Top 10 fictional men of the...while...

[meganbmoore]

This has been going around the f-list a bit in various forms.  My fictional likes/crushes tend to remain relatively constant, as I'm really stubborn and generally end up comparing other characters to these, all of whom have been here for a year or longer(ok, technically, Bourne came back when the new movie came out...but he was there earlier)

In no order whatsoever.

Who:  Remington "Harry" Steele:

 What: Thief and con-artist turned faux detective, turned real detective.
Where: Remington Steele(all of DVD and often pretty cheap)
Why: Smart, cunning, utterly (almost obsessively) devoted to his partner and leading lady, handy in a jam, in love with the classics, and with plenty of angst and mystery without wallowing in it.

Who: Hwangbo Yoon(with Chae-Ohk because a 5 minute google search didn't turn up any solo pics...he'd rather she was there, anyway)

What: A police commander and the illegitimate son of a court official in Korea's Joseon period.
Where: Damo(korean drama)
Why: Intensely driven and honorbound, constantly torn between what he wants(a simpler life with the woman he loves) and his promise to his father(to make a name for himself and rise in the government, despite his birth) he's naturally kind and honorable to a fault.  He's a born leader who inspires loyalty both with his charisma, and his willingness to assume the blame or lay down his life for any of his men.

Who: Jason Bourne

What: An amnesiac assassin searching for the answers to his past
Where: Bourne movies(I know squat about the books)
Why: For very shallow reasons:  He has so much angst in his life that is he ever smiles again, his face will shatter, he's smart, he kicks serious butt, and he has the "only one love" thing going bigtime.  Essentially, he's the ultimate epitome of the angsty assassin that all others of the character type try to be as good as.

Who: Shuri

 What: A young, ambitious king in a post-apocalyptic Japan.
Where: Basara(manga)
Why: Shrewd, driven, cunning, ruthless and ambitious, Shuri is an extremely driven man who is very much a product of the world that created him, which started with his father branding him as a slave when he was an infant to ensure the people would never over throw him for Shuri.  Shuri has more angst, issues and problems than any 20 heroes thrown together(and not for the typical woobie shojo hero reasons), and is willing to become a monster if the end result is a better world.  He's not misunderstood, but really is as bad as he seems...he's just not evil.   By the way, he's the hero. (and he wins at having the most impressive "I love you, let's get back together" known to man)

Who: Manji


 What: A swordsmanwho murdered 100 men who is cursed to immortality until he slays 1000 evil men, currently knocking out plenty of evil ones while serving as the bodyguard of a vengeance driven young woman.
Where: Blade of the Immortal(manga)
Why: Basically the baddest badass known to manga, Manji also is as bad as he seems...but not evil.  He lives life by his own set of rules and has his own honor and nobility, and never acts without thinking or having a reason.  He's generous with his friendship, but ruthless if you mess with his.

Who:  Magatsu Taito

 What: A baseborn swordsman of Edo with an intense hatred for the samurai class that killed his sister with the same amount of caring they would a bug.
Where: Blade of the Immortal(manga)
Why: The second biggest badass known to manga after his pal/foe(depends on what's going on at the time) Manji, Magatsu is intensely loyal, Magatsu is loyal to people, not causes.  He'll follow his friends to the end of the world...and if you mess with them, he'll hunt you to the ends of the world.  He's also an utterly billiant field tactician andthe master of anty domain he finds himself in, even if he seems to be losing, isthe closest thing you can get to immortal without Mani's worms, and is pretty much borderline suicidal.

Who: Onime no Kyo

What: A samurai and legendary killer of 17th century Japan
Where: Samurai Deeper Kyo(manga)
Why: Right up there with Manji and Magatsu in the badassery department, kyo also has his own brand of honor, is loyal to his friends, and inspires even greater loyalty in them.

Who: Harry Dresden

What: The only wizard listed in Chicago's  phone book.  Openly, that is.
Where: Jim Butcher's Dresden Files
Why: Charming, noble, clever and too heroic for his own good, Harry is loyal to his friends, is incapable of anything vaguely resembling an "in distress," has a past even he doesn't understand, enough well deserved angst to fill an oil rig and a dark side you probably won't live long enough to regret seeing if you're lucky enough to bring it out of him(it's good for the world he rarely gets that pissed.)  What's not to love?  He's also the main reason i love urban fantasy, and what got me into it.

