I've noticed my favorite media involves a character who will always do the right thing even as circumstances get worse and worse.
I feel like I've read many similar things but can't for the life of me remember them besides The Dresden Files (I could do a semester of lectures on that series) and The Curse of Chalion.
Side note: In a freshman year literature class, we learnt the concept of "adventure-time chronotope" which blew my mind a little. (Forgive misunderstandings, it's been >6 years) Basically many books today focus on character development and characters learning and growing and being changed by experiences. But the Arthurian romances we were reading, focused on the adventure-time chronotope. Time stands still and characters are thrown into adventures and prove their strength of character by remaining true no matter what. They are not changed by their adventures and that is a compliment to their strength. At the end of it, they pick up where they were at the start (eg. if they were about marry before being separate and fought back to each other, this is where the wedding would happen.) It's similar to comic books or tv show sitcoms in that way? I don't need them to not change at all, but I like the idea of their strength of character showing through refusing to ignore their morals even a little bit.
Anyway, is there any fantasy, sci fi, etc. that resonates?
Edited to add: I'm not interested in anything too in-universe misogynistic or depicting sexual assault
Another edit: Dungeon Crawler Carl kind of fits too. Any fans here? Please tell me how excited you are for the new book next week.
by braincellnumber7
6 Comments
I would say Harry Potter comes close. While not perfect, most of his actions are justified within the context of the story and he remains a hero throughout the ending. His curiosity and troubling making is punished, but regarded as a positive trait by his mentors.
You see this type of protagonist most often in YA series. More adult literature, and especially classic literature, loves to have a protagonist with realistic or fatal flaws.
For older lit: paradise regained
Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien
My first thought was the *Reacher* series. He’s basically a modern-day “knight errant” travelling around, righting wrongs, and at the end continues on his wandering. He is rarely, if ever, changes by the experiences, but instead acts as a catalyst for others to change themselves. He has a strong sense of right and wrong (to a practically simplistic degree) and always does what is right, and has the skills and strengths to accomplish this righting. He won’t back down or compromise, and his nomadic lifestyle affords him the luxury of being utterly uncompromising.
The Uninteresting and Completely Unadventurous Tales of Fred the Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes
Fred is a kind, anxious, ethical, and socially awkward accountant. When he becomes a vampire, he continues to be all of those things. He doesn’t hunt, he does the books for a hospital in exchange for blood bank blood. He engages politely with all humans and magical creatures (and then does their books). Over the course of the series, he completely changes the dynamics of the parahuman world, mostly by treating everyone decently.
Also, it’s a fun read and it has a vampire in a sweater vest, which is something we all need in these troubled times.
No rape. No descriptions of sex because Fred gets embarrassed by PDA and would never be so gauche as to describe an intimate moment.
I feel like His Dark Materials kind of are this. The teenage protagonists do grow and change, but they also stay compassionate and true to themselves and resist corruption as they became entangled in a very complicated and violent adult world. I won’t spoil it but I remember crying about a truly selfless decision they make near the end of the series.