All cheap and debonair

[sovay]

Talk to me about supporting characters. When you're supposed to fall for the heroine, and instead it's the second spear-carrier from the left who turns out to have the thorniest moral dilemma or the most fascinating backstory. This happens to me all the time; I can't be the only one. So who are your scene-stealers? Movies, books, operas—your own work—which character roles do you remember long after you've forgotten who played the protagonist?

(This post brought to you courtesy of Eleanor Cameron and L.M. Montgomery.)

Comments

[zdenka]

Oh, yes, indeed. Especially with my loyal retainer obsession. In Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, I became obsessed with dy Lutez, a character who is mentioned briefly and is dead before the story begins. When the sequel came out in bookstores, I flipped through the first few pages for a mention of dy Lutez: Yup, still dead. Then there's Hozuki, who appears in one chapter of Volume 7 in Lone Wolf & Cub, a 28-volume manga series. Sir Gareth has always been my favorite in the Arthurian legend. I'm sure I'll think of more later . . .

[sovay]

Sir Gareth has always been my favorite in the Arthurian legend.

I've always liked Merlin and Mordred. And Sir Kay, although the latter may be mostly the fault of Phyllis Ann Karr's Idylls of the Queen.

I'm sure I'll think of more later . . .

Does Fakir count, or is he too much of a main character? Between him and Drosselmeyer, I'm happy.

[zdenka]

I thought Fakir wouldn't count for this question because of that and because everyone else seems to love him too. But yes, Fakir has been my favorite character in the series from the beginning. I still haven't been able to watch Disk 6, alas.

[sovay]

I still haven't been able to watch Disk 6, alas.

I haven't seen the end of the series, either. Should I come by sometime?

[sovay]

Especially with my loyal retainer obsession.

Don't even get me started on Bothari. So far I've read Shards of Honor, Barrayar, The Warrior's Apprentice and whatever the novella is that comes between that and The Vor Game in the omnibus your household has so kindly loaned me, and he and Koudelka are my favorites. Which is impressive, considering that I actually like Aral Vorkosigan: he hits all the right moral blurs.

[zdenka]

I thought about mentioning that I was obsessed with Bothari for a while, but then I forgot . . .