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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.

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? :-)

I, Claudius
User ID: 0505634 Feb 27th 6:49 AM
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar books. Chade of course, thanks Min, I was about to forget the coolest character in the Farseer Trilogy. But possibly my favorites are Ged "the Sparrowhawk" and Tenar from Ursula K. Le Guinn's Earthsea.

Zer0
User ID: 8813033 Feb 27th 8:12 AM
Min, I'm shocked at your choice of Aragorn. Wasn't he a "good guy"? I would have thought that Wormtongue might have been your type of guy. Or maybe Grishnahk. :-)

Oh, and just to preempt any lawyer jokes, Wormtongue was _not_ a lawyer. Or at least not a very good one.

Jeff
User ID: 8813033 Feb 27th 8:14 AM
Crap! Blew my cover. ok, I only posted as Zer0 after he already said he was leaving.

Aerian
User ID: 1557854 Feb 27th 3:26 PM
I wasn't astonished by Aragorn. He's alway's been one of my favorites, so how could anyone of sense and taste not like him? Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were some of my favorite people when I was younger. However, as to choosing a favorite . . . impossible, too many of my friends are books, or to many of my books are friends.

Strangely though, most of the ones that are on the list are from what I read as a child:
Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, and Eowyn from Tolkien (with an honorable mention going to Luthien and Arwen who chose humanity over bliss).

Elionwy and Taran from the Prydain Cycle.

Eustace Scrubb from Narnia

And Harry, Corlath, and Aerin from Robin McKinley's Damar.

There are other books I return to now and again, but the books the above mentioned belong in, get returned to regularly (even up to once every other year).

Shagga
User ID: 9022063 Feb 28th 0:45 AM
Rickon, because hes a feisty bugger

Gandalf, while arrogant and supremely late all the time

Artemis Entreri, a dangerous mofoe

Ser Bolton
User ID: 1139804 Feb 28th 0:57 AM
A lot of great choices...especially all the nods to Tolkien....I myself always took to the high elven lords from the Silmarillion.... Fingolfin, Finwe, Feanor....and, then from LotR, Faramir. I'm not even sure why exactly, but after reading LotR the first time, at age 12 or 13, I grew up idolizing that guy...

From Brooks' Shannara series, I've always really liked Walker Boh....good anti-hero tpye character .....goes through a lot of turmoil and comes away stronger and more complete for it....

I believe Roose and Ramsay go without saying....

But my single all-time favorite character can be summed up with his two favorite words....Hoom Hrm!

That's right, Treebeard from LotR...just a great, great character. One of Tolkien's greatest inspirations in a trilogy of books full of great inspirations. Thanks to him I just cannot read or hear the word hasty and keep a straight face.

Rhoe
User ID: 2114994 Feb 28th 6:17 PM
My favorite's are Jimmy the Hand, Lujan, and Arakasi from Raymond Feist, Druss and Waylander from David Gemmell, Wil Ohmsford (Terry Brooks), and Mat and Perrin from WOT.

LindaElane
User ID: 0276214 Feb 28th 10:17 PM
Hey, I posted an answer to this. This is the second time this week one of my answers has disappeared. Anyone else having this problem?

Ser Gary
User ID: 1523284 Feb 29th 7:22 AM
Linda, was your post laced with obscenities?

KAH
User ID: 0541004 Feb 29th 9:49 AM
Or was your boat laden with obscurities?

Snake
User ID: 0317884 Feb 29th 11:24 AM
My favorites are Aragorn from LoTR.
Feanor from the Silmarillion. Turon too.

Lancelot from The Once and Future King.

Ned from ASoIaF.

Duke Isgrimmnur from Memory, Sorrow and Thorn.

That's all the fantasy I've read. But overall it would be Ned, Aragorn and Feanor.

labor
User ID: 0798784 Feb 29th 1:39 PM
Min, I am with you sister. IMHO, Brandin of Ygrath is one of the greatest fantasy characters. I really, really wanted him to survive, somehow...

I also rather liked Ineluki from "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" by Tad Williams. His "deus ex machina" defeat shook me badly, IMHO he should have won... and it should have been nothing like everyone thought (including himself). Ah, well, lost opportunities...

From Tolkien - Finrod Felagund (also a far too early killed character), Frodo and Galadriel.

Ari II from C.J. Cherryh's "Cyteen". Conceded, it is SF, but still...

My ASOIAF favourites (so far) are Tyrion and Dany.

Interestingly enough, there are some fantasy books I love, where I am not very strongly attached to any of the characters, however vibrant - i.e. Lindholm/Hobb, most of Kay, etc.

P.S. I wouldn't say that I love this characters as much as my other faves, but from TWOT I like Moraine, Lan and Ishamael most.

