The Fantastical and Felicitous Fictional Character Blog Tag

Emily of the delightful blog The Altogether Unexpected included me in this fun tag! It’s been a while since I got to really fangirl on this blog (and I get to do it again next time for my Ultimate Doctor Who Recap Post, yippee!). I’m so excited about finally getting around to answering her questions!

(This will be a long post, so if you’re not interested in fictional characters, please feel free to skip it altogether. All pictures are from Google Images or Pinterest.)

THE RULES

1. Answer every question honestly. (duh.)

2. Use as many gifs and images as possible.

3. Incorporate at least one YouTube video with a favorite scene of a character (sorry, Emily, but my bandwidth limitations prevent me from keeping this rule–I’ll try to make up for it with lots of pics and GIFs!)

4. NO VAGUE ANSWERS ALLOWED. Explain why you chose that favorite character to fit that description. I love details, my friends.

5. If you can’t choose just one, that’s okay – give us a few answers and geek out if that’s what it takes.

6. Tag at least 3 people.

7. Use fictional characters from any fictional story.

8. If you get nominated and/or decide to participate in this tag, please put a link back to this post in your post and credit yours truly as the creator

9. Have fun and obsess over fictional characters! [I will! And I have to warn everybody, this may be a bit long…]

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#1. Goody-two-shoes: A character who is just so morally good

Lily James’ Cinderella (my favorite live-action Disney princess so far) fits this category perfectly. My sisters often remind me that she has next to no flaws, but I don’t necessarily think that, in this particular case, that’s a terrible thing. There are at least two male characters who also fit this bill–Steven Grant Rogers and Clark Joseph Kent, I’m lookin’ at you–and in both their cases andCinderella’s, they’re meant to be shining contrasts to the selfishness, cruelty, and/or pragmatism they stand against. I’m not saying that all characters have to be as Good™ as Cinderella, Superman, or Captain America, but I am saying that these kinds of characters do serve their purpose in certain stories!

(Also, Cinderella is absolutely beautiful, and I’ve been in love with that blue dress since 2015.)

#2. Heartbreaker: A character who made you cry

Imagine me, an impressionable little girl watching Horatio Hornblower for the first time–under my dad’s supervision, of course! Imagine me, too, melting like a small pat of butter over the adorable sweetness of Midshipman (later Lieutenant) Archie Kennedy, Hornblower’s loyal, self-deprecating, but cheerful sidekick.

Imagine me, then, when Archie died after sacrificing his good name for Horatio’s sake. I’m pretty sure this was the first time I mourned in earnest over a fictional character. Archie was one of my first great loves, and even though in my old age (haha) I prefer Captain Pellew and Mr. Bush, he’ll always have a special place in my heart.

#3. Parrot: A character who won’t stop talking

Luis from the Ant-Man movies! Not only is he an adorably awkward cutie-pie (“I’m sorry. I’m good. I’m good. I’m just excited. Plus your girlfriend’s really hot. So, you know, that makes me nervous, too. And you’re very beautiful, ma’am”), but he’s often the source of Very Important Information as well. In a very long-winded, roundabout sort of way, of course.

“But anyway, anyway – Ignacio tells me: ‘Yo, I met this crazy fine writer chick at the spot last night, like *fine*, fine, crazy stupid fine.’ And he goes up to the bartender and says: ‘Look at that girl I’m with? Y’know I sayin’ she’s crazy stupid fine, right?’ And the bartender all like: ‘Yeah, crazy stupid fine!’ So this writer chick tells Ignacio: ‘Yo, I’m like a boss in the world of guerilla journalism and I got mad connects with the peeps behind the curtains, you know what I’m saying?’ Ignacio is like: ‘For real?’ and she’s like: ‘Yeah. You know what, I can’t tell you who my contact is because HE WORKS FOR THE AVENGERS!’ “

#4. Devilish: A character who was so horribly evil (I know it’s hard. Just breathe 🙂 )

The villains who scare me the most are the sadists: the ones who wreak havoc simply because it’s fun watching people suffer. They don’t have any specific reasons for doing what they do. More importantly, they have no conscience. They’re not trying to carry out an ideological crusade (Thanos), avenge what they perceive as a terrible wrong (Star Trek‘s Khan), or even prove a twisted point to the hero (Doctor Who‘s Missy). They’re just bored.

Jim Moriarty was the first of these psychopathic sadists who came to mind, and after him, the Joker. Considering the way so many of our society’s serial killers, mass shooters, and abusers also take a perverted delight in others’ pain and terror, the obsession over and idolization of both these characters is very, very disturbing.

(Getting off my soapbox now…)

#5. Love interest: A character who, if alive in reality, you would want to marry

Don’t laugh at me…but if Danny Tanner, the dad in Full House, were real, I would marry him in a heartbeat. He’s sweet, he’s gentle, he’s hilarious, and he has no greater joy than to love his little girls and take care of them to the best of his ability. Are you aware of how incredibly attractive this is?????????