Who: David Valentine

What: Military man and freedom fighter on a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Where: E.E. Knight's Vampire Earth
Why: Honest, intelligent, charismatic,honorable and duty bound, David is a born soldier and leader who can serve as anything needed in a pinch.  He's a very faithful and by-the-books soldier, but also understands that one must sometimes break the rules and step outsidethe law for the greater good...and then accept the consequences.

Who: Jackie Estacado

What: Mob hitman who harbors the ultimate personification of evil inside him(it's a family heirloom)
Where: Top Cow Comics, primarily The Darkness
Why: Amoral, ruthless and brutal(not to mention a manslut early on)  Jackie's main claim to heroism is that, unlike those he fights, he actually has a soul.  Ironically, it was being successful at his work, obtaining near-ultimate powerful and having the only good thing in his life walk out on him(an action I highly approve of) that woke up what little good was in his heart.  He's also loyal, has his own brand of honor, stands by his, and only messes with you if you give him a reason to(yup, well aware of the trend here.)

Honorable Mention:

Who: Ian Nottingham

What: Assassin in the service of a near immortal villain, genetically altered to be able to bear certain magical weapons.
Where: Top Cow Comics, primarily Witchblade
Why: Toss Jackie Estacado and Jason Bourne in the blender, add long hair, swords, an English accent and an unhealthily obsessive love for a certain lady-cop, and you'll end up with ian Nottingham.

Comments

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

You certainly go for the badasses, don't you ;)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I know, such a shock...

Probably their willingness to tear up the world over their girl(dead or alive) and still come out on top.

And hey, they weren't ALL badasses....looking at it, i think the strongest theme is that they all have a unique brand of loyalty and honor that they holdthemselves to.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Well, not ALL, but there's a general theme ;) I simply can't imagine you falling for a character that sits around angsting and writing love sonnets, unless he were writing love sonnets in the blood of his enemies.

I seem to aim for either crazy intelligent (too often crazy/intelligent) or the walking wounded, the guys who act tough and are vicious protectors, but who are also so messed up they have trouble functioning normally.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

" I simply can't imagine you falling for a character that sits around angsting and writing love sonnets, unless he were writing love sonnets in the blood of his enemies. "

I would fall asleep from boredom, unless he were Very, Very Special. Unless, as you point out, blood was involved...it could also be his blood, or the blood ofthe person they were about to set off to avenge...

"I seem to aim for either crazy intelligent (too often crazy/intelligent) or the walking wounded, the guys who act tough and are vicious protectors, but who are also so messed up they have trouble functioning normally."

With the occassional exception of "intelligent"(take away the battlefield and kyo and Magstu, love them as i do, aren't that bright) that pretty much applies to all the ones on my list...it may just take a bit longer for the more positive traits to shine through for some.

Also, while not as much of an angst fiend as mousie, it should probably be noted that most of them(pretty much all but Dresden and Valentine...maybe Nottingham and Steele) has enough romantic angst to kill a normal person...and they compensate with other forms of angst.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I think the majority of mine have either been tortured or maimed at some point too, which is a bit creepy on my part now that I think about it.

Angsting seems to be a general theme for everyone's list I've seen.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think most of mine have been tortured or mained at some point, too...maybe not Magatsu and Kyo. Probably why they had to compensate in other ways.

The thing of it is...even if you're not an angst fan, unless it's pure a light, fluffy, contained thing, you need the angst to keep the momentum going, even if it's in doses. And if handled right, the smallest angst can go a long, long way.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

H/C goes a long way, I find as I feel compelled to pet even the most nasty of mine on random occassions.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

H/C goes an ENORMPUSLY bad way...and helps compensaye for any bastradry he may have committed, esp if the H/C is part of the "protect my girlie" act.

i've found that some well deserved angst and screwed upness make me very forgiving of certain actions...witness my willingness to defend Darcia in Wolf's Rain until the end of time(it's not exactly like he was actually the same guy by the time he got around to the actual sincere badguy stuff thanks to the poison)

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

Mine don't seem to have girls involved in the torture a whole lot, but they ARE extremely protective of the womenfolk.

I think the H/C that gets me the most right now is Cain having to watch his family get tortured on repeat. I fight urges to pet him through the screen. It's followed a close second by Booth leaving the hospital beat to hell just to save Bones.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

i've noticed mine have a tendency to have it happen to preemptively keep the womenfolk out of danger(Steele and Dresden are particularly bad about that) or in rescues(womenfolk or otherwise) or protecting...or remembering failure.

