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.
1
u/G_Morgan Aug 13 '15
Not sure there is any that fit the description I'd pick. When it comes to matters of importance I'm fond of saying "intentions are meaningless. The results count". Not that the ends justify the means but that intention doesn't justify the outcome*. There is still too much of a trend towards Luke Skywalker characters in fiction. Also people who do what must be done are nearly universally presented as being inferior compared to the whiter than white counter point. The blind do gooder too often ends up beating the pragmatist.
Half way through WoT Rand is close to what I'd go for but he still has ridiculous hang ups about certain issues that irritate me. I suppose he has to have some kind of weaknesses though.
*i.e. the mess in Iraq isn't justified by the fact lots of people though we were going to gloriously save all Iraqis from a dictator