# Your favorite literary characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654 "2002-03-23T02:21:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2002, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/21 "2002-03-23T21:47:22Z")
Not meaning in any way to copycat **ftg** , but I am reading _Cryptonomicon_ right now, and I am falling in love with Lawrence Waterhouse. My own position in the geek heirarchy allows me to safely look down my nose at mathematicians, and I’m sure that _from the outside_ Lawrence would be another freaky brainiac that I would dismiss easily–and really, this is what we’re most comfortable doing with geniuses, aren’t we? Thinking, “Well, yeah, sure he’s a _genius_, but for heaven’s sake, he can’t even carry out the simplest social interactions! There’s no reason for me to feel jealous of or threatened by such a pathetic creature!” However, seeing the world through his eyes, I find that he’s more like me than different from me, that there’s a shorter step from me to him than from me to the most other people (by which I mean only to allude to my weirdness and lack of social graces, not to imply that I am possessed of any particular genius, since, sadly, I am not.) **burundi** , I also loved Toni. I’ve mentioned her (and her backwards-reading) in several threads–she definitely carved a niche in my mind. The Atwood character who really haunts me is Ofred’s mother from _The Handmaid’s Tale_ . “She who fails to hesistate is lost.” I’ve often turned that over in my mind. Obligatory Heinlein Pick: Richard Colin Ames Campbell from _The Cat Who Walks Through Walls_. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/22 "2002-03-24T04:53:21Z")
Must I answer??? 😃 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/23 "2002-03-24T05:32:15Z")
Allow me to be the second[sup]\*[/sup] one to mention two of my favorites. First of all, Samwise Gamgee. Whereas Frodo is doing wha he does because it’s his role in life, and he must, Sam is acting purely out of friendship and loyalty. He’s _not_ an epic Hero for the Ages, and he lives out a perfectly mundane life after the War is over… But he still manages to accomplish Great Deads, many unmatched by any other character in the books. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve identified with Charles Wallace, from Madeline L’Engel’s _A Wrinkle in Time_ and sequels. His life seemed to be an exaggerated version of my own. [sub]\*As of when I clicked “Reply to topic”, neither of these two characters had been mentioned, but knowing this board, someone’ll have slipped in before me by the time this posts.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![\_your\_name\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/919ad9/32.png) [@\_your\_name\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_your_name_here)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/24 "2002-03-24T05:39:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RaCha’ar \* > \*\ ***Death** , from Neil Gaiman’s _Sandman_ series. How can you not love the Goth Reaper? \*\* WOO! Death! Great stuff. I’d say the Sandman has a place here too. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/25 "2002-03-24T07:41:34Z")
Jia Tan-chun and Wang Xi-feng from _Dream of the Red Chamber_ > [@](#): > > Phillip Marlowe, from the Raymond Chandler books. Well, really, how can you not love him? The classic, hard-bitten, noir detective. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/26 "2002-03-25T12:00:12Z")
Pretty much all the characters from Victor Hugo’s **Les Miserables**. What a great range - from the incredibly loathsome to the sweetest ever created. The nasty dastardly Thenardiers to the forgiving and compassionate Jean Valjean. Sublime. And yes, it’s my most favouritest book ever. ---
**Author:** ![Heloise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@Heloise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heloise)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/27 "2002-03-25T12:05:06Z")
Although I know that there are lots more, the one that automatically pops into my mind is Inigo Montoya, from The Princess Bride. ---
**Author:** ![quarx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/50afbb/32.png) [@quarx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quarx)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/28 "2002-03-25T12:51:13Z")
Yojimbo beat me to Arkady Renko. My other favorite is George Smiley, the master spy from LeCarre’s Karla Trilogy. Here’s a guy you wouldn’t look twice at on the street. He’s a tubby little cuckold, despised and betrayed by his social betters, but his genius saves England from a Soviet spymaster. Throughout all of this, he’s never bitter, he’s never demanding, and he’s never ever EVER rude. From Smiley, I learned that you don’t have to look like Schwarzenegger to get things done in life. ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/29 "2002-03-25T15:47:54Z")
