My top 5 favorite villians (part 2)

3 On number we have a villain who is known by many names such as You-know-who, He-who-must-not-be-named or the Dark Lord by those who are is followers. But is mostly known in the Harry Potter Series that is by J.K Rowling as Lord Voldemort (but his actual name is Tom Marvolo Riddle but he dropped it due that he didn’t want to be known by his dirty muggle father's name). This dark wizard is regarded in Britain as the greatest wizard of all times and he could have been if it wasn’t for a certain green-eyed boy with a lightning scar. Anyway when Voldemort was young he was known as Tom Riddle an orphan boy who was incredibly skilled in magic at a young age and who had a angelic appearance but was a complete monster inside. But that is to be expected considering he is a complete psychopath. But now as an adult his darkness is showed in his appearance like his gray skin, skull-like face, red eyes that are snake-like. Not exactly the handsomest villain alive but one of the most heartless of all. 

2 Now this villain didn’t seem like a villain until the end because his appearance was when he was called upon by the heroes to solve a monster-problem only to discover that he isn't any better than the monsters. Jack Kearns (if that is his real name) is the antagonist of the series Monstrumologist by Rick Yancy. He is incredibly charming and witty and quite well-versed in traveling and so very handsome. He typically rants off time to time talking about morality and is well known for his profession as a monster hunter. In fact in the beginning he was called in to exterminate a herd of cannibalistic anthropophagi. It turns out that he was very similar to these monsters he hunt for which he has no laws or ethical policy and might as well be mad. In later of the book we discover that when he doesn’t hunt for monsters for fun he goes hunting for humans and the heroes learn that he was actually Jack the Ripper. 

1 My number one is someone that wasn’t really explained in the book. In fact most of the time he was the good guy until our hero discovered that he was actually tricking them and was the bad guy. O'Brian from the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The reason why I chose him was because I had absolutely know idea he was actually evil and the fact that he wasn’t defeated like all the others on this list. He won in the end but at the same time didn’t for he too at the beginning was very much like our hero until caught and tortured into passivity and acceptance of the party. So in a way he isn't just a villain but also a victim and that is probably why I don’t really hate him so much like I would normally do for many antagonist that I read but instead I sympathies with him. 

 

My Top 5 favorite Villians (part 1)

So since I did a blog about my top ten favorite characters it made me realize that maybe I should a list for my favorite villains. But instead of top ten villains list I will be doing a top 5 villains list because I have yet to encounter an evil antagonist or ones that are intriguing because my reading list is not that broad enough to include goon villains. So instead I will list those that stood out to me the most. But there might even more eviler antagonist but I didn’t put them down because they might have been to extreme for me describe. This list are only those villains that I like but not necessary the most evil ones that I have read so far. 

 

5 The first on this list is the White Witch from the chronicles of Narnia by C.S Lewis. This villain first appeared in the lion, witch and the wardrobe appearing at first a beautiful women in white who seemed kind and was in need of urgent help. But later we find out what a wicked witch she is. She is described to be dispassionate and cruel. She was also known as the one who killed Christmas in Narnia and banished happiness and hope from the lands and plummeted it into eternal winter. Not only that she often turns her enemies into stone. It’s no wonder she is the self-proclaimed queen of  ice for her heart is certainly made of it. 

4  This one is the primary antagonist of the Last Apprentice Series by Joseph Delaney. He is also one of the many portrayal of the devil but in this series they usually refer him to the Fiend. This version of the devil isn't my favorite for I'm more into the devil who is Lucifer and shows a more complex personality and showing either remorse or ingenuity. But this one is a sadistic trickster who delights in twisting peoples words and who longs to be free and takeover the world and throwing it into eternal conflict. But what stands out to me the most is the form he likes manifesting in is the description of what the people from the witch hunt days would have imagined. A humanoid figure with rams horns and goats feet and has thick fur that smells like wet cat. This difference him from the modern world of a handsome men who wears suits or a red skinned men with a pitchfork. 

