More than a decade ago someone posed a question about fictional characters – how they make you respond. She asked for characters that you-the-reader “absolutely loathed… really loved… empathized with…brought you to tears“.
I gave the following answers at the time: :
A character you absolutely loathed?
No contest. Thomas Covenant. He makes me want to shriek and tear my hair out. By the roots. By the handful.
A character you really loved?
Does it have to be human? And can I be REALLY cute?… Draco, from “Dragonheart”. (It didn’t hurt that he had Sean Connery’s voice – but really – you gotta love a dragon that says “YIKE!” when he gets stuck…)
A character you empathized with?
I empathize with EVERYONE, what do you mean? (well, except Covenant.)
A character who brought you to tears?
Dianora, from “Tigana”.
At the time, I also answered the questions using characters from my own books. I’ve written a dozen more books since then and I reserve the right to change my answers on further refection.
Loathed? I can’t answer that – I have written dislikeable characters but I loathed none of mine, else I couldn’t have written them – but the closest I could come is Ansen from “The Hidden Queen“. And yet even he returns to pity in the final reckoning, the little shit. I do that to my villains – I don’t so much *redeem* them as make them pitiable, rather than loathed…
Loved? Amais, from “Embers of Heaven.”
Empathized with? In a strange but very strong way, Xaforn from “The Secrets of Jin-shei.”
Bought me to tears? Sasha, from “Letters from the Fire.”
This is a game anyone can play — what characters would you pick?
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Quote of the day:
“I would rather be remembered for a song than a victory” ~ Scottish Poet Alexander Smith
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