Day 14 - Favorite male character.

[osprey_archer]

Day 14 - Favorite male character.

There are so many characters, how can I ever choose just one favorite? I’m not sure I can narrow it down to a single favorite, so instead I will note a basic trend in the characters I adore: I am all about outwardly stoic but secretly emo characters with massive anger issues.

I love this in female characters too - Veronica Mars! Jaye Tyler! Gaia Moore in the Fearless book series. In fact, I tend to love any character who shows a sufficient quantity of any of those three qualities. I am a little disturbed by what this says about me as a person.

But for male characters, I have a few specific favorites of this type. Logan Echolls, obviously, although he doesn’t quite fit the “stoic” descriptor - I’m not sure stoic is quite the word I’m looking for, actually, although I do love stoical characters. Is there another word for people who hide their inner pain behind an outward mask of something else, even if that mask is something that would not be classically described as stoic? “Something else” being, in Logan’s case, a mask of sneering cynicism.

I have already written about my adoration of Fakir from Princess Tutu, who considers himself the protector of the prince Mytho (who has no emotions because he destroyed his heart in order to imprison an evil raven, like you do), despite the fact that Fakir is pretty clearly terrible for Mytho. He is always telling Mytho things like “You don’t have to do anything but what I tell you,” with the clear implication that he thinks Mytho is way too stupid to make any of his own decisions.

And then Fakir actually slaps Mytho across the face, at which point he realizes that he is a terrible abusive asshole, wallows briefly in his angst and then sacrifices his life (but don’t worry! It doesn’t stick!) to save his prince and also Ahiru. OMG, Fakir, you are everything I want in a character arc.

I also adore Kyo from Fruits Basket, who has the same kind of massive anger management problems, although he starts showing redeeming qualities much earlier than Fakir does. Kyo’s awful to Yuki, who doesn’t care, but he pretty quickly tries to be nice to Tohru, even though he doesn’t quite know what nice looks like.

Both Kyo and Tohru (and, in fact, probably most of the characters in Fruits Basket?) are massively stoic characters, though it manifests differently: Kyo hides his pain behind anger, while Tohru hides hers behind cheerfulness. The scene where Kyo tells Tohru that it would be okay for her to complain sometimes is one of my favorite in the series, and I think it sums up what is central to me about this character type: even though they’re standoffish, angry, and in pain, they are loved and they learn how to love in return.

Comments

[goldjadeocean.livejournal.com]

I have so many thoughts and feels about Logan even though I'm missing two seasons of viewing (having seen S1, part of S2, and the movie). Just. *flail* Keith says "There's a darkness in that boy" and he means stay away because what he doesn't want to admit is that there's a darkness to Veronica too, and Logan may be the only person who sees the world, and Neptune especially, with as much clarity as Veronica does.

The words that keep coming to mind for me are integrity and self-sacrifice. Like, even though that is the last thing anyone who knows Logan's facade would think.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Integrity, I can definitely see - even when Logan is terrible he seems like he's honest and aware of his own feelings in a way that, for instance, Dick Casablancas isn't - even though at the beginning he's mostly using his feelings to do things like torment Veronica and set up boxing matches among homeless people. Oh, Logan. I suspect part of the reason Logan sees the rottenness of Neptune with such clarity is that he's spent some time exploiting that rottenness for his own entertainment.

But I'm not sure I can think of anything self-sacrificing that Logan does, at least in season one. (There is an incident in season 3, which I both love and hate) Certainly in the movie he went above and beyond the call of duty to support Bonnie before her death.

[littlerhymes]

OMG, Fakir, you are everything I want in a character arc.

I KNOW RIGHT? And I love Kyo and Tohru so much too.

It's immensely satisfying watching these characters go through emotional growth - from pre-emptively pushing people away or believing that they can't want things for themselves, to a place where they can accept that they can be loved too. ;__;

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It's like whoever designed Fakir found all my personal id-buttons and squished. I am not sure why Fakir being awful to Mytho while desperately trying to protect him appeals to me so much, only to realize his awfulness, but it really really does.

And yes, Kyo always pushing people away! Because he really has been pushed away by everyone his whole life, being the cat. Man, the Sohma family is just so messed up. (Have you read the manga, or just seen the anime? I keep meaning to post about the manga sometime.)

I have a post about Tohru for tomorrow! The meme question is "Favorite Female Character," and writing about Kyo reminded me how much I love Tohru.

[littlerhymes]

Fakir and Ahiru work for me just as Kyo and Tohru do - it's not an exact match, ofc, but they do appeal to me similarly!

The Sohma family is the actual worst. As individuals they seem mostly lovely, but as a collective - run away, Kyo and Tohru, run away...

I've read the manga as well as seen the anime. The anime hit me right in the feels (I CRIED) but I also really loved the breadth and pacing of the manga, mostly. Looking forward to your post. :D

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think as long as Akito stayed far, far away, everything would be okay, because they seem to do fine as a collective as long as Akito's not around...but then Akito comes around and they all go nuts.

I can totally understand why Tohru forgave Akito at the end of the manga, because that's what Tohru does, but I'm so unsure whether it was a good idea for the rest of the Sohmas to do the same thing and welcome Akito into the fold, more or less.

(I'm also still a little O.o about Shigure/Akito.)

[littlerhymes]

Yeah, the ending of the manga is perhaps the least satisfying part of the series. I think it works thematically to unify the zodiac and have the family together, and I like the idea that Akito too had her own damage to overcome, but - yeah. It felt very fast.

LOL, yes, totally agree on Shigure/Akito. Nooooo!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

A lot of the end pairings were like that for me. It's like she wanted to have everyone neatly paired up at the end, whether or not it made sense. But Shigure/Akito brings a special level of OMGWTFBBQ.