Dunno about Cain as i'm waiting for DVDs and not torrenting it like the rest of the internets, but I completely agree about Booth.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I think you'll like Cain. The mini was cheesey, but no cheesier than anything else on Sci Fi with a high production quality and better actors.

The one moment of Booth saving Bones that gets me is when his one arm is too weak to get her off the hook he bends down and kind of scoops her up and he's wincing because of the hurt ribs. Just...guh.

You know, I think I might need to make a list of moments...

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I don't mind cheese as long as it's deliberate cheese, like Eureka or the Mummy movies and such. Actually, as long as there's not too much, i kinda love it.

I think my favorite B/B moments(after the alley wall slamming) is when he braves hospital nurses to get to her after she told him he didn't have to come...it takes a real man to jump on a plane and brave hospital nurses just to get scolded by you and told he didn't need to come(knowing it's what you'ddo)

[foenix.livejournal.com]

Jasons are awesome.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

They are indeed. Even the ones obsessed with redheads.

[foenix.livejournal.com]

That just makes for the bonus awesomeness.

[wistfulmemory.livejournal.com]

I love the Bourne movies, and the main reason is for that love is Jason Bourne and the abilities he has. I love watching him fight. I should be receiving the third movie sometime next week, and I need to decide when I'm going to marathon the trilogy. Oh, and you're not missing much by not reading the books. They are definitely dated for the era that they were written, and the movies don't really have anything in common with them.

"(and he wins at having the most impressive "I love you, let's get back together" known to man)"

Man, I stopped reading Basara when the available manga volumes were only in the lower teens. I need to find copies of this and finish reading it. This manga series is one of the only ones a friend and I were able to persuade my college roommmate to read (and she liked it).

"Mob hitman who harbors the ultimate personification of evil inside him(it's a family heirloom)"

Okay, I had to read this line a couple of times because it was so unexpected. How does one have the ultimate personification of evil as a family heirloom?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Basara is MY FAVORITE MANGA EVER!!! I am always saddened to meet someone who doesn't or won't read it.

"Okay, I had to read this line a couple of times because it was so unexpected. How does one have the ultimate personification of evil as a family heirloom?"

basically, it's passed on genetically from father to son, and when your son is born, it leaves you and you die. Jackie is about the only one to find out about it before the "dying young" part(not that the family really has much life expectancy anyway...)

[southerndave.livejournal.com]

"Basara is MY FAVORITE MANGA EVER!!! "

So... is it any good?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

yes.

though like most of the best manga, it takes a few volumes to hit its stride.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you're not missing much by not reading the books. They are definitely dated for the era that they were written, and the movies don't really have anything in common with them.

I haven't seen the films (sorry, Damon leaves me beyond cold), but seconding the not-missing-much on the books. I went through a huge huge spy-thriller phase when I was in intermediate school and tore through all the Ludlums like candy, and they were, well, pretty forgettable disposable thrillers; you didn't read them for characterization or interesting relationships, you read them to watch the plot machinations play out. Bourne (back when it was just the first book, not a whole series) was for my tastes the best of the lot, as having the lead character be amnesiac made him more memorable a character than the usual Ludlum protagonist...but if that sounds like damning with faint praise, well, it is.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Matt Damon I normally couldn't care less about, but I love him as Bourne.

Spy/Thrillers work well for me to watch, but not so much to read. Whereas romance works better for me to read than to watch.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

There are some spy/thriller writers out there who actually can do some interesting, complex things with the genre; Ludlum just wasn't one of them. You don't read his stuff for complex characterization or deep meaningful examinations of the human condition, you read them for the page-turny "ok, what's going to happen next as this convoluted conspiracy plays out" value. Basically it's the same general plot and same character types over and over again, only the names are changed.

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way about Matt Damon. I don't like him in anyhting but the Bourne films.

I'm not sure if I could do this list, but I'll give it a go.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

heh...the list is an interesting thing to do, actually.

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I'm doing it right. Is it supposed to be chracters you like, or charcters you have a crush on?

I'd feel a bit dirty if it's the latter (considering who I have so far).

I might do one for women later too.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

i went by like, find interesting, and compare others to, and who i'm most drawn to characters "like" them in my reading and viewing.

dangermousie, i think, did it by the 10 who were making her flail the most at that particular moment, while crumpeteer did her all time favorite fictional men(mine would alter somewhat if i did that)