Gen-types

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I feel like maybe we've discussed this before but, well, we like talking about the same things again sometimes, right?

So recently I read a book which was OK, but I didn't love. When trying to figure out what exactly wasn't working for me, I realized one of the big issues I had--I felt like the author was trying to make one of the main characters into a Gen-type character, but was failing.

(To be completely honest, my first thought was, "This book would just be so much better if it was about Lord Peter instead." I think I'm due for a LPW re-read.)

So I started trying to figure out why I felt like the character failed to live up to the "Gen" type.

I started by trying to think of successful Gen-type characters. I know some are missing from this list, but these are the first I came up with--

Gen (obviously)
Lord Peter Wimsey
Sir Percy (the Scarlet Pimpernel)
Miles Vorkosigan
Chrestomanci
the Doctor

My list stopped there, even though I KNOW that I've read other books with this character type--help me out here, guys.


Then, I tried to decide what characteristics made this mold. The characters I listed above fit most or all of these characteristics:

clever and witty--quick thinking
intelligent--long term thinking
people skills--good at reading and understanding people
Aristocratic/privileged background, usually with a sense of style to go with it
Brave--sometimes in almost a daredevil way
Stick to a code/personal beliefs
Sometimes works in disguise or with another identity (not always literally)

That's all I have so far.

So what I'd be curious to discuss are these questions:

What other characters would you add to this list, and why do you think they fit? (Particularly if they're from books I haven't read ;-) Would you take away any I listed?
What characteristics would you add to this list--or take away from it?
Why do you think this character type appears repeatedly?

Comments

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

I've just started reading Niccolò Rising. For a while I was wondering where the title character was. Then it hit me. She hasn't revealed it yet, as far as I've gotten, but I noticed who the narrative was focusing on and, well, I'm a linguist and I recognized that (you know) is a shortened form of the (you know)-language equivalent of "Niccolò". Wheeee!

I like The Sherwood Ring, and Pope's (only?) other book, The Perilous Gard. I'm a filker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filk_music), and I wanted to hear the song that Randal was writing in the last chapter, so I wrote it. :-)

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I'd love to hear your version of it!