Top 10 favorite literary characters (part 3)

3 This heroine actually doesn’t have any of the redeeming qualities of what a hero would have. Instead Georgia Nicolson of the series Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louis Rennison is pretty much your average British teenage girl. I mean the entire series is an autobiography of her life. It’s pretty much her journal that is full of fun things she does with her friends and boy troubles. Although she is an average teen girl she is very crazy and the way she talks is utterly ridiculous and I love it. She uses the words "boy entrancers" false eyelashes, "Froggie" short for French and “How’s your father" which means a boy's penis and I'm not sure how that is translated that way. But what I like most about her is the way she talks and melodramatic personality. Because

2 Almost there but anyway my number two is Mary "Jacky" Faber of the Bloody Jack series by L.A Meyer. I really liked this character because she is such a tomboy even though the series is set in the 1800’s and she supposed to be a dignified lady. In the first book of the series the character, Jackie dresses as a boy when she was twelve and pretended to be a ship’s boy. While she is a ships boy she killed a man and was covered with his blood which make her such a fierce and strong character. But she can be at times a regular girl whenever she’s thinking about her darling Jamie and their promise of marriage when they were younger. She is a good blend of toughness and feminity and a bit of a reckless maniac but that is also part of her charm.

1 Here it is my number one most favorite character. Artemis Fowl of the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. Artemis was a young evil and rich genius. He is also what you would you call and antihero but later in the series his morals change a bit so he became more of hero than villain. But when he was twelve years old he kidnapped a Fairy named Holly and demanded a large gold sum as ransom. He has one of the largest I.Q in Europe and has read more psychology books than many other psychiatrist. Which would irrigate any psychiatrists he has ever had. Also his only friend is his butler/bodyguard so his antisocial mostly (but he makes friends with Holly and other fae folks later in the series). But whether or not he is a changed men or an evil genius I love this character a lot. He is so much more amusing than your average goody-two shoes hero and would doesn’t love a hero who isn’t just black and white. It makes the story a lot more entertaining.

Top 10 favorie literary characters (part 2)

7 At number seven is Grimalkin from The Last Apprentice series (or Wardstone Chronicles) by Joseph Delaney. The word grimalkin is an archaic word that means old or evil-looking female cat which is a perfect name for this malevolent witch assassin. In the book she was actually sent in to kill the main character until she allied with him to kill the Fiend  (the Devil). So now she is one of the "good guys" which is awesome because she is such a badass. She carries around a large pair of Scissors to cut off her enemies thumb bones, which is awesome. But she has never done that in the series instead she uses throwing knives and a long blade. But still that is just awesome still because I admire her for being such a strong female character because we don’t have many of those around that are like her. 

6 This one was one of my favorites during my middle school to early high school years, Alex Rider is a teenage British spy of the series Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz. His spy career started when his uncle was assassinated by Russian spy Yassen Gregorovich and the M16 promoted him ever since. Ok what is cooler than a teenage spy I bet many of you fantasize about that at some point in your lives. Alex Rider is the best teenage spy ever, his pretty much the teenage James Bond. its pretty obvious why his one my top 10 list because what he is and does is awesome. 

5 Next is someone of the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling and I'm very sure you know this one. But do you know who I like best off all in the series and it's not Harry Potter. Instead I actually like Professor Dumbledore. Although I did have a doubts about him during the 5th book because he was so standoffish to Harry then. But the reason why I like him is that he is incredibly brilliant but at the same time idiotic.  Because eve though he was such a powerful wizard in the later books who realize that he still makes mistakes and is flawed like the rest of us. Also I was so fascinated by his childhood and really want to know more in detail of how it was. Because he is such an interesting character and there should be more about him we should know. 

4  This character is a recurring character that almost never narrates his story or maybe that is the same for any brilliant detective character so we it would have a more dramatic effect when they uncover the criminal. The character I am talking about is Hercule Poirot (now how many of you thought it would be Sherlock Holmes). This character was created by Agatha Christie and is my favorite character from her creation. The reasons are unclear why but I like the fact he is so clever and knows that he is smart and never bows down to anybody and admit failure. He is also unconventional and you would never know what he is going to next in the story. All this is are the reasons why he is my favorite adult literary detective.  

Top 10 favorite literary characters (part 1)

Since I talked about protagonist in my last two blogs, I decided to make a list of my personal favorite literary characters. I thought this list would be fun to make. But actually it took me several days to work out my top 10 characters because I already had so many characters that I liked. So I decided to include characters that are the most recent or most memorial to me. Also to add, is that this list isnt just the main character but also included other supporting characters. 

10 The first one the list is Jay Gatsby (or James Gatz) from the Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald. I actually did an entire blog talking about what a great character he was so I wont go to great details on him. But I would like to comment on the fact that this character deserved a better then what happened to him in the end. Because he was such a great men with a powerful will to be able to accomplish such an almost impossible dream but he almost did. 

9 This is the most recent characters that I came to love, Kylie Galen. I also did a blog about her book series Shadow Falls by C.C Hunter. So I also won't go into too much details. But I would say that I didn’t like her at first because I thought she was such a melodramatic brat. But now I'm so much further in the series I have seen how much she has grown and accepted the fact that she isn't human and having the courage to find more about herself and accepting of it. 

