kippurbird | just a dribble (Reply)

As I'm doing the various chapters in the Inheritance series I notice that I put in a lot of "What the Hell Hero" moments. I've started to wonder if I'm being fair to Paolini and Eragon, after all there is no law that says that the Hero has to be perfect. In fact, I'd like it if they weren't and isn't that what Eragon is doing? Being highly imperfect? My own protagonists are far from perfect, even if they aren't as blood thirsty as Eragon they've got their own flaws. At least, I hope they do. So, I wonder, am I being hypocritical in my writings?

And then I think back to the fact that Eragon is supposed to be the Traditional Hero. The standards that I'm using to judge him by are those of the Traditional Hero. Sure, he should of course have flaws, but he's supposed to be a paragon of moral virtue. The one who doesn't want to kill. Harry Potter, Rand Al'Thor, Harry Dresden, Spider-Man, Captain America, Superman, these are all Heroes. Yes, I know, I listed Rand there. See, despite the whole angsty life that Rand leads, he is a Traditional hero. I never got a WTF hero moment from him. Just in regards to the plot. The Never Ending Plot. WHY WON'T IT END?! Soon it'll have more books than the bible!

I digress.

The standards that I hold my characters up to are different than the ones that I am holding up to Eragon. The protagonist verses the Hero.