# Which fictional detective is the most personally miserable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301 "2018-08-26T14:46:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![edspellman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@edspellman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edspellman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/81 "2018-08-29T20:44:26Z")
Every detective, policeman (heck every person) on “Fortitude”. Watch the show and you’ll know what I mean. (All the detectives I used to read were Poirot, Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes. The first 2 were pretty happy and full of themselves. SH too though there was that cocaine habit…) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/82 "2018-08-29T21:21:52Z")
Vincent D’Onofrio on Law and Order: CI was a lonely mess. Mulder of the X-Files too. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/83 "2018-08-29T22:17:18Z")
SVU Detectives Finn and Munch are both miserable, and seem to feed off each other’s misery. It makes for some great comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/84 "2018-08-29T22:46:44Z")
Chief Inspector Dreyfus, except when he thought Clouseau was dead. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mr.Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Bill)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/85 "2018-08-30T01:21:35Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Man, no way. On the one hand is everything terrible that dude has gone through. On the other hand, > > [spoiler]He got to ride into battle on the back of Lucy the zombified T-Rex skeleton while Butters the coroner rode along, playing oompa music on his one-man band, in the single best scene in all literature.] > > so I refuse to believe he’s the most miserable. He’ll always have Lucy. That is a great scene, although as noted, it was Sue. Also, while Butters was a fan of oompa music, that’s not what he played on the dinosaur. He was simulating the heartbeat of the dinosaur. An oompa rhythm might have produced some really interesting results:D. In terms of detectives who have “seen some shit…”, I’ll nominate Charlie Parker from the novels by John Connolly. He’s right up there with Harry Dresden. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mr.Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Bill)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/86 "2018-08-30T01:45:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Harry may be going through some weird shit, but he has lots of good friends - and family - who are always there for him, both physically and emotionally. Plus, he loves his work and he loves kicking ass and taking names. He has no place in this thread. > > Parkour! I’m a huge fan of Harry Dresden, and he does have a great circle of friends and relatives, but I disagree that he’s not fundamentally unhappy. He has: Killed his lover and the mother of his child. He rarely gets to see that child. He and Murphy lust after each other, but can never get together. He has witnessed a good man (Shiro) choose to die for Harry’s sake. That’s gotta lay a huge burden on him. He has witnessed a good friend be crippled and almost killed as a result of his (Harry’s) decisions. Again, a huge burden. He has seen Molly Carpenter be unwittingly tricked into becoming the Winter Lady. (I’m curious how that affects his relationship with Michael and Charity. Don’t know if Butcher plans on addressing that.) He has seen numerous innocent people die horrible deaths which he couldn’t prevent. And he takes this very personally. The lover he thought he had found turned out to be under the influence of mind control, which caused her to think she loved him. While Harry has done some amazing things, and I’m sure has more in his future, I don’t see how he can be happy as a base state. Certainly he is capable of being happy in the moment. Interestingly, I was just rereading Proven Guilty and I was struck by this: ``` "Sometimes I get tired of being the guy who is supposed to deal with un-deal-with-able situations." ``` ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/87 "2018-08-30T02:09:41Z")
what irritates me is when an author lets a character be happy for 50 or so pages and then goes out of their way to do something to make them miserable again I forget the book but it was a female detective that lived in wither Colorado or Tahoe who wasn’t that happy of a person had the usual failed marriage bunch of relationships ect drank a lot was always broke ect Well the one that got away came back into town and they get married … and her asshole psycho client kills the husband because she couldn’t give him what he wanted (evidence he was ripped off so he could take the ski resort from his family because they kicked him out after he broke his sisters leg by sabotaging her skis so she couldn’t go to the olympics ) and she finds out hes evil and hes mentally ill enough to be "well if im not happy no one is " the first 5 and last 5 chapters is a normal detective story its the middle 3 or 4 the relationship happens …. drove me nuts ……. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/88 "2018-08-30T02:11:26Z")
didn’t monk himself on several occasions say " im never happy " in the first 3 or 4 seasons ? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/89 "2018-08-30T05:34:32Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > didn’t monk himself on several occasions say " im never happy " in the first 3 or 4 seasons ? But does that make him more miserable than all the other fictional detectives? ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/90 "2018-08-30T05:43:12Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > But does that make him more miserable than all the other fictional detectives? I think having a disorder that affects every aspect of your life would be pretty hard to deal with. Somebody without that type of illness can try to come to terms with whatever has come their way in life. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/91 "2018-08-30T08:38:40Z")
