you are, these days, not allowed to have a hero who is born to be King, unless, of course, like Pratchett’s Carrot, he wisely turns down the job.
If we for the sake of convenience define “these days” as anything since the production of A New Hope, I can think offhand of Severian, Garion, Tristran Thorn, Richard Rahl, Rand al’Thor, and anywhere up to three or four characters from the Song of Ice and Fire books depending on where you draw the lines for “king” and “hero”. None of these are obscure works; most are popular series including multiple bestsellers, and although fantasy is a low-status genre a couple of them have a high reputation in critical circles as well.
And that’s just literary characters, just protagonists, and just ones with a prophecy or hidden birthright attached to them. I’ve even been nice and skipped reworkings or adaptations of things like the Arthurian mythos. Relaxing any of those constraints would multiply that list manyfold, and I’m sure there are instances I’ve missed.
Severian, Garion, Tristan Thorn, Richard Rahl, Rand al’Thor,
To a limited extent this actually reinforces Sam’s point. Note that the last two of the characters mentioned occur in works that have frequently been accused of being reactionary and sexist. That said, I agree that Severian, Garion and Tristan Thorn are clear counterexamples.
Note that the last two of the characters mentioned occur in works that have frequently been accused of being reactionary and sexist.
For someone in the ‘reactosphere’ (as Mencius Moldbug calls it) ‘reactionary’ and ‘sexist’ isn’t an accusation but a praise. So the fact that several modern and popular series of books are reactionary and sexist (and proclaimed such) is evidence against sam’s position that modern books and films promote an egalitarian progressivist agenda.
True. But for that matter the entire genre’s been accused of being reactionary for pretty much the same reasons that ArisKatsaris applied to Star Wars, and I’m not entirely sure the accusers there are wrong. Point is that you can get away with it in the arena of modern fantasy (and make a lot of money in the getting away).
If we for the sake of convenience define “these days” as anything since the production of A New Hope, I can think offhand of Severian, Garion, Tristran Thorn, Richard Rahl, Rand al’Thor, and anywhere up to three or four characters from the Song of Ice and Fire books depending on where you draw the lines for “king” and “hero”. None of these are obscure works; most are popular series including multiple bestsellers, and although fantasy is a low-status genre a couple of them have a high reputation in critical circles as well.
And that’s just literary characters, just protagonists, and just ones with a prophecy or hidden birthright attached to them. I’ve even been nice and skipped reworkings or adaptations of things like the Arthurian mythos. Relaxing any of those constraints would multiply that list manyfold, and I’m sure there are instances I’ve missed.
To a limited extent this actually reinforces Sam’s point. Note that the last two of the characters mentioned occur in works that have frequently been accused of being reactionary and sexist. That said, I agree that Severian, Garion and Tristan Thorn are clear counterexamples.
For someone in the ‘reactosphere’ (as Mencius Moldbug calls it) ‘reactionary’ and ‘sexist’ isn’t an accusation but a praise. So the fact that several modern and popular series of books are reactionary and sexist (and proclaimed such) is evidence against sam’s position that modern books and films promote an egalitarian progressivist agenda.
True. But for that matter the entire genre’s been accused of being reactionary for pretty much the same reasons that ArisKatsaris applied to Star Wars, and I’m not entirely sure the accusers there are wrong. Point is that you can get away with it in the arena of modern fantasy (and make a lot of money in the getting away).