Favourite Characters in Fiction

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

The title of the topic about says it all. Who are your favourite characters in fiction?

I will say that there are some people in books who I'd love to meet. Here. Maybe even spend some time with. Sometimes I wish they were real life enough that when I see someone who looks like a favourite character in a book, I'm inclined to like them a bit more than maybe they warrant, just based on their appearance. Which is perhaps silly, but there it is.

The same can go for non-favourite characters too. An accidental resemblance to someone who is distinctly not my cup of tea from a story can put a damper on a friendship before it even has a chance to start...

So who are your favourite characters in fiction? Who do you love to open the book and fall into the story and just be with them sometimes? Are there people in books who you delight to meet -- in the book and have no wish to meet except in that book? Are there people you like so much you would want to actually live in that story (a la Inkheart) and in their world, just to be with them?

If you feel like it, who are some non-favourite characters too? Same questions.

In which book(s) did you meet this person, these people? Is it a single individual or a group of people? Are they 2-leggers or werewolves or vampires or ... what?

Speaking of werewolves and meeting people, I would definitely say that The Marrok (Bran) -- from the Mercy Thompson books by Patricia Briggs -- is a favourite of mine, as are Charles and Anna. Yes, yes, and I really like Mercy and Adam, too. Would I like to live in their world?

Oh, yes. They do brownies.

Please keep your posts HOL-appropriate. If you put graphics in the post, please keep them to 600x600 or less (and give credit where credit is due).

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

Ah. Well. We are reading Alanna now ... and yes, there is someone I've met in the book who I'd love to meet.

“There's plenty more fish in the sea than Prince Jonathan," he told her softly. "And this particular fish loves you with all his crooked heart."

The Woman Who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce

I would so love to meet George. He also shows up in others of the Tortall series ... oh, in all of them. Heh.

ps - In honor of our June book (Alanna), I changed my avatar to that of a person from Tortall. That is Terrier, also known as Beka Cooper.

[Hannah R Thomas]

Even though this is the screenplay, you can tell that Newt Scamander, in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them: The Original Screenplay, is an awkward character that I can feel that I can relate to and thus, one of my favorite characters in the fiction and magical world before Harry Potter's time. He sparks this character that feels like he's not good around people, but yet has a nature of being comfortable around beasts. (I know that there are other people who can relate to Newt as they could be more comfortable with doing a certain subject with getting away from people from time to time.)

[Rowan Oswald]

Lyra Silvertongue in His Dark Materials (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass) is still my absolute favourite character, despite all the books I have read since meeting her back when I was a precocious nine year old. I have just reread the Northern Lights and fallen in love with Lyra all over again. She's fierce and determined and incredibly brave. She stands up for people and shouts to be heard. Those are all things I admire about her. The part which went over my child-selfs head, was how much I also adore her daemon Pantelimon, who is a part of Lyra in animal form. He's more cautious, gentler, much more emphatic than she is. He's often the voice of reason she ignores, but at times he's also the one encouraging her and helping her to figure things out. Of the two, I'd want Pantelimon to like me, because I feel like he's a better judge of character.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

I have a new favourite character, from the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

Yes, it is Simon. I haven't the foggiest of why either. He's not born a Shadowhunter (demon killer), he starts out as a mundane in a band which never plays music much, gets turned into a rat, becomes a vampire, becomes the one and only Day Lighter, gets tossed into prison and then manages to help save some other folks, even while being a vampire, is healed of that but loses his memory of who he is, while helping to save everybody again. Becomes a Shadowhunter.

Oh. Maybe all that is why he is a new favourite.

Besides, he was on the cover of the book (Shadowhunter Academy) which started my reading all of that series!

[Shiloh Adlar]

I've been reading the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas and just finished The Assassin's Blade which is a book compiling the five novellas for this series. This book goes into more detail about Caelena Sardothien in the months before she is captured. The story is riveting and getting to know her character more was really great. She's one of those characters that I really wish I could dislike because of the way she can be so vain at times, but it's impossible to dislike her because she's also so passionate. She's easily become a favorite character of mine. In this book, we watch as the relationship she has with Arobynn and Sam unfold and also see other relationships that are developed in places that we only hear about in the main novels, such as the time when she was with the Silent Assassins in the Red Desert. There's simply something about her that makes her so intriguing and sometimes has my emotions going in crazy places. Especially at the end of this book, when if you've read Throne of Glass, you already know what happens. I'm excited to read more about Caelena very soon.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

I do not necessarily have 'favorite' characters from literature, as much as a favorite character in a book that I am reading 'right now'. For the past two months, I have been tackling Wind on Fire trilogy by William Nicholson with my niecelet, and I actually have two characters from said books.

The first is Kestrel 'Kess' Hath, the protagonist of the series. I really admire her strength of character and convictions. It is even more surprising to see that in a 10-year-old, as that is her age when the first book, The Wind Singer, starts. Kess despises the way her society operates and how Examinations shape the future of the whole family. Kess does not allow herself to be submitted to anyone who wants to repress her, family or authority, which is what I like best. Because of that, Kess often reacts aggressively, impulsively and instinctively, without thinking about her actions. This shows that she is a rather well fleshed out character as her actions often have far-reaching consequences.

The other character, we meet in the second book, Slaves of the Mastery. Her name is Sirharasi, or Sisi, and she is a princess of Gang. Sisi is known as the most beautiful person in the lands, so much so, that her face is forbidden to be looked upon by common folk. When we first met her, Sisi is a very spoiled and childish princess, thinking about nothing but herself, but she grows a lot through the last two books, into a strong, willed character that is to be admired. Definitely the best character arc of the series.