8 My number is actually a character that I was so in love with during my late elementary days up to middle school days, Vladimir Tod. In the series The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer, this main character is just your average emo kid who happens to be half human and half vampire who lives in the human society in secret. There is also the fact that his existence is completely illegal and almost completely impossible. I loved this character cause he was just really funny and kind of awkward and also he was a bit of a dork nothing like how vampires are usually portrayed these days. But then again his only a halfling. I was so obsessed with this series that when I finished one of the books I nearly cried when I found out the next one was coming the next year and I had to wait so long for it. Although I just found there is a companion series to this one that I will in the near future check it out. 

 

Hero or Anti-Hero

In my last blog I talked about what makes a protagonist great. I even touched upon the different protagonist like the hero and the antihero.  Even though they are both the main character the have distinctive difference but also still share their similarities.  I mean there still the central character and many times try to resolve a conflict they are facing. There are more similar traits that they share on my last blog. But the most important thing is what makes them different. Well I found this site called Writer Write and they had this list compiled by Anthony Ehlers 

A HERO:	AN ANTI-HERO:
1 is an idealist	is a realist
2.  is the conformist, peace keeper	is the rebel
3. stands up to bad guys, faces great odds	stands up to authority, no matter if it is well-intentioned
4. faces conflict bravely, head-on	will try get around conflict, try sneaky strategy
5. is motivated by pure intentions (light)	is often driven by basic urges (dark) – but may turn to a higher calling near the end of story
6. has conventional moral values	has his own idiosyncratic moral compass
7.is always on the right side of the law	is often the criminal, thief or manipulates the law (‘the end justifies the means’)
8. wants to overcome his flaws and find his true purpose and destiny	is driven by self-interest or self-preservation
9. learns a lesson and is changed	is unchanged
10. can be complex but is usually never ambivalent	can be mysterious, unfathomable and unpredictable

I only put down 10 of the difference that I agree upon and if you want to see the entire list see the link above. But anyway I agree that those are the most basic distinctive difference between a hero and an antihero . If you cant tell by those traits above another way to tell the difference is comparing the character to either Superman and Batman and if they have more things in common with one of them then chances are that they are in the same category as those superheroes ( If you don’t know Superman is the hero and Batman is an Antihero.)   

The reason you would need to know the difference between these two is because you would know your character better and know how the story would progress based on the main character's persona. By knowing this  you have a better chance on what your character would do. The only question that needs to be answered is what do you prefer the hero or the anti-hero? And can you guess which one that I like based on the books I blog about? 

 

What makes a Protagonist

What characteristics makes a character great, especially the protagonist of a story? What makes a protagonist a protagonist? What is it about this characters that makes them great? Is the main character always the best or popular character in a story? I was very curious about this so I went online to find some facts to solve my questions. First I decided to look for what exactly a protagonist is and what the oxford dictionary says is that "the leading character or one of the major characters in a drama, movie, novel, or other fictional text." Basically the central person of a moving plot. But it didn’t answer my question about what makes them a protagonist. Is it just the story focuses on them more or is there an outline that states what a protagonist is. 

So I went online and I often found that many sources have some commonality with each other. On a site called Fiction University I found some great things about what makes a protagonist great. A protagonist must have a problem that they need to solve, an ability to act and reasons, has something to lose or gain, might have the capacity to change, has an interesting quality, flaw and or a secret. Lastly and perhaps the most important aspect is that there is someone or something that is interfering with them and without a conflict in a story the entire plot would just fall apart. This wasn’t the only site that great advice other suggested many things until I realize that all those traits have something in common. They were qualities of a hero. But not all protagonist is a hero sometimes they can be an antihero or be a flat out villain in the story. But if they all have the traits described in the Fiction University site then there is a guarantee that the character will be successful as the protagonist in a story. 

I also learned  that sometimes a story will have a character as a  protagonist, instead  they end up being killed of unexpectedly. This is called a false protagonist often used to make the plot more exciting  by fooling the audience's preconceptions, by making  a character whom the audience assumes is the protagonist but is later revealed not to be. There usually introduced in the begging in is rid off later in the story often killed off. This technique is often used in thriller and suspense and most of the time an example it was  used in the movie, Psycho. 

Either way my question about what makes a character the protagonist  has been answered but why that character was chosen as the main character has yet been answered. But my guess is that they stand out in some way like they have a special skill or have a special heritage of some kind. So what I think a protagonist is that character that has something special about them that they use to solve what ever problem is in their way. Because don’t all stories are like that somehow?