Min
User ID: 0074284 Feb 29th 2:26 PM
Linda, we seem to like the same men... perhaps it's good we're countries apart. ;-)
Good you mentioned the Storm King. He was my favorite, too, and Prince Josua besides.

And should I name WoT (which I do not like this much anymore) it certainly would be Lan and Ishamael, too. I loved the Forsaken. And, of course, I liked Min. She gave me my Nickname, after all. Liked her until she fell for this whining... oh, we didn't want to start this here, did we? :-)

Mike
User ID: 0038914 Mar 1st 9:43 PM
My two favorites come from the Silmarillion. Fingolfin for his incredibly brave yet hopeless battle with Morgoth and Turin Turambar for being IMHO the most tragic character that Tolkien ever created (edging out Feanor simply because I never liked him too much).

Cool side note on Turin. I remember reading somewhere that Turin alone among men would be in the last battle against Morgoth, because of the anguish that his family endured. Of course, I may have dreamed this up but I do believe that it was somewhere in the histories of Middle Earth.

Jeff
User ID: 8813033 Mar 1st 9:56 PM
I sort of liked Hurin. Wiping out seventy- something trolls until the bodies were stacked up so much that he could no longer swing his sword. Then he's unjustly accused of being a tool of Morgoth. Bummer for him, but a great guy.

labor
User ID: 0798784 Mar 2nd 4:38 AM
Not only that Min (I presume that you confused me with Linda, because I couldn't find her post anywhere on this topic), we are IIRC also quite close in age! Nor is the distance between us as great as you seem to hope... Beware! ;) You won't be keeping me Brandin ;) .

BTW, how could you like a character whose sole goal in life is to win love of some whiny shepherd is beyond me.
At least Moraine (and Lan) saw the things that needed doing and went forward with it. Without any forcing from the Pattern or ta'verenness etc, and without whinning about how unfair it all is. They also sweated for what they got, rather than having it just drop in their lap like the Awful Sixsome.

Snake
User ID: 0317884 Mar 2nd 11:25 AM
Feanors anguish at the death of his father was unequaled. He loved his dad more than anything else in the world. I admired that. Plus the fact that he had guts.

In fact I found the Silmarillion to be as good or better than LoTR.

Kevin
User ID: 0053014 Mar 2nd 6:57 PM
Silk from Eddings. He was one I grew up with.

