Holding Out For a Hero

[miriamg]

Number of times I've fallen asleep in my clothes in the past four days: 3
Yeah, not good.

Anyway, this post will be slightly rambly, but I hope it will be interesting for some.

Small disclaimer: Spoilers from the following:
Sluggy Freelance by Pete Abrams (webcomic)
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa (manga)
The Girl Who Lived by Keiran Halcyon (

Comments

[per_vert]

An excellent read, m'lady

[miriamg]

An anti-hero is someone who is specifically written to be an anti-hero. In that case the author isn't expecting the readers to agree with everything, or maybe even anything, the character does, only to sympathise. And maybe he'll end up saving the day, despite being a jackass.
Rose Potter and those Gary Stus were meant to be proper heroes by their creators. The reader is supposed to find them and everything they do awesome. That's why they fail so hard.

Your examples sound interesting, though I can't really comment on them, as I'm not familiar with either.

[sarahblack]

This was an excellent read!

I've often been annoyed by Harry, but if he weren't his annoying self I probably never would have got past book one.

I'm like you, though. I like the villains more. They're interesting! In real life, I'm drawn to the good guys. :)

Edit: Jack Sparrow! He's a great hero. Not like Will maybe, but even though he's kind of self serving and cowardly, he was brave when it mattered.

[miriamg]

I'm glad you enjoyed, since I spent most of the day writing this. (Why, yes, I should be doing something more productive. Why do you ask? :P)

Jack Sparrow is an interesting example. Like you said, he's not as clear-cut as Will who won't let anything stop him from saving his girl, but he has had his moments when he proved that he cares about other people than himself. He's just so eccentric that he his true motives can be hard to understand at times.

[olukkans]

Villains! Villains! Beautiful, lovely villains! Ah-hah! Ah-hah!

[miriamg]

Incidentally, I quite liked Prince John when I was a kid.