The character that *does* interest me in that way is Harry actually. Most people paint Harry as The Hero and, in a way, he is. That's his archetype in the books I suppose. On the other hand, there's the flipside of that entire aspect in so much as Harry is decidedly self-centered. Personally I think that it'd be just as much in character for Harry to meander off to relative obscurity tomorrow if Voldemort decided 'I'm not going to try and kill him anymore' today. He's very reactionary, but [as you pointed out also in your Draco post] he's inspired by certain things: Draco reminding him of Dudley, Snape reminding him of Vernon, wanting to please Dumbledore and Ron, etc. Nearly all his actions are motivated selfishly or by self-perversation. If he wasn't curious by nature, he wouldn't have done 90% of the things he has done. If he wasn't determined to succeed at any cost (despite his friends getting hurt/being in peril, nearly dying himself, and accidentally/on purpose killing someone) he wouldn't have accomplished many of the things he did after he wandering across them by being curious. He's obviously getting help and motivation from Dumbledore (in fact, the way it's set up, Harry doing what he does seems connected to his being allowed at Hogwarts. Dumbledore never lets Harry forget that he controls where Harry ultimately ends up) but the very things that make him a Hero are his darker, more selfish impulses.
Which is why this (as posted by epicyclical on praetorianguard's journal) "As for fallen!Harry, I just asked Alison why there weren't more fallen Harry fics and she said succintly, 'Because it would be hard to do well, and is ultimately a stupid idea.'" baffles me. Harry has all the characteristics needed to be a villian written into the books. He is not a good kid, he is not altruistic, he hasn't particularly moved past his trials and tribulations (he's survives them, shoves them down inside, and moves on to the new one as if nothing happened), and nearly every thing he does can be explained by a selfish motivation. Ron's a much better Hero-type than Harry if only because he honestly believes in this entire cause and purpose. Harry just doesn't want to die.
Wow, that was a large digression. The point however is that I tend to do the opposite, instead of defending the 'bad' guy I, well, almost villianize the 'good' and in that I find myself defending my favourite characters (such as Willow who I predicted for years before it happened was on a downspiral of self-indulgence on Buffy and Harry, Snape (you also apparently don't read Snape fic but a quick-run down of fanon!Snape: snarky bastard who really should have been in Ravenclaw were it not for his father/Lucius/the world's bad influence, and all he did was make potions for Voldemort [Man, if you think *Draco* fans make excuses for his behaviour just look at Snape list]), and Remus (Remus is actually a rather dark character in my opinion, who works very hard to make himself appear as harmless as possible despite, or because of, the fact that he -- as is shown -- can be very manipulative and effective when necessary. However, in fanon, he's often characterised by his surface behaviour: sweet and polite and a victim of the world et al) for that exact reason. People want to see the characters in black and white and most of them, even inside their basic character constructs, just aren't.
- Andrea (wow, this is long. and rambling. sorry.)
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Re: Late reply (and long)
Date: 2003-04-30 10:35 am (UTC)Which is why this (as posted by
Wow, that was a large digression. The point however is that I tend to do the opposite, instead of defending the 'bad' guy I, well, almost villianize the 'good' and in that I find myself defending my favourite characters (such as Willow who I predicted for years before it happened was on a downspiral of self-indulgence on Buffy and Harry, Snape (you also apparently don't read Snape fic but a quick-run down of fanon!Snape: snarky bastard who really should have been in Ravenclaw were it not for his father/Lucius/the world's bad influence, and all he did was make potions for Voldemort [Man, if you think *Draco* fans make excuses for his behaviour just look at Snape list]), and Remus (Remus is actually a rather dark character in my opinion, who works very hard to make himself appear as harmless as possible despite, or because of, the fact that he -- as is shown -- can be very manipulative and effective when necessary. However, in fanon, he's often characterised by his surface behaviour: sweet and polite and a victim of the world et al) for that exact reason. People want to see the characters in black and white and most of them, even inside their basic character constructs, just aren't.
- Andrea (wow, this is long. and rambling. sorry.)