# Top Ten List: Most fascinating Literary Characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877 "2002-04-21T23:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/21 "2002-04-23T10:45:35Z")
OK, I’ll bite… in no particular order: Peter O’Donnell’s **Modesty Blaise**. A triumph for human raw material over adverse circumstances; a dispossessed orphan in a refugee camp who grows up as a mind-bogglingly omni-competent adventuress, who still has a human side. John le Carré’s **George Smiley**. The expert spy whose inadequacies as a human being are both his weakness and his strength. Sigrid Undset’s **Kristin Lavransdatter**. Look, just read the book… In a similar, but earlier, vein, **Gudrun Osvif’s-Daughter** , the magnetic figure at the heart of the _Laxdæla Saga_. Robertson Davies’ **Francis Cornish** , the man at the centre of the Cornish trilogy, whose life story takes up the middle book, _What’s Bred in the Bone_. Most efforts to retell classic stories from the monster’s point of view suck hard enough to clean the carpet. But John Gardner’s **Grendel** is a different kettle of fish; an existentialist monster questioning his place in the world and the story. E.R. Eddison’s writing is full of memorable larger-than-life characters; if I had to pick just one, it’d be **Lord Gro** , the Machiavellian plotter and multiple turncoat from _The Worm Ouroboros_, who is dominated by his fatal character flaw - he always sides with the underdog. Unfortunately, once he gets to work, the underdog swiftly stops being “under” anymore… “Richard Stark”'s **Parker** ; iron-nerved, ruthless, totally amoral, the professional criminal’s professional criminal. ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/22 "2002-04-23T14:35:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Creaky \* > **5. Victor Frankenstein, _Frankenstein_: hubris, hubris, hubris, but what a work ethic!** > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by minty green_ > **Dent. Arthur Phillip Dent** You guys slay me! ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/23 "2002-04-23T15:11:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by minty green \* > \*\*No way! Michael Pemulis was five times as interesting as the Incster. But it’s good to meet anybody else who has read the greatest work of American literature from the last sixty years. 🙂 > > \*\* 🙂 Right back atchya. One of the best things about _Infinite Jest_? It’s both a book and a workout. The Interdependence Day Eschaton kills me everytime. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/24 "2002-04-23T16:29:42Z")
Heh. Yeah, **Humble Servant** , I’ve always had a soft spot for those obssessive mad doctor types! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/25 "2002-04-23T19:11:16Z")
Adah Price-The Poisonwood Bible, she’s absolutely facinating Nathan Price-The Poisonwood Bible, how can anyone be so blind in the name of Light? Lord Peter Wimsey-Dorothy L. Sayers, truely the best sleuth ever written Li Kao-Bridge of Birds, there’s a slight flaw in his character Thomas-Daddy by Loup Durand, so much for such a young boy Mrs. Havisham-Great Expectations, do I really need to say why? I second **Creaky** ’s Joseph Armagh from Captins and the Kings Grrr, I can’t remember her name. The main character from The Thornbirds, I love her. What’s her name??? d’Artagnan-Three Musketeers, how could you not like this fellow? Nora-A Doll’s House by Ibsen, what strength in the end ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/26 "2002-04-23T19:26:14Z")
Durn you, **TV time**. I was gonna say Sherlock Holmes. I think you have to add Dracula to this list. That character cemented the figure of the vampire as a European count in folklore forever. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/27 "2002-04-23T20:33:57Z")
1.) Doc Savage (from the 1930’s and 1940’s pulps) 2.) Dominc Flandry (from Poul Anderson’s novels and stories) 3.) Philip Marlowe (Raymond Chandler) 4.) Odysseus 5.) Cordelia Gray (P.D. James’ novels “An Unsuitable Job for a Woman” and “The Skull Beneath the Skin”) 6.) Ellery Queen 7.) Christa Cruitaire (Gael Baudino’s novel “Gossamer Axe”) 8.) Magwitch (Dickens’ “Great Expectations”) 9.) Arrowsmith (Sinclair Lewis’ novel of the same name) 10.) Deputy Joseph LeDonne (Sharyn McCrumb’s Ballad novels) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/28 "2002-04-23T22:38:56Z")
