Modern Good Reads discussion

What makes a character epic? We all have our favorite heroes, the characters we would love to hang out with or dress up as for Halloween. Some characters connect so powerfully with us, they can keep us reading through the darkest or dryest books.

Who are your favorite sci fi heroes? What makes them so splendid, or made you really interested in their fate?

I like my characters flawed. That way their exploits resonate more powerfully. Readers forget how untroubled Aragorn is in LOTR, the book. He embraces his accent into power. Film's Aragorn who's torn process more believable and identifiable.

*ascent* my editing reeks!

Carl wrote: "I like my characters flawed. That way their exploits resonate more powerfully. Readers forget how untroubled Aragorn is in LOTR, the book. He embraces his accent into power. Film's Aragorn who's to..."

I agree, Carl, flaws make the struggle all the more exciting. I love the personal obstacles best, when the hero/heroine has to do the right thing, but it's going to cost them something, or they have to fight a deep fear. I love to discover their hidden story along the way, too. An epic character has to be bigger than the story, blow my imagination. I love secret abilities that come to the fore leaving everyone breathless. Paul Atreides (Dune) is a character that I'll never forget. So powerful, but he lost so much, and very lonely at the end.

Ceri, good point about obstacles.

I don't know if an epic has character has to end at the bottom. I do agree they have to struggle past both their eternal problems (flaws) and external problems, have the deck really stacked against them, and make the hard decisions.

An epic character is one where the character can stand separate from the story, but the story wouldn't work without that character. For me, Miles Vorkosigan is an epic character, if in a series without massive name recognition.

I would say a character's epic quality hinges on a lot of things, but there is definitely a balance of obstacles and sacrifice. They might not end up alone, but they will lose friends and loved ones along the way, it is part of what shapes the character.
I do agree with Travis, a character is epic if the story won't work without them. Can you imagine the Ender's Game series without Ender Wiggin? I am also a fan of epic villains, though I notice books with complex heroes don't always have complex villains. I would call Sauron from Lord of the Rings an epic villain, he is larger than life, the impossible to kill, immortalized evil, but he lacks the complexity I look for in my favorite villains.

That has always been my complaint of a lot of sci-fi (not all of it, but a lot). They are great at giving us epic heroes, not so great at epic villains.

I think the flaws in heroes make them really compelling. A hero who's genuinely selfish as well as atruistic--and yes, you can be both--is much more interesting than a wide-eyed saint. As a reader, I like heroes with major flaws and obstacles, not just token problems. I agree that loss is also an interesting thing that shapes characters.

One thing that jars me, as a reader, from enjoying a character is when they behave differently from the way others describe them. Bella is another example of this. I tend to see a lot of heroes described as intelligent and cunning when they're really doing the bare minimum or observing something obvious, too.

Michelle wrote: "I think the flaws in heroes make them really compelling. A hero who's genuinely selfish as well as atruistic--and yes, you can be both--is much more interesting than a wide-eyed saint. As a reader,..."

Well, it is easy to say a character is intelligent or cunning, much harder to have them be intelligent or cunning because it requires some of those qualities on the part of the writer. Not that the writer is unintelligent, but usually the hero is mentioned as extremely intelligent.