero for all time. Tristant (not Tristram) is cool. Balin was a great doomed character. Surtr from Norse mythos is the coolest character of all time. And Min is sexy... GRRM's characters are all good, Varys is a treat to read. Some of Jordan's character are surprisingly thoughtful and well developed. Oh well.
Swithin User ID: 0289604	Feb 22nd 7:17 PM Don't know if these count, but detective Zeke Stone and John Glover as the devil from the greatest television series of all time, Brimstone, have to be on my list too.
Dirjj User ID: 6960173	Feb 24th 2:47 PM Umm, I don't know if this guy's my favorite, but I had an affinity for the guy. When I first started playing D & D back in High School, I named my character Eventine Elesedel. I basically stuck to that name whenever I gamed, up until I came up with Dirjj. Two of my favorite all time characters were the brothers Feanor and Fingolfin from the Silmarillion. I like Cobra Commander for GI Joe too. Ned Stark and Syrio Forel are favorites as well. I could go on forever picking favorites from innumerous books, but I'll stop here. On of these days I'll have to read Kavriel. ab
Claidhaim User ID: 8590713	Feb 24th 3:27 PM Sethra Lavode anyone?
Ran User ID: 0867924	Feb 24th 3:36 PM Good one. Now you remind me of how cool Morrolan and Vlad and Loiosh and Kragar and the Demon and Daymar and Aliera and Khaavren and ... Okay, Brust writes some very likeable characters too. ;)
The Infinite Monkey User ID: 8005213	Feb 24th 4:23 PM Death. From Terry Pratchett's Diskworld. How can you not love a guy who always talks IN BIG BLOCK CAPITALS ALL THE TIME. I also like the personalities of the Culture Minds in Iain M. Banks novels, but they're SF, not fantasy (the Xenophobe and the Arbitrary are my favourites).
Relic User ID: 9328513	Feb 26th 3:45 AM Hagbard Celine, from the Illuminatus trilogy. Gotta love a guy who owns a huge golden submarine and smokes Kalista Gold.
Maeglin User ID: 0707654	Feb 26th 4:59 AM My favorite character is drum roll Maeglin from the Silmarillion! He may have betrayed everyone in the end but I still reckon he was pretty cool, another favorite of mine is Prince Kheldar from Eddings, the parts of Eddings books with him in them are enough to make you forget that his books are exactly the same but with different characters
Shagga User ID: 9022063	Feb 26th 8:59 PM Kalista Gold? is that some ultra potent form of marijuana?
Relic User ID: 9328513	Feb 27th 1:09 AM Shagga, marijuana? Whats that?
Min User ID: 0074284	Feb 27th 6:33 AM Well, you guys know I love the dark ones, don't you? As you all know how much I love the characters of Theon and Jaime, and especially Sandor, you will not be astonished by my following all-time-fantasy-favorites. From the Lord of the Rings, it is Aragorn. Oh, I love Sam, too, for sure, more than Frodo. But it always has been Strider who stirred my imagination. He was with me during my whole youth. I cannot imagine a life without Aragorn. Guy Gavriel Kay's characters all are brilliant. My absolute favorite by now (I haven't yet read all of his work) is Brandin of Ygrath. He comes next to Aragorn. I loved this man even more than Dianora did. Really. At the end of Tigana, my heart broke. Jeez. What a man. OK, I loved Beard and Alessan and Sandre, too - Kay has this incredible Talent for ambiguous characters - but Brandin... oh whew. From A Song of Arbonne, it was simply Blaise, I suppose. Bertrand de Talair, too. And Rudel, he was great. From Robin Hobb's Farseers, my favorite was Shade. Well, these are the ones I can think of right now. Anyone astonished? :-)