There are many fictional guys I’ve loved, but let’s be honest, few of them would enjoy the hobbity home I so desire. If I ever marry, it’ll probably be to a guy like Danny Tanner OR someone akin to the young farmers who populate the novels of Wendell Berry. (Did someone say “Nathan Coulter?” Or “Elton Penn?”)

#6. Sidekick: A character who was always loyal no matter what

For this category, I shall honor my favorite fictional doctor–as in, my favorite physician–Dr. Leonard McCoy, AKA “Bones,” the surgeon aboard the USS Enterprise. Bones not only has to take care of the crew’s medical needs, but he also has to keep both Captain Kirk and Spock alive. I don’t care how big his Starfleet paycheck is: HE DOES NOT GET PAID ENOUGH FOR THIS.

For all his grumbling, however (and any grey hairs he might’ve gotten while following Kirk and Spock into their hair-raising adventures) he is incredibly loyal. He’s tough and often blunt to a fault, but he sticks by them no matter what.

#7. Complicated: A character you love and hate

(I’m kinda-sorta-slightly cheating with this one, answering with one character but two incarnations, hehe.)

I love Missy. I hate the Master. Confusing? Welcome to Doctor Who. They’re the same person, just from different time periods, ‘kay? And the Master (at least according to John Simms) is not only INCREDIBLY ANNOYING but an unapologetic sadist. I will never forgive him for what he did to my sweet summer child, Bill Potts.

Missy starts out as a sadist, too (see: “Death in Heaven”–yikes), but unlike her previous incarnation, she doesn’t stay that way. This is what sets her apart from the likes of Moriarty and the Joker. The longer her story unfolds, the more she’s willing to give up a lifetime of villainy in order to regain the Doctor’s friendship and trust. For a long time, you don’t know if she really means it, but you can’t help but be fascinated by her and really, really hope she does indeed learn “how to be good.”

#8. Oddity: A character who was strange, but you loved them that way

I know, I know, two characters from the same fandom in a row–but I can’t help it, because the Twelfth Doctor, compared to the Tenth and Eleventh, is so Not-At-All-Human. One often forgets, watching Ten, that he’s even an alien. And while Eleven is a bit more awkward and acts like a drunk baby giraffe half the time, even he fit into Earth society fairly well, given the opportunity.

But you know, instinctively, that Twelve is alien. Sometimes it’s like he came straight out of the Strange Planet comic strip. But for all his strangeness and gruff exterior, there comes a moment when you realize he’s still just as good and kind as his previous incarnations. I love him to bits and he will always be my Doctor.

#9. Queen: A female character who you admire and aspire to emulate

I have many fictional heroines, but Sister Julienne from Call the Midwife is the one I most want to emulate in my own life. Her wisdom, tact, gentleness, and devotion to Christ and her community inspire me. I’ve often said that “I want to be like Sister Julienne when I grow up.”

Interestingly, it was also Sister Julienne’s example that helped me attach new meaning to the promise ring my parents gave me when I was sixteen. Not only does it symbolize their commitment to care for and love me, but after noticing the way the nuns of Nonnatus House wore rings on the fourth fingers of their right hands and then learning what those rings meant, I made the conscious decision to consider my promise ring a reminder of my own relationship to Christ. It still carries my parents’ original promise, of course! But it also reminds me that whether or not God places me in an earthly marriage, I belong to Christ first.

#10. Savior: A character who oddly reminds you of Christ

The emphasis here is on the word “oddly.” We’re not talking about characters with obvious similarities to Christ (like Aragorn, Superman, etc.), but on the ragamuffins and anti-heroes who still sacrifice everything for everyone else. For me, the best person for this category is Tony Stark.

Tony was never a favorite of mine…until Endgame. He was always too braggadocious, too free with the ladies, too pragmatic. But when he took the Infinity Stones into his own hand, poised his fingers for a snap, and declared in courageous defiance, “I am Iron Man!”–oh, it sent shivers up my spine. He knew he probably wouldn’t survive, but he harnessed the Stones anyway. He sacrificed his life without hesitation so that others could live and the hordes of darkness would be vanquished.

This is why, when the Avengers’ names rolled in the credits, I cried hardest for Robert Downey, Jr.’s sequence. Tony Stark is so much more than a “genius billionaire playboy philanthropist,” and we love him 3,000.

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I am hereby tagging…

1. Katie at I Am Charles Baker Harris (And I Can Read)
2. Shay at Nor Bid the Stars Farewell
3. Anyone who wants to snatch this tag and do it themselves! I honestly don’t know anyone else who’s still blogging regularly who hasn’t also already been tagged, so if you need to give your languishing blog an update, consider yourself tagged 🙂