Setup: Okay, I'm bored and curious, so here's a question I'd like to see asked. Question: With all the Archetypes, Stereotypes, and Cliches, what's you're favorite? As for me, It'd have to be the cocky bruiser. Y'know the one, the real heavy-hitter who'll kick your ass while mocking the color of you shoes, smirking all the way.
The attractive action girl with technical skills and a dark history that doesn't give her any mental problems. Bonus points for using a sword, having a name from a different culture than the one she was born into, or developing new powers when she most needs them. Not even joking. I watch that kind of stuff all the time.
Raspy voice, scar-faced, ruthless, bad-ass anti-hero. Bonus points if he has a cigarette between his lips.
I like the beta heroes (Michael Biehn in practically anything he did in the 80s - Hicks in Aliens, Reese in Terminator, etc.). The laconic sidekick in the western, the guy the main hero absolutely trusts. I think there's a kind of confidence in these characters that really appeals to me. Hicks doesn't need to brag and bluster his way through his nerves - he'll do the job because he's the kind of guy who gets the job done. I find them hard to write, but I sure love reading and watching them.
I love tortured guys. Especially if they're desperately trying to hide it. I just want to snuggle them and give them a mug of hot chocolate. Or push them off a cliff. I like to hurt 'em. I'm an awful person. I also like impossibly badass action heroes, like Ellen Ripley and Imperator Furiosa.
When it is done well: The "evil for the sake of evil" bad guy. I bold 'when it is done well' because it's crucial to my point. A villain who is evil for the sake of being a villain is something that is always dangerously tiptoeing a wire between "enjoyable" and "stupid". A big part of it, to me, is how the villain is portrayed. Kefka, for those familiar with Final Fantasy 6, is a fun 'badguy for the sake of being a badguy' because he's slightly flamboyant and goofy. He's the kind of bad guy you wouldn't expect to be a such a serious bad guy until he does something seriously terrible, and you realize what he's capable of doing. That's what makes the dynamic fun, and the fact he's kind of like a flamboyant psycho is what lends itself to him being able to pass off as "bad for the sake of bad". The Joker from Batman is another good example of this (for more or less all the exact same reasons). This is harder to pull off than one might think, because you have to carefully craft the bad guy. They're inherently going to be a little shallow, since they won't have much deeper meaning for their villainy, so they need to be a certain degree of charming. We let a guy like Kekfa or The Joker get away with threatening to destroy a whole city for no other reason than "cuz im insane lolz" because they're a charming enough bad guy that we don't necessarily care that their motives are more or less non-existent. When done well, it results in memorable and likable characters that you love to hate. When done poorly, it's just cliche and shallow and usually sometimes even downright embarrassing.
Sean Bean playing 'Sharpe' in Bernard Cornwell's series - just for once better than my imagined version from reading before I saw the tv series.
Oh, and of course Lagertha from Vikings. obviously. Although I'm getting a bit suspicious that she hasn't aged a day and everyone around her is decades older, hm,,,
I think my favourite cliché was best portrayed in this character, right here: The bad guy who fights beside the good guys, not because it's the right thing to do, but because he is loyal to one friend who happens to be good. He will do the things the others cannot, precisely because they are too good.
I don't know what you might call one of these. The Outsider, the Wild Card. The man, woman, or thing behind the curtain. A trickster, manipulator, possible deity or super-powered freak. You're not sure what they want, or why. You can't be certain which team they're really playing for, or if they're flying solo. Sometimes you're forced to doubt if they're benign, malevolent, or beyond such concepts altogether. Quaithe from A Song of Ice and Fire fits the bill. Lovecraft's Nyarlathotep does as well. I guess there's a case to be made for Tom Bombadil. I also love the idea of a Greater Evil, or Bigger Bad if you will. They may be removed from the story by distances of time, geography, or scope. They may be "on ice", or the story might be too small for them to be directly involved. They may or may not show up at the end or in the sequel. Morgoth from LotR, Big Brother from 1984, Azathoth for the Chtulhu Mythos in general, and so on. As for more mundane characters, I like anyone who boils down to a sarcastic, witty prick, really. Oh, and Anti-heroes & Byronic Heroes.
The non-OP badass. The deeply tortured anti-hero, that while struggling with everything they are/become/became, with the narrow chance to right even one wrong and simultaneously fight to keep what little humanity in them from slipping away. When the story ends at dusk/sunset, and not at dawn or with the sky 'clearing'. The stoic quiet character, that you learn about through what they do and not in what they say (or lack there of). When the villain wins. (gotta have a change of pace once in a while). The impossible Jack of all Trades type character is kinda annoying. Along with the Instant Master of (whatever) with little to no training. One I would like to see is the guy/gal blow past the MC, and end up with the sidekick/friend instead.
Probably better this way round. If Ron had ended up with Ginny it would have put a whole new spin on things.
I have no idea what kind of cliche this is, but I love Disney's Aladdin. That kind of character - downtrodden, inadequate, and utterly noble and loyal and so damn smart. Laputa's Pazu is another favourite of mine. And Aragorn. I love noble characters who just don't seem to believe in themselves and can't see how good they are, and they're so damn good.
Hell, yeah! And don't forget Lt. Coffee in The Abyss with his silly (even by 80's standards) mustache. He was a bit of an over-the-top douche in that movie. Batshit from the get-go... not a lot of depth now that I think about it.
Yeah, not one of his better roles. I'm really not sure he's much of an actor, as such - but he's sure had some great characters!
