Favorite Literary hero/Heroine ?

I'm not sure if there's already a thread like this out in the forums somewhere, I haven't looked very thoroughly, but I was wondering who everyone's favorite literary heroes/heroines were. Mine are:

Heroines
Jane Eyre- Jane Eyre:i love her self awareness, her strength of will and her unwillingness to compromise her beliefs for anyone or anything.

Tess Durbyville- Tess of the D'Urbervilles: i love her seeming unending hope and sweetness, though I admit I gave a silent cheer when she finally wrote the note telling Angel off for neglecting her.

Elizabeth Bennet- Pride and Prejudice: I love her wit and sense of fun, as well as her willingness to accept full responsibility when she makes a mistake.

Heroes
Ralph- Lord of the Flies: i love that he doesn't give in even when everyone else has left him to follow Jack, and that he doesn't treat Piggy badly when everyone else does. (that may be innacurate, i haven't read the book for several years)

Edmond Dantes- The Count of Monte Cristo: before he is captured he is full of life and optimism. After his transformation into the Count he is cynical and bitter, but it is still interesting to see the creative ways he manipulates others into their own destruction.

Colonel Brandon- Sense and Sensibility: He is intelligent, caring, and unassuming...need I say more?

Rhett Butler- Gone with the Wind: in my opinion he's the best character in Gone with the Wind, his mix of cynicism and optimism is fascinating.

Some of these may not be considered typical hero figures, but they are figures that I admire and like in literature, so I guess that is more what is being asked.

Sherlock Holmes.

Nicholas Nickleby - he makes the worst possible start to his career but through sheer energy and 'never say die' attitude he comes through. He is opposed by some really evil characters (Wackford Squeers, aristocrats trying to seduce his sister...) but overcomes them, without using Homeric levels of violence. Throughout he is kind to the downtrodden, puts up with the eccentrics, and chivalrous to the all the young women, who cannot help but fall lin love with him. He's accused by the 'forces of resentment' of being 'too perfect, too nice'. But he made me feel 21 again, and a better 21! Dickens magic at work again... He's a grown up Ralph, makes Captain Branden look boring, Rhett Butler without the cynicism, and Achilles without the violence. His Achilles heel is just being a bit naive here and there - but he's only a young chap after all - a portrait of the hero as a young man. Maybe Odysseus gets the vote for a fully grown up hero? Or Leopold Bloom?

Tess Durbyville is a good choice for heroine. Her and Nicholas! She'd make a man of him, and he'd cheer her up.

cool, i've been meaning to read nicholas nickelby, it sounds like a really good read :)

haha, i just read the last part of your post :) i thounk we should definetly talk to the authers about a sequel...that may be hard considering they're dead, but if worst coes to worst we can pitch the idea to some directors and get a hollywood film made out of it :)

Tolstoy's Hadji Murad might also be in the running for my favourite 'grown up hero'.

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Originally Posted by waterfallin

cool, i've been meaning to read nicholas nickelby, it sounds like a really good read :)

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I'm a major fan of Dickens and had read most of his other novels before this one. If you have read and liked any Dickens then you should really like it. It doesn't get into the depths that Bleak House and some other novels do, but it's a wonderful romp. If you haven't read any Dickens, it's a great one to start with.

If you can find a film director who combines the creativity of Dickens and Hardy, and who can control the Hollywood machine, then "Nicholas & Tess" might be a goer, get back to me when you find such and I'll get working on the script...

Dirk Pitt

I`ve read Great Expectations and Little Dorrit so far, and I`ve really enjoyed his work so far, I`ve also read a few pages of Nicholas Nickelby so far and it seemed very interesting.

Haha, I don`t think I have any directors wit hthat type of ability on speed dial, I`ll have to check the phone book, or maybe take out an add in the newspaper...

Sherlock Holmes. He's an intellectual hero, making use of his intellect and reasoning skills. I've had a fascination with the very archetype since I was a kid.

true, Sherlock Holmes is very fascinating, I've always been amazed at his ability to make deductions from things that no one else would have noticed or put together. He is definetly a very interesting character :)

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Originally Posted by waterfallin

I`ve read Great Expectations and Little Dorrit so far, and I`ve really enjoyed his work so far, I`ve also read a few pages of Nicholas Nickelby so far and it seemed very interesting.

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I actually think it's a more instantly enjoyable read than GE & LD, although they are excellent. It has more energy, maintained throughout, and an unambiguous hero - Nicholas isn't in any way a snob or doormat!

Bazarov, Ivan Karamazov, Eugene Onegin

I have a theory that all teenage girls aspire to be like Jane Eyre.

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Originally Posted by prendrelemick

I have a theory that all teenage girls aspire to be like Jane Eyre.

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And all teenage boys Rochester?

You know... One wife in the attic, one in the parlour?

;)

No, we males aspire to be someone else.

The name's Mick.... Prendrelemick.

Oh, Nick Nick. You make me smile. Remind me to start a thread on the theatrical production starring Roger Rees.

Anyway. Back on topic. I would have to agree with Odysseus, for being a rogue among heroes. I would probably cast my own vote for Prince Hal, young Henry V as Shakespeare wrote him, for his sense of humor and his ability to pass effortlessly through three very different worlds. And because I was very recently an angsty teenager.

I would have to choose the Herculean Beowulf as favorite hero. As far as favorite heroine, I may be going out on a limb but I feel as though Jean Paget from A Town Like Alice deserves a nod!

Alyosha Karamazov. I love how he tries to be good, but is haunted by family sins. He's the best.:)

Smarter than David Copperfield and without the angst of Holden Caulfield, it has to be Pinocchio!

Ferdinand Bardamu from Celine's "Journey to the End of the Night." Okay, so he's totally an anti-hero, but he's got a hilarious grip on the savageness and brutality of humanity and offers the reader a nihilistic, hilarious, and (chillingly) accurate point of view of society. I can totally relate to him at times.

Hardy's Jude, a shining example of fortitude, single mindedness and intellectual ability in an impossibly harsh era. A true working class hero shafted by his environment.

I echo the sherlock holmes vote, but its hard to dissociate the literary holmes from all the cinematic holmes, the latter of which I think makes the former even better. he's tied for my all-time favorite fictional character with jean-luc picard, captain of the enterprise in star trek, the next generation.

right now im trying to figure out who I like better as holmes, benedict Cumberbatch from the bbc production sherlock, or johnny miller from elementary.

Sydney Carton

Jonnie Goodboy Tyler

Who is he?

lol... Battlefield Earth - Sci-fi book by L. Ron Hubbard... btb: terrible movie in need of a remake.

Sancho Panza.

Also Nick Adams

Oh yes and Hayduke of course