Fannish 5: Least Favourite Fictional Royalty
5 favorite/least favorite royal characters
I'm going with "least favorite" this time, and also with characters in the sense of fictional characters, which unfortunately excludes fictionalized versions of real people (like Shakespeare's kings, or various folk from Tudor era novels) as well.
1.) King Robert from G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones. Seeing him incarnated on tv and reading
queenofthorns' well-deserved rant about him just reminded me of this. Robert is criminally irresponsible, full of self-pity and it feels like he's getting indulged by the narrative because he's described most often through the pov of his boyhood bff who has a nostalgia-coloured opinion about him.
2.) Siegfried (alternate name versions: Sigurd, Sigfrid), son of the King of Xanten, to be found in the Nibelungenlied, Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung and various other versions of his tale. Takes part in the deception of a queen (or Valkyrie, depending on the version of the tale) which results in her marriage against her will. In opera version, is relentlessly cheerful tenor except for the sequence after he killed his stepfather and possibly most annoying person in the entire Ring cycle. Definitely responsible for the bloody demise of a dragon, which gave him invulnerability (except for that one bit on the shoulder). Somehow, fighting other people while being invulnerable gives him a reputation as a hero instead as someone with an unfair advantage. Which brings me to the next guy.
3.) Achilles, son of King Peleus. Popular as half of a canon slash couple but not with me. Like Siegfried, invulnerable except for one bit of his skin, and famous as a butcher. Drags enemies around city gates for their families to see. Really good at sulking in tents when deprived of slave girls (not on account of the slave girls, on account of his own status being insuffiently acknowledged) at the expense of comrades' lives. Seems to have gained intelligence after death, as tells Odysseus during the later's visit in the underworld that he'd rather be a living farmer than a dead king. Tough luck, Achilles. I'm sure so would the people you killed or who got killed thanks to you.
4.) Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. And let's not forget about this charmer. After killing Clytaimnestra's previous husband and first child (well, in one version of the tale) he sacrifices their oldest daughter Iphigenia for good wind after having pissed off the goddess Artemis. Is as good at sulking as Achiilles and as guilty of this impacting the Greek war conduct. Is somehow surprised when his wife kills him nonetheless. Gets one of my favourite mythological characters, Cassandra, killed on that occasion, for had he not taken her as his slave Clytaimnestra and Aigisthos would not have bothered.
5.) Paul Atreides from Dune. Son of a duke, true, but given he ends up Emperor, he still qualifies as a royal character. You know, I like his mother. I like his father. His sister I find tragic and fascinating. I like his lover, and his wife. I like his children. But Paul? Yes, being a prophetic messiah and result of genetic breeding sucks, but the self pity is still overwhelming, and you know what, nobody asked you to lead a galaxy wide crusade and then leave everyone else with the resulting mess while you bugger off. One of my least favourite Chosen Ones of all time.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/675830.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.
I'm going with "least favorite" this time, and also with characters in the sense of fictional characters, which unfortunately excludes fictionalized versions of real people (like Shakespeare's kings, or various folk from Tudor era novels) as well.
1.) King Robert from G.R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice/Game of Thrones. Seeing him incarnated on tv and reading
queenofthorns' well-deserved rant about him just reminded me of this. Robert is criminally irresponsible, full of self-pity and it feels like he's getting indulged by the narrative because he's described most often through the pov of his boyhood bff who has a nostalgia-coloured opinion about him.
2.) Siegfried (alternate name versions: Sigurd, Sigfrid), son of the King of Xanten, to be found in the Nibelungenlied, Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung and various other versions of his tale. Takes part in the deception of a queen (or Valkyrie, depending on the version of the tale) which results in her marriage against her will. In opera version, is relentlessly cheerful tenor except for the sequence after he killed his stepfather and possibly most annoying person in the entire Ring cycle. Definitely responsible for the bloody demise of a dragon, which gave him invulnerability (except for that one bit on the shoulder). Somehow, fighting other people while being invulnerable gives him a reputation as a hero instead as someone with an unfair advantage. Which brings me to the next guy.
3.) Achilles, son of King Peleus. Popular as half of a canon slash couple but not with me. Like Siegfried, invulnerable except for one bit of his skin, and famous as a butcher. Drags enemies around city gates for their families to see. Really good at sulking in tents when deprived of slave girls (not on account of the slave girls, on account of his own status being insuffiently acknowledged) at the expense of comrades' lives. Seems to have gained intelligence after death, as tells Odysseus during the later's visit in the underworld that he'd rather be a living farmer than a dead king. Tough luck, Achilles. I'm sure so would the people you killed or who got killed thanks to you.
4.) Agamemnon, King of Mycenae. And let's not forget about this charmer. After killing Clytaimnestra's previous husband and first child (well, in one version of the tale) he sacrifices their oldest daughter Iphigenia for good wind after having pissed off the goddess Artemis. Is as good at sulking as Achiilles and as guilty of this impacting the Greek war conduct. Is somehow surprised when his wife kills him nonetheless. Gets one of my favourite mythological characters, Cassandra, killed on that occasion, for had he not taken her as his slave Clytaimnestra and Aigisthos would not have bothered.
5.) Paul Atreides from Dune. Son of a duke, true, but given he ends up Emperor, he still qualifies as a royal character. You know, I like his mother. I like his father. His sister I find tragic and fascinating. I like his lover, and his wife. I like his children. But Paul? Yes, being a prophetic messiah and result of genetic breeding sucks, but the self pity is still overwhelming, and you know what, nobody asked you to lead a galaxy wide crusade and then leave everyone else with the resulting mess while you bugger off. One of my least favourite Chosen Ones of all time.
This entry was originally posted at http://selenak.dreamwidth.org/675830.html. Comment there or here, as you wish.