10.) Bartleby the Scrivener (Herman Melville). Tell me about him, won’t you? 9.) Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy). Yes, I’m serious. After keeping the world Safe for Conservative Republicans half a dozen times or more, this guy remains as two-dimensional as a Bugs Bunny cel. Such an achievement may not take talent, but it is definitely fascinating. 8.) Rudolf the Flying Fox (Richard Scary). He throws his _eindecker_ through the skies with careless abandon and nary a line, and wouldn’t you know it, he pays every time! Well, he certainly fascinated _me_ when I was a kid. Dad had to build me a toy Fokker just to get me to shut up about the guy. 7.) Hannibal Lecter (Thomas Harris). The book-Lecter has red eyes, black hair, and an extra, working finger on one hand. Creepy. He composes multimedia lectures on the fly, can talk people to death, and once contributed recipes to cooking magazines. He’s starting to suck on film, but the literary Dr. Lecter is the most interesting uber-villain since Professor Moriarity. 6.) Achilles (Homer). I don’t know about you, but I wanted to cheer out loud when this bastard finally bought it. He may be a hero, but he’s also a serious prick. 5.) Atticus Finch (Harper Lee). The personification of integrity. 'Nuff said. 4.) Aristotle (as portrayed by Rembrandt as portrayed by Joseph Heller). But it’s not really Aristotle. 3.) HAL 9000 (Arthur C. Clarke). Clarke’s HAL is more innocent and fragile than Kubrick’s, at least in the first novel, so we get to see a little bit more of him cracking up. 2.) Sam Spade (Dashiell Hammett). He cheats with his partner’s wife and has the guy’s name scraped off the window an hour after he’s killed, yet Spade is willing to send the woman he loves up the river to avenge Archer’s death. 1.) Dr. Stephen Maturin (Patrick O’Brian). Everyone’s favorite coke-headed, opium addicted, grave-robbing, murdering, spying cellist masquerading as a naive natural scientist. Like a little bit of arsenic with your coffee every day, O’Brian slowly reveals this wonderful character to be all those things and more. ---
**Author:** ![DaPearl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@DaPearl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPearl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/29 "2002-04-23T23:49:59Z")
There are many, but the first two that come to mind are Dean Moriarty from Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, and basically Hunter S. Thompson in all his books (he’s my personal hero and somewhat of a rolemoel [yeah, I know the first part sounds cheesy and the second part sounds dangerous] ). ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2002, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/30 "2002-04-23T23:56:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > **10.) Bartleby the Scrivener (Herman Melville). Tell me about him, won’t you?** I would prefer … never mind. Someone mentioned Spenser, but he seems to be more of a one dimensional character. There’s no real background to him; nothing to be curious about or wonder where he came from. For my money, Hawk is much more interesting. He’s both a good guy and a bad guy and the same time and you’re much more interested in how he got that way. I’d also have to mention **Hagbard Celine** from _The Illuminatus Trilogy_ . ---
**Author:** ![robertliguori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@robertliguori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robertliguori)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/31 "2002-04-24T01:56:21Z")
Well, darn. My two favorite authors are Donaldson and Pratchett, and those were covered already. Has anyone else read Aztec, by Gary Jennings? ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/32 "2002-04-24T03:27:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jurhael \* > \*\*And last, but certainly not least: > > 1. Claude Frollo(Notre Dame De Paris)–Those who read my journal entry about NDDP can see why, but I’ll explain here as well. He is by far one of the most complex, passionate, powerful, articulate brillant, knowledgeable and yes, tragic characters ever!!! I could go on forever about how his obsessiveness, and insatiable desire (and not just for Esmerelda) ruined him and those around him. Why Esmerelda wouldn’t “have him” is beyond me… \*\* I heartedly agree, this man is an incredible character, and his fall from grace (so to speak) is well done. I feel very sorry for him… even now, despite his lecherousness. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/33 "2002-04-24T03:30:46Z")
A few more: Svidrigaylov, _Crime and Punishment_, one of the creepiest guys in literary history. Godot. We never meet him, but he really makes you wonder. Tea Cake, _Their Eyes Were Watching God_. Proof you can be a great catch and a huge mooch at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/34 "2002-04-24T04:07:38Z")
I’ve always been fascinated by Ophelia from Hamlet. So tragic. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/35 "2002-04-24T04:14:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osiris \* > \*\*I’ve always been fascinated by Ophelia from Hamlet. So tragic. \*\* [Simpsons reference] Nobody out-crazies Ophelia! La la la la la la _splash_ [/Simpsons reference] ---
