# What literary characters do you have a crush on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445 "2006-08-27T19:47:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/1 "2006-08-27T19:47:59Z")
Note that I wrote “literary” rather than fictional. I’m sure there are any number of posters here who’d commit murder in defense of Willow Rosenberg, but in those cases they’re just as likely to be enamored of Alyson Hannigan. (Of course, if you’re NOT enamored of Alyson Hannigan, I’m worried about you.) 😉 I’d also like to disqualify comic book characters. What I’m wondering about is conjunction of vivid characterization and the reader’s imagination combining to make the reader think, “Ah, if only I lived on Tellus Secundus–I could court Ira Weatheral’s beautiful daughter Hamadryad.” My own answer isn’t Hamadryad, by the way; it’s Minerva Long, the computer-turned-woman from Time Enough for Love. Even though she had the colossal bad taste to do Lazarus Long. Anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/2 "2006-08-27T20:02:04Z")
A Russian Lit professor (whose name escapes me) once said " _War and Peace_ is not about war, and it’s not about peace. It’s about falling in love with Natasha." If you are a male with any heterosexual inclinations at all, then by the time you finish the novel, you will be in love with Natasha. You do not have a choice. Tolstoy pushes all of your buttons. I agree with you on Minerva Long. She is amazing. I would also add Lt. Saavik from _Star Trek_. Not because of the movies, but because of Vonda McIntire’s novels of the second and third movies. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/3 "2006-08-27T20:03:55Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > A Russian Lit professor (whose name escapes me) once said " _War and Peace_ is not about war, and it’s not about peace. It’s about falling in love with Natasha." If you are a male with any heterosexual inclinations at all, then by the time you finish the novel, you will be in love with Natasha. You do not have a choice. Tolstoy pushes all of your buttons. > > I agree with you on Minerva Long. She is amazing. > > I would also add Lt. Saavik from _Star Trek_. Not because of the movies, but because of Vonda McIntire’s novels of the second and third movies. I agree. Trapped in the TrekVerse with a time travel device, I’d be tempted to murder everyone who’d ever abused her, then offer her their hearts as a token of love. Of course, that probably wouldn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/4 "2006-08-27T20:34:33Z")
I’ve said it before, I’ll probably say it again: Menolly of half-circle sea hold, from the Dragonriders of Pern books. Damn Sebell!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/5 "2006-08-27T20:36:06Z")
Jamie Fraser of _The Outlander_ series. Tall, redheaded, warrior-poet Highlander. What’s not to love? ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/6 "2006-08-28T00:56:19Z")
Sally Athelny from _Of Human Bondage._ When you’re the only truly sympathetic female figure in my favorite book, you’re likely to attact my attention. Alia Atreides in _Dune Messiah_ and _Children of Dune_. Sure, she was a bitch on wheels, and sure, she ended up possessed, insane and totally evil, but she was still hawt. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/7 "2006-08-28T01:01:50Z")
I forgot to mention my own greatest literary crush. Eowyn, Shield-Maiden of the North, whom Aragorn would have married if he had a brain. Though I’m sure Faramir appreciated his king’s folly. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/8 "2006-08-28T01:57:54Z")
So many I couldn’t even count them. Aragorn, Gwydion, King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sparhawk, Carrot, the list goes on and on and on. I may even be back later but it’s time to play Mechwarrior. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/9 "2006-08-28T02:09:04Z")
Trouble is, most of the guys I want are already taken, as in married, or seriously involved. Does that make a difference? Tom Stone, from Eric Flint’s 1632 series. Andrew LaFollett, Honor Harrington’s(and now her son’s) chief armsman Marcus Didius Falco, from the series by Lindsey Davis Three very different men, but I like them all. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/10 "2006-08-28T02:13:03Z")
Sally Lockhart. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/11 "2006-08-28T02:39:10Z")
Uther Doul from China Mieville’s _The Scar._ Mercutio from _Romeo & Juliet_. Roland from _The Dark Tower_. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/12 "2006-08-28T02:39:57Z")
Captain Frederick Wentworth from _Persuasion_. Brooding, moody, kind of a crappy communicator. What’s not to love? Seriously though, the letter that he writes for Anne makes me cry every time I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/13 "2006-08-28T02:49:31Z")
Constantine from _Sunshine_. Seregil from _Luck in the Shadows_. Joscelyn and Imriel from the _Kushiel_ books. Like millions of other women, Mr. Darcy. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/14 "2006-08-28T02:55:00Z")
I know it is probably cliched but **Elizabeth Bennet** (even before she was played by Keira Knightley thankyouverymuch) is on the top of my list. Other notable entries include: **Liza Khokhlakov** from _The Brothers Karamazov_. She may be a little childish, but the letter she writes to Alyosha and her subsequent embarrassment at having revealed her love always struck me as adorable. **Adelaida Ivanovna Yepanchin** from _The Idiot_. An talented painter who always seemed to me to be one of the deeper side characters in the book (and that is saying something for a Dostoevsky novel). **Petra Arkanian** from the Ender series. Really, who wouldn’t have a crush on a girl who was smart enough to control the world. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/15 "2006-08-28T02:58:58Z")
> [@Alistair McCello](#): > > I know it is probably cliched but **Elizabeth Bennet** (even before she was played by Keira Knightley thankyouverymuch) is on the top of my list. Not cliche at all, at her portrayal by the lovely Ms. Knightley is disqualified as actually being a crush on the goddessin question. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/16 "2006-08-28T03:05:06Z")
Friday Jones. The ultimate Heinlein female. Not just capable but superhuman. If she were a genuine hardcore [intellectual](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7718565&postcount=55) on top of that I’d be a goner. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/17 "2006-08-28T03:08:05Z")
Mr Darcy! He reigns supreme. And then there’s Aragorn, Robin Hood, Merlin, Professor Lupin, Prince Charming (Sleeping Beauty), Edward from Sense and Sensibility, I go could on… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/18 "2006-08-28T03:15:25Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Trouble is, most of the guys I want are already taken, as in married, or seriously involved. Does that make a difference? Only WRT real-life people. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/19 "2006-08-28T03:18:50Z")
Tonks. There, I’ve said it. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445/20 "2006-08-28T03:46:37Z")
Stu Redmond (_The Stand_). Strong, taciturn, and he was nice to Tom. M-O-O-N, that spells “Stu is a nice guy.” And if I were a lesbian, **Frannie** tom that same book, one of my favorite female characters. Tonks, yeah, I have a girl-crush on Tonks too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-literary-characters-do-you-have-a-crush-on/370445.md?page=2)