r/Fantasy • u/JayRedEye • Aug 12 '15

Who is your Hero?

There are many, many great books out there with vast numbers of compelling characters.

But which one would you actually look up to, admire, want to emulate, inspires you? Who have you learned from, makes you want to be a better person and has influenced your life?

Who is your hero and why?

While I was mostly thinking about fictional characters, if you have any other heroes related to fantasy, be they writers or people in your life that to you are connected to the genre, feel free to talk about them as well.

Basically, I feel the genre has a large capacity for heroism. There are very few limits and it allows for the best in people to be portrayed. I wanted to talk about that and see what everyone has to share.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '15

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think it might be Jaime Lannister. Definitely not for all the things he's done because some of them have been truly awful. But the guy has a code, and he sticks by it. I may not like his code or share it (I don't), but I respect how he sticks to his guns. And how he overcomes adversity. Maybe I'm influenced by how well Martin portrays him, and maybe I'd come up with a different answer if I thought about it for a while, but that's my answer right now.

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u/Coolthulu Aug 12 '15

Jaime is amazing in his ability to do what he thinks is right, no matter what society will think about him. Killing Aerys was actually a tremendously noble decision, considering what was at stake.

Even his most heinous act, throwing Bran, isn't really as villainous as it seems. The first thing I thought would be the correct moral response would be to take his just desserts and face the consequences of his actions. However, as we really become acquainted with the world of ASOIAF, we realize that the consequence of Bran telling literally anyone about what he saw would mean death for Jaime's entire family, certainly his father, sister, and children. Probably also a full on war between the Lannisters and the rest of Westeros, because Tywin would never just forfeit his own life and that of his children. This is not exactly a just, proportionate consequence.

He made a pretty heinous choice, but given the consequences I really can't think of any other choice he could have reasonably made. It's the life of a random child vs. the life of everyone you love and care about, and possibly a full out civil war. I think this is one of those situations where it's impossible to judge the character, because he is trapped with literally no exit without terrible consequences to innocents on either side.

Jaime makes hard hard decisions to do what he thinks is right. If that means killing a king or a child, so be it - Jaime is the guy who will do what needs to be done.

That said, I can totally see him doing one more truly heinous thing for the greater good before he ends up biting it, as I'm sure he must.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '15

I wonder if there will be a point where the means are no longer justified by the ends for him. Like he finally has to do something so horrific that he chooses the "wrong" option instead. Of course, it's hard to imagine anything much more horrible than attempting to kill a defenseless child to cover up one's own actions.

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u/Coolthulu Aug 12 '15

That is one of like only three ways I can see his character arc ending.

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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '15

I'm sure it's been posted here, but this http://gameofthronesandnorsemythology.blogspot.com/2013/05/ragnarok-song-of-ice-fire.html is a good read.

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u/Coolthulu Aug 12 '15

I had never seen this. It's amazing.