**Author:** ![smilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@smilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smilla)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/36 "2002-04-24T04:16:52Z")
Wow, it’s been ages since I’ve posted here. Anyway, here’s my partial list of characters: 1. **Estraven** - The King’s counselor in Ursula LeGuin’s _The Dispossessed_. I remember reading that book and liking the character so much, despite his aura of shadiness and the fact that he was the object of the protagonist’s distrust. Or is that mistrust? Oddly sexy, very intelligent, and, in an almost sublte, low-key way, driven by the strength of his convictions. Definitely a keeper. 2. **Lilith** - The protagonist of Octavia Butler’s _Xenogenesis_ series. She’s caught between a rock and a hard place, forced to condemn humanity in order to save it. Much like 3. **Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever** - The protagonist of Stephen Donaldson’s _Chronicles of the Unbeliever_ series. Reading this man’s books are emotionally exhausting. He is by far one of the best sci-fi writers out there. Not only is Covenant the unfortunate victim of leprosy, but his wife divorces him, his career as a writer is not looking up, and bums have started talking to him. Just when things couldn’t get any crappier he gets plopped into a world on the brink of destruction, and he is totally repsonsible for whether everyone lives or dies. Covenant is one of the most multi-faceted, _real_ characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. 4. **Burke** - The sardonic and gritty creation of Andrew Vacchs. He appears in several great crime novels, including _Flood_ and _Down in the Zero_. Now that’s a _real_ man! 5. **Jael** - The fourth J in Joanna Russ’s \*The Female Man[/]. Not much I can say without ruining the end of the book, but I really really liked her. Really. 6. **Dr. John Watson** - No, not that horrible windows feature that pops up whenever you’re about to lose all your information in open applications. Watson has got to be the most underrated character of all time. Holmes is nothing without someone to tell the story. Plus, it’s always fun to read between the lines of their relationship. 7. **Vautrin** - The guy who shows up frequently in Balzac (watch your language!) novels. He complements other characters and the main plot without overshadowing either. hes’ based on a real life criminl turned police informant. And besides that, everybody loves a rogue! more later… ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/37 "2002-04-24T04:50:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I would also include Rachel Price from The Poisonwood Bible, for pretty much the same reasons as Francie Nolan. Not that she had the odds stacked against her from the day she was born, but for having the strength and perseverance to get through hardship. > [@](#): > > Adah Price-The Poisonwood Bible, she’s absolutely facinating I like Leah best. I think she’s absolutely fascinating, even though she didn’t make my list. I am just amazed at the pure love she had that allowed her to stay behind with Anatole, give up everything she had left (which wasn’t much), adopt Africa as her own land, struggle to change it for the better, and build a family during all if it. She possesses bravery I can’t imagine. ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/38 "2002-04-24T05:05:13Z")
**DPWhite** , how can you think that **Benjy** is more fascinating than my personal most fascinating character, **Quentin Compson**? But, really, I could say the whole Compson family from _The Sound and the Fury_. Well, here’s my (admittedly Faulkner-biased) list: **Quentin Compson** from the aforementioned book, but also from _Absalom, Absalom!_ He’s just so beautifully, hauntedly neurotic. It’s almost (for me and Faulkner) impossible to feel sorry for Benjy because he’s unable to realize that something’s wrong with him, but it’s very easy to empathize with Quentin. **Jewel Bundren** (or maybe **Whitfield** ), from _As I Lay Dying_. He’s the only one of the children just given one section to narrate, and yet he is one of the most important children (second only, I’d say, to **Darl** ). The scenes in which he sells his horse to buy a team of mules are some of the most touching things I’ve read in American literature. **Lucio** from _Measure for Measure_. He’s… Well, the whole play is so phenomenal that I don’t really know where to start. Oh, look, I already did. Okay, _M for M_ is my favorite play by ol’ Shakspere, and Lucio is the weirdest character in it. The plot wouldn’t work without him, he (SPOILER) unveils the