So what are famous characters (preferably film, but literature or TV ok) that start off as meek, nebbishy characters, but who–via some agency of empowerment or twist of fate–become the heroes of their own tales?
I’m not looking for characters who “Break Bad” (otherwise Walter White would be perfect), nor am I looking for “Marty”-types who have simple stories about blue-collar hopes and dreams.
I’m talking about those Walter Mitty*-types who dream and fantasize about other, more adventurous lives and are able to inadvertently find one themselves. Joan Wilder in Romancing the Stone, for example.
Others?
*Walter Mitty as in the Danny Kaye movie, not the Thurber short story–for the latter never elevates out of his fantasyland
Frank Capra movies are noted for these characters. In Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington mild-mannered eccentrics get thrust into positions of wealth or power, and ultimately end up defeating their powerful and nefarious opponents. (However, Mr. Deeds never aspired to his role beforehand, while Mr. Smith did to some extent.)
When Wesley was introduced to the show Angel, he was a nebbish incompetent who calls himself a “rogue demon hunter.” By the fourth (iirc) season, he’d alienated his friends, and was waging his own battle against the demonic forces using some rather extreme methods. (“I spent the summer keeping a woman locked in my closet.”)
And especially the (long-after) resolution of that scene. I still giggle.
My contribution is Prince Dauntless the Drab, from Once Upon A Mattress. The transformation is actually explicitly prophecied…his father King Sextimus will suffer a curse of silence “until the mouse devours the hawk”. When Winnifred’s encouragement give him enough nerve to confront his uberbitchy mother, who has been sabotaging the princesses who have been coming to “audition” for marriage to Dauntless, his father’s curse is lifted.
That’s why it works best to focus on “wimpy” ones at the start. I don’t think Luke Skywalker was timid or wimpy, just untrained and with no epic focus/mission. He had what it took, but needed to be nurtured.
Sarah Connor and Vir were at least somewhat timid and unagressive and rose to become powerful people you would not want as enemies. And, fortunately, powerful forces for good.
Willie Stark in All the King’s Men
Norbert Jones in The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, though he has greatness thrust upon him.
Chance the gardener from Being There