…forever remaining the same age, never to know the satisfaction of making a life for themselves, or the joys of romantic attachment and conjugal love… Those poor Bobbsey Twins. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/92 "2018-08-30T08:47:09Z")
Burton Guster, from _Psych_. Shawn is always dragging him into cases against his will, constantly belittles him by purposely getting his name wrong, uses him for his company car and he hardly ever gets the girl. The man just wants to be the best pharmaceutical salesman he can be. It’s not fair, damn it. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/93 "2018-08-30T08:50:30Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Jim Rockford lived in a trailer, got beat up a lot, and the calls on his answering machine were never good news. He was cynical as hell, but seemed to be holding up okay. Yeah but he drove a great car and had a popular theme song, so I’ll take it. The Gary Busey character in the Tom Cruise movie, _The Firm_ — he eeked out a pretty miserable existence. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/94 "2018-08-30T09:21:55Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > It’s not fair, damn it. But he’s cool, and talented (did you see him tap-dancing). He’s got it going on, does Gus. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/95 "2018-08-30T09:35:12Z")
Harry Angel. At the end of the movie, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/96 "2018-08-30T09:38:44Z")
> [@Mr.Bill](#): > > I’m a huge fan of Harry Dresden, and he does have a great circle of friends and relatives, but I disagree that he’s not fundamentally unhappy. > > He has: > Killed his lover and the mother of his child. > He rarely gets to see that child. > He and Murphy lust after each other, but can never get together. > He has witnessed a good man (Shiro) choose to die for Harry’s sake. That’s gotta lay a huge burden on him. > He has witnessed a good friend be crippled and almost killed as a result of his (Harry’s) decisions. Again, a huge burden. > He has seen Molly Carpenter be unwittingly tricked into becoming the Winter Lady. (I’m curious how that affects his relationship with Michael and Charity. Don’t know if Butcher plans on addressing that.) > He has seen numerous innocent people die horrible deaths which he couldn’t prevent. And he takes this very personally. > The lover he thought he had found turned out to be under the influence of mind control, which caused her to think she loved him. > > While Harry has done some amazing things, and I’m sure has more in his future, I don’t see how he can be happy as a base state. Certainly he is capable of being happy in the moment. > > Interestingly, I was just rereading Proven Guilty and I was struck by this: > > ``` > "Sometimes I get tired of being the guy who is supposed to deal with un-deal-with-able situations." > > ``` Is anyone really happy \*all \*of the time? That’s a pretty high standard to meet. Regardless, Harry may have taken some blows, but he’s a fighter, and they haven’t broken him yet. Nobody rolls with the punches like Harry Dresden; his fundamental good cheer and irreverence is part of makes him such a great character. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/97 "2018-08-30T11:46:37Z")
A lot of Harrys in this thread. > [@bmoak](#): > > The various Scandanavian detectives all seem to have bleak outlooks on life and the bleak lives to go with them. I would nominate Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole (“The Snowman”, etc.) as the most miserable. I’ll second Harry Hole. The first two books in the series can be safely skipped but the rest of it is great stuff. There is a dark humor at work that offsets the self-loathing and binge drinking. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Bosch is the kind of guy that always “knows” the right course of action. And if you don’t agree, you’re on his shit list. But next week, if in a situation with similar circumstances, if Bosch does the opposite of what he did, that now is the the only correct response. And if you do what Bosch did last week, you’re wrong, and on his shit list. > > He can’t see that he’s not always right. He won’t acknowledge that other people’s POVs can be just as valid… That nails Bosch perfectly. Harry doesn’t really fit in this thread, though. When he has a murder to work, nothing else matters. He isn’t happy exactly, but everything is safely tucked away when he’s on the hunt. Retirement is a very bad thing for Bosch. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/98 "2018-08-30T13:19:27Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Retirement is a very bad thing for Bosch. One of his bad guys says to his face “Retired and relentless is a bad combination.” ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/99 "2018-08-30T13:50:15Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > One of his bad guys says to his face “Retired and relentless is a bad combination.” Is that from a novel or the Amazon show? I know it’s Connelly either way, just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301/100 "2018-08-30T15:17:52Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > didn’t monk himself on several occasions say " im never happy " in the first 3 or 4 seasons ? That’s because no one ever thanks him later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-fictional-detective-is-the-most-personally-miserable/820301.md?page=6)