Has got to be _Mudge the Otter_ from **Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger** He’s lewd, mouthy, corrupted, untrustworthy, cowardly, and worldly. Needless to say, just the guy you want around when it comes to saving the world from Chaos or going down to the corner for some aspirin. Extra Nods go to \* Paul Muad’dib Atraides\* from **Frank Herbert’s Dune** If there ever was a guy stuck in his own oracle here it is, This is tragety Shakespere can’t match. Neither could the evil the Maddi thought he could or did do in any way match that done by his son _Leto II_ I also Have to agree about _Samwise Gamgee_ form **JRR Tolkien’s LotR** Being the best character.Loyalty of that kind does not go unnoticed. That we all should have a friend willing to bear such burdons for us!As well as being the only ring bearer to live a full life before going to the grey havens. ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/30 "2002-03-25T15:49:45Z")
**Ton Clancey’s** runnig bada\*\* _John Clark_ Spie, Seal, and highly vendictive! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/31 "2002-03-25T16:18:48Z")
Recently, the character I most identify with is Rincewind from Terry Pratchet’s **Discworld** series. He’s a wizard that doesn’t know any magic, and his misadventures show that he has incredibly bad luck in everything he does, yet the fact he’s still alive shows that he’s got incredibly good luck as well. I just identify with a guy who’s devoted himself to something only to become unaccomplished in it, and who’d life never seems to come together. Yet in the end, he always manages to come out on top. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/32 "2002-03-25T16:25:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TelcontarStorm \* > I also Have to agree about _Samwise Gamgee_ . . . being the only ring bearer to live a full life before going to the grey havens. \*\* What about Bilbo Baggins? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/33 "2002-03-25T18:06:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by El Elvis Rojo \* > \*\*Recently, the character I most identify with is Rincewind from Terry Pratchet’s **Discworld** series. He’s a wizard that doesn’t know any magic, and his misadventures show that he has incredibly bad luck in everything he does, yet the fact he’s still alive shows that he’s got incredibly good luck as well. I just identify with a guy who’s devoted himself to something only to become unaccomplished in it, and who’d life never seems to come together. Yet in the end, he always manages to come out on top. \*\* I’m a big fan of Rincewind, and also of DEATH. ---
**Author:** ![Journeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@Journeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Journeyman)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/34 "2002-03-25T20:49:40Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Gandalf yet. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/35 "2002-03-26T02:11:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TroubleAgain \* > \*\* > > I’m a big fan of Rincewind, and also of DEATH. \*\* For me, it’s Granny Weatherwax all the way. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/36 "2002-03-26T02:21:36Z")
_Conan The Barbarian_ --by Robert E. Howard Howard based Conan on, well, on himself. Conan was a little stronger, a little tougher. Howard was much smarter, more capable of self-expression. But the two were a lot more alike than most fans realize. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/37 "2002-03-26T02:27:57Z")
Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, from _Crime and Punishment_ is my personal favorite. I also like the nameless narrator of _The Handmaid’s Tale_. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/38 "2002-03-26T02:50:49Z")
Schmendrick the Magician from _The Last Unicorn_ by Peter S. Beagle. Ignore the movie (even though it might be good). Just read the book! ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/39 "2002-03-26T02:52:34Z")
Huckleberry Finn ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654/40 "2002-03-26T03:13:59Z")
I kind of liked Alex from _A Clockwork Orange_. Ender was pretty cool, as were the hobbits and some of their friends. C. Auguste Dupin, of Edgar Alan Poe’s detective stories, and Lestat–the two always remind me of each other because they’re both arrogant, genius, and somehow cool–maybe because they disdain authority figures. I liked Lestat before he became an invincible cry-baby. Honorable mention to the guy who ate himself in Stephen King’s “Survivor Type.” 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-literary-characters/99654.md?page=3)