Recently I posted about to-die-for, scrumptious, better-than-chocolate-cake characters (okay, I didn't put it quite like that). Here are a few examples...
You know Christian Bale in Batman? Yum.
How about Mr. Darcy?
And someone mentioned Gilbert from Anne of Green Gables.
Can I hear it for Edward Cullen?
And the dude from Time Traveler's Wife (don't know his name!).
What makes these characters so appealing? And if you're not into male characters, what women knock your... er... socks off?
This isn't a direct quote, more like something I pulled from memory, but Elizabeth Bennett sums up the reason why all these characters make us swoon. She says something like:
I'd like to love a man who has the potential of being evil, yet chooses good.
Evil capacity=definite major ingredient in a great character. But what do you guys like? What draws you to characters? What makes you LOVE a character? Inquiring minds want to know.
29 comments:
Great choice of quotes. I think that does about sum it up.
Aside from being a totally realized, individual and believable "person", I love characters because of their actions and choices, which I guess goes back to what ole Lizzy said.
We all have the capacity for evil, but the choices we make are what make us worthy of the love of good people.
Great post!
Not a big Edward Cullen fan but I agree on all your other examples although I've come to realize that I'm a big fan of jerks. I find men who tell it like it is and take no...ish are very attractive to me because I don't like things told to me sugar coated. Ever. I don't beat around the bush and if I meet, see, read about a guy who is all dodgy and emotional, I lose interest and fast.
But I don't love a man who's outright evil. I'm like you. I love the evil potential. :D
For me, it's Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights. I don't know if he could be evil, but he can be pretty darn scary when he's angry. But, he's the best TV husband in the history of tv. (sorry, not that into movie characters)
Yes, they don't necessarily need the evil (for me) as long as they have guts and problems.
Elizabeth Bennett is wise. :)
For me to love a character, he/she must be complex, with lots of depth. Often, that means there is a dark streak that can sometimes be disturbing...and for that reason I'd never want to know them in real life. But I *love* reading about them. :)
Dexter is one of those characters. I haven't seen such a complex character since, well, never, actually. No way would I want to meet the real life version of him, but I love seeing how he 'ticks,' so to speak. :)
Another character who I loved was Gemma in the book Stolen by Lucy Christopher. She doesn't have a dark side, but she has lots of depth, and she's thrust into a situation that turns her feelings and preconceptions upside down. It was riveting to see her sort through all that.
So, definitely, the more layers a character has, the more I love him/her.
I think it's how they treat others. Love that continues even when it's not returned. That takes strength. And Batman doing good even though no one else could know he did it. SO attractive.
I like that tendency toward the dark but the inevitable pull toward good (because of the other main character, of course). What girl wouldn't love a bad boy gone good for her?
For me, I think that it's really all about believability. I love a character that I can think might exist in the real world. I want to believe that a man like that could be found somewhere in this world and that whoever he loves is someone worthy of that love because they could be found somewhere too.
Enough for sappy. Someone passionate about something is good, too.
I like bad boys sometimes, but my favorite heros are just that, heros. They are men that risk their own well- being to help someone else. That's super sexy.
Very nice list... I all different types of heroes. I love the unconventional hero. The one that's actually obtainable in real life!
I agree with Stephanie and Natalie.
Nothing makes me swoon more than a male character who does whatever he has to do to win the affections of the woman he loves....prove to her that he is worthy. So yeah...I guess that does mean he's flawed....he has to over come something to deserve her love.
And I always root for the underdog too.
I've had a crush on Christian Bale ever since I saw him star in TNT's Treasure Island with Charleton Heston when I was 12 years old. I've followed his progress ever since. I felt so bad about that awful rant he did last summer with all those swear words, did you hear about that?
Anyways, thanks for posting his pic! :)
I had never heard that quote before, but it totally makes sense!
That's why all those girls went for the bad boys in high school! They were hoping to convert them from the dark side!
A little secret girls...bad boys...are just lazy! It takes so little effort to be a bad boy!!
How about an internally conflicted character? And definitely a bad boy. Don't we all have a secret desire to be the girl who tames the bad boy? (Or vice versa, ya know, depending.)
Yeah. Ahem. *cough* Yeah.
And you didn't mention Jacob, who happens to be to-die-for gorgeous with his shirt off. It's enough to make a woman forget he's really just a kid.
*cough cough* Don't tell my husband I said that.
Robert Downey Jr. Yum. I'm drawn to dark and dangerous, but who choose to do good as well.
I've only seen Christian Bale in one movie, and he was so cute and little! And, oh, he could be bad :) And he WAS bad, just not evil.
Newsies, anyone?
Did you say Edward Cullen? That kid's to moody to be evil.. (But a moody, evil, sparkly vamp could be interesting...)
I love that quote - it's dead on! :)
One of my more recent fave male characters is Roarke from JD Robb's Death In series.
Passion and a personal connection with the character. My daughter, husband and I were talking about this over the weekend. I think the reason Edward is so easy to relate to...(You know what I mean.) Is because really he's just a teenage boy with a twist. All the tension from those teenage romances are there with a twist. All the conflict you feel as a teen is there with a twist...You can relate because it has a bit of reality in the fantasy...
I've always been drawn to the good guys...maybe I'm lazy. Everyone else is off chasing the bad ones, while the good ones are left unguarded! hahaha. You know the police men, fire men, & soldiers etc. Those who put the greater good ahead of their own needs. YOWZA.
Ah! It's like you read my mind.
Sad truth? I've realized I'm also drawn to the jerky types... the ones who can be bad, but choose to be good.
I've noticed in all my writings, my male MC's tend to have definite jerky qualities.
Edward isn't really my cup of tea ;)... but Gilbert? Mr. Darcy?... Sighhh... I also liked Nicholas in The Princess Diaries (the movie sequel)
Unattainable. Human nature is a bitch.
I love the believeable guys and the nice guys. I like attitude, but not bad guy attitude. I prefer guys who are real.
I definitely think people love boys who could be bad but choose to be good. I think that definitely explains most romance novel male leads.
I think for girls we tend to go for girls with spunk and fire. Passive females tend to get eye rolls more than applause, in my experience.
I like the light and the dark, and I think we all do, because it's humanity in a nutshell, encapsulated in a character. I like tough guys who get tears in their eyes, vulnerable women who talk smack (Miss Bennett), mythological heroes (most of them were faulty), children in dire circumstances- the yin and yang is what draws me in.
I love heroes, but they cant be too good, or I can't relate. And I love beautiful, tough, smart women, but they cant be too hard, or I cant fall in love with them.
OMG - Christian Bale is SO freakin' gorgeous. And he's got the HOTTEST lisp in the entire world - which makes me focus entirely on his mouth. Sigh.
I like that tendency toward the dark but the inevitable pull toward good
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WOW!.... I don't know why but that quote just kicked me between the eyes. I love it. Thanks for your post.
Weird. I just realized you're right. The guy characters from my book that I like the best are all the ones with the greatest potential for evil, who decided to aim for goodness. That is fascinating.
Dude from Time Traveler's Wife is named Henry FYI. You have some pretty good choices here!
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