Greetings, Faction readers! If my writing seems muffled, it is because I write to you from beneath a pile of boxes, books, and clothing, as I frantically prepare for my pending immigration into Canada.
Today I would like to dig into subjects addressed in my colleague Tegan Beechey’s excellent article on the trend towards dark heroes in our favorite fantasy stories (If you haven’t read it, click here to do so!). First I would like to mention that in the exercise proposed in her article (to imagine a heroic archetype) I found that I pictured something quite different from her Mr. Blondie McPaladinpants (if that name doesn’t make you laugh, you need help.)
My formative years in fantasy literature were focused squarely on two heroes: Drizzt Do’Urden (R.A. Salvatore, The Forgotten Realms) and Tanis Half-Elven (Weis/Hickman, Dragonlance.) Both were deeply conflicted outcasts who were presented in very different ways. Drizzt was a leading man, peerless warrior without equal, and he almost always bordered on comic-book superheroism. Tanis was a competent warrior, natural leader, but only a key member of an ensemble.
For many years, Drizzt was my favorite of the two, simply because of the aforementioned superheroism. I devoured each new book as it was released, only to find that my interest petered out as I entered my late twenties. It seemed, as Tegan mentions in her article, that while I matured, Drizzt did not. He overcame every new challenge with typical heroism, often in spectacular fashion. Salvatore even started utilizing deus ex machina in situations when it seemed Drizzt was really in trouble.
I really started to get bored with the series. I stopped at The Orc King and I am not likely to ever go back. Even though in later books it seemed Salvatore was finally trying to allow the series to grow, it was too little, too late. Drizzt was less believable as a heroic figure than I had originally thought. Maybe someday I will give him another chance, but Arlen, Leesha, Gavin, Kylar, Haern, and the Riyria boys are much more interesting to me now.
It is Tanis I find myself wanting to go back and explore again, and who I think of when I picture my heroic archetype. Tanis Half-Elven was (shockingly) a half-elf, and not accepted by either the elves or the humans. As an outcast half-breed, he learned to trust his own inner strength, but the insecurity brought about by his upbringing filled him with torturous self-doubt.
Despite these doubts, Tanis very often found himself in a leadership role in his own circle of friends, the Heroes of the Lance. No matter the victories they gained, the defeats they suffered, Tanis was driven to forge ahead, battling his own demons (including his self-destructive love for both the ruthless human warrior Kitiara and the kind elf maiden Laurana) along the way. When the heroes were in trouble, it was Tanis who would push them forward, settle disputes, and choose the next path, all while he questioned why the hell they trusted him in the first place. He is a very tragic character, is to date the only book character whose death I have truly mourned.
Tanis represents a facet of what we look for in our heroes now: determination. It doesn’t always matter if our heroes succeed or not, only that they make the effort. We aren’t looking for the superhero to save the day anymore. We want the man or woman who will have the courage to make the tough decisions. We love Arlen Bales because he fights, even if he loses. He never quits. He is self-destructive, but he is determined to make the world of Thesa better, even at the cost of his own soul. Kylar Stern is a killer, but he makes the tough choices, despite the personal pain it might bring him. They have demons, self-loathing, and courage. Many of us have the first two, and we always hope we have the third, but we are rarely tested like our heroes. Still, the courage we witness in these individuals can inspire us to challenge our jaded perceptions of the world in which we live.
As Tegan says, fantasy has matured as we have. We’ve learned that there are no superheroes to save us. Our parents, our leaders, our heroes are all mortal and flawed, just like we are. Dark and conflicted heroes remind us that if the world is to be saved, we must be the ones to save it, no matter the cost to ourselves. Small wonder I used to look for superheroes like Drizzt.
Thank you again, Faction readers. When next we speak, I will be on the other side of the border! Take care and have a great week!