Duke, without which the entire plot couldn’t continue, has the snappiest dialogue, and yet gets largely ignored by the critical public. Anyway, my sneaking suspicion is that he understood the Duke’s whole plan from the beginning (otherwise why start badmouthing the Duke to some “friar” you’ve never met?) and just got shafted by the ending. **Granny Weatherwax** from the _Discworld_. **Vimes** gets an honourable mention, but Granny’s uncompromising cynical optimism (ahem) is very intriguing. **Destruction** , from _The Sandman_. Everyone loves Death, but I think her youngest brother says smarter things and taught us all a lesson when he left his realm not because for a lover (as Dream might have), not because he was tired (as Lucifer did), but because he didn’t want to be responsible for things with which he didn’t agree anymore. Plus, he’s all big and sexy. Speaking of the Adversary, **Satan** from _Paradise Lost_ comes in next on the list. Where else are you going to find speeches that are that great? Plus, I mean, come on, he’s THE DEVIL! Here’s a second for **Jeeves**. He’s just so awesome. And another for **Magwitch**. **Sammy Klayman** , from _The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay_. He’s so wrong, so painfully sincere, and way too damaged. To return to a Faluknerian theme, **Thomas Sutpen** from _Absalom, Absalom!_ He’s so ungodly complex… Anyway, that’s my 2p. ---
**Author:** ![Narile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@Narile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Narile)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/39 "2002-04-24T05:46:14Z")
**The Patrician** : From the diskworld. I love machiavellen characters, and he is a great one. **Toranoga** from Shogun: Machiavellen again. **Vlad Taltos** from the Jerehg series: Is interesting to watch the characters transformations in the stories, and how he relates to the title of the book. (He acts like a member of the house the book is using for the title.) **V** V for Vendetta: There is no coincidence…machiavellan, and ruthless in his quest to destroy those who tortured him. **Lancelot du luc** Morte de Arthur and many other writers: The flower of human chivalry, his child might of been the perfect knight to find the grail, but his father was the greatest knight period. **Jean Valjean** Les Miserables: As mentioned above, and **Javarre** does get an honorable mention here as well. ---
**Author:** ![RaCha\_ar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@RaCha\_ar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaCha_ar)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2002, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877/40 "2002-04-24T06:34:45Z")
**Odysseus** , for part of the reason mentioned by **Sofa King** for Achilles. He’s a prick, yet inexplicably held up as one of Greece’s greatest heroes. It fascinates me that this culture had such odd sets of morals. **Wolverine**. Yes. I’m a comic book geek. Sorry, I think when he’s written well the pure torment between the man and the beast is awe-inspiring. Too bad so few writers can do him right. **Leto the First** from _Dune_ and the three prequel books. Such a normal man who becomes so great, the father of two of the strangest things ever to come out of the world, the grandfather of _the strangest_. You have to wonder if he had any idea what he was getting himself into. **Sin** from Milton’s _Paradise Lost_. This character has depths beyond depths, if you know something of Milton’s feelings towards childbirth. Even without knowing anything about the author, how can you not feel for her? The daughter/lover of Satan, raped by her own son, eternally gnawed upon by the children of that incest. Milton’s greatest accomplishment in this poem was to make you sympathise with the bad guys. **Satan** from _Paradise Lost_, too. He’s so _likable_, so much the tragic hero. That’s exactly the point. Milton makes you dislike God and Jesus, and favour Satan and what he did. Then you have to feel guilty and strange about it. When Satan is portrayed sympathetically, in a work that was feared at the time because it was more interesting than the Bible, that’s fascinating. **Alexander the Great**. Okay, he’s not technically a literary character, but everything we have about him can hardly be considered objective biography. Supposedly fathered by a snake, supposedly a descendant of Hercules, worshipped by thousands as a hero and a god. More than probably, truly schizophrenic and a megalomaniacal, womanizing drunk. The contrasts between the Alexander of the stories that were told and who the real man probably was are amazing. More later, probably. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/top-ten-list-most-fascinating-literary-characters/104877.md?page=3)