Back 20 Messages 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.
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? :-)
I, Claudius User ID: 0505634	Feb 27th 6:49 AM Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser from Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar books. Chade of course, thanks Min, I was about to forget the coolest character in the Farseer Trilogy. But possibly my favorites are Ged "the Sparrowhawk" and Tenar from Ursula K. Le Guinn's Earthsea.
Zer0 User ID: 8813033	Feb 27th 8:12 AM Min, I'm shocked at your choice of Aragorn. Wasn't he a "good guy"? I would have thought that Wormtongue might have been your type of guy. Or maybe Grishnahk. :-) Oh, and just to preempt any lawyer jokes, Wormtongue was _not_ a lawyer. Or at least not a very good one.
Jeff User ID: 8813033	Feb 27th 8:14 AM Crap! Blew my cover. ok, I only posted as Zer0 after he already said he was leaving.
Aerian User ID: 1557854	Feb 27th 3:26 PM I wasn't astonished by Aragorn. He's alway's been one of my favorites, so how could anyone of sense and taste not like him? Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were some of my favorite people when I was younger. However, as to choosing a favorite . . . impossible, too many of my friends are books, or to many of my books are friends. Strangely though, most of the ones that are on the list are from what I read as a child: Aragorn, Frodo, Sam, and Eowyn from Tolkien (with an honorable mention going to Luthien and Arwen who chose humanity over bliss). Elionwy and Taran from the Prydain Cycle. Eustace Scrubb from Narnia And Harry, Corlath, and Aerin from Robin McKinley's Damar. There are other books I return to now and again, but the books the above mentioned belong in, get returned to regularly (even up to once every other year).
Shagga User ID: 9022063	Feb 28th 0:45 AM Rickon, because hes a feisty bugger Gandalf, while arrogant and supremely late all the time Artemis Entreri, a dangerous mofoe
Ser Bolton User ID: 1139804	Feb 28th 0:57 AM A lot of great choices...especially all the nods to Tolkien....I myself always took to the high elven lords from the Silmarillion.... Fingolfin, Finwe, Feanor....and, then from LotR, Faramir. I'm not even sure why exactly, but after reading LotR the first time, at age 12 or 13, I grew up idolizing that guy... From Brooks' Shannara series, I've always really liked Walker Boh....good anti-hero tpye character .....goes through a lot of turmoil and comes away stronger and more complete for it.... I believe Roose and Ramsay go without saying.... But my single all-time favorite character can be summed up with his two favorite words....Hoom Hrm! That's right, Treebeard from LotR...just a great, great character. One of Tolkien's greatest inspirations in a trilogy of books full of great inspirations. Thanks to him I just cannot read or hear the word hasty and keep a straight face.
Rhoe User ID: 2114994	Feb 28th 6:17 PM My favorite's are Jimmy the Hand, Lujan, and Arakasi from Raymond Feist, Druss and Waylander from David Gemmell, Wil Ohmsford (Terry Brooks), and Mat and Perrin from WOT.
LindaElane User ID: 0276214	Feb 28th 10:17 PM Hey, I posted an answer to this. This is the second time this week one of my answers has disappeared. Anyone else having this problem?
Ser Gary User ID: 1523284	Feb 29th 7:22 AM Linda, was your post laced with obscenities?
KAH User ID: 0541004	Feb 29th 9:49 AM Or was your boat laden with obscurities?
Snake User ID: 0317884	Feb 29th 11:24 AM My favorites are Aragorn from LoTR. Feanor from the Silmarillion. Turon too. Lancelot from The Once and Future King. Ned from ASoIaF. Duke Isgrimmnur from Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. That's all the fantasy I've read. But overall it would be Ned, Aragorn and Feanor.
labor User ID: 0798784	Feb 29th 1:39 PM Min, I am with you sister. IMHO, Brandin of Ygrath is one of the greatest fantasy characters. I really, really wanted him to survive, somehow... I also rather liked Ineluki from "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" by Tad Williams. His "deus ex machina" defeat shook me badly, IMHO he should have won... and it should have been nothing like everyone thought (including himself). Ah, well, lost opportunities... From Tolkien - Finrod Felagund (also a far too early killed character), Frodo and Galadriel. Ari II from C.J. Cherryh's "Cyteen". Conceded, it is SF, but still... My ASOIAF favourites (so far) are Tyrion and Dany. Interestingly enough, there are some fantasy books I love, where I am not very strongly attached to any of the characters, however vibrant - i.e. Lindholm/Hobb, most of Kay, etc. P.S. I wouldn't say that I love this characters as much as my other faves, but from TWOT I like Moraine, Lan and Ishamael most.
Min User ID: 0074284	Feb 29th 2:26 PM Linda, we seem to like the same men... perhaps it's good we're countries apart. ;-) Good you mentioned the Storm King. He was my favorite, too, and Prince Josua besides. And should I name WoT (which I do not like this much anymore) it certainly would be Lan and Ishamael, too. I loved the Forsaken. And, of course, I liked Min. She gave me my Nickname, after all. Liked her until she fell for this whining... oh, we didn't want to start this here, did we? :-)
Mike User ID: 0038914	Mar 1st 9:43 PM My two favorites come from the Silmarillion. Fingolfin for his incredibly brave yet hopeless battle with Morgoth and Turin Turambar for being IMHO the most tragic character that Tolkien ever created (edging out Feanor simply because I never liked him too much). Cool side note on Turin. I remember reading somewhere that Turin alone among men would be in the last battle against Morgoth, because of the anguish that his family endured. Of course, I may have dreamed this up but I do believe that it was somewhere in the histories of Middle Earth.
Jeff User ID: 8813033	Mar 1st 9:56 PM I sort of liked Hurin. Wiping out seventy- something trolls until the bodies were stacked up so much that he could no longer swing his sword. Then he's unjustly accused of being a tool of Morgoth. Bummer for him, but a great guy.
labor User ID: 0798784	Mar 2nd 4:38 AM Not only that Min (I presume that you confused me with Linda, because I couldn't find her post anywhere on this topic), we are IIRC also quite close in age! Nor is the distance between us as great as you seem to hope... Beware! ;) You won't be keeping me Brandin ;) . BTW, how could you like a character whose sole goal in life is to win love of some whiny shepherd is beyond me. At least Moraine (and Lan) saw the things that needed doing and went forward with it. Without any forcing from the Pattern or ta'verenness etc, and without whinning about how unfair it all is. They also sweated for what they got, rather than having it just drop in their lap like the Awful Sixsome.
Snake User ID: 0317884	Mar 2nd 11:25 AM Feanors anguish at the death of his father was unequaled. He loved his dad more than anything else in the world. I admired that. Plus the fact that he had guts. In fact I found the Silmarillion to be as good or better than LoTR.
Kevin User ID: 0053014	Mar 2nd 6:57 PM Silk from Eddings. He was one I grew up with.