We can get quite attached to fictional characters.
Whether they appear in our favorite book, comic, TV show, animé or film, a really well created character can tug at our heartstrings, inspire us or make us cry.
Redditor ihaveaclip4urclique asked:
"Who is your most beloved fictional character?"
Winnie the Pooh
"Winnie the Pooh."
"Every day spent with the ones you love is a perfect day. He's not carefree, because he cares deeply."
"He just doesn't worry because he's so rooted in the present. Childlike wonder, no subterfuge or hidden motives."
"He just wants a snack and to help his friends. He's beautiful."
- dotcomaphobe
GiphyUncle Iroh
"Uncle Iroh [from Avatar: The Last Airbender]. Such wisdom."
- aros102
"Like when Iroh said:"
"'Pride is not the opposite of shame, but it’s source. True humility is the only antidote to shame'.”
“'Are you so busy fighting you can not see your own ship has set sail?'”
“'You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you will come to a better place'.”
- GamingProMaster303
GiphySpider-Man
"Spider-Man. No, not Tom Holland's, not Andrew Garfield's, not even Tobey Maguire's. Just Spider-Man."
- ThatOneCarno
"Same. Didn’t realize how important the character was until I watched Peter Parker’s funeral in the spiderverse. It took all the mental fortitude I had to not burst out crying. We’ve been spoiled to get so much quality content from one character."
- Jac1596
"What makes him such a good character is that he’s far more relatable than most other superheroes. He’s not a multi-billionaire like Iron Man, he’s not a demigod like Thor, he’s not a spy like Black Widow, and he’s not a decorated war hero like Captain America."
"He’s a regular joe, like us. He doesn’t just deal with supervillains causing big city-wide threats.
"He deals with everyday street thugs, he deals with corporate f'kery, and he deals with the root causes of crime, such as poverty and homelessness (through F.E.A.S.T)."
"And he balances it with his own life problems such as money issues, holding down a job, relationship problems and loss."
- RedWestern
GiphySamwise
"Samwise Gamgee"
- salthecrawfish
"Like when Sam said:"
"'It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were'."
"And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?'"
"'But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer'."
"'Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why'."
"'But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t'."
"'They kept going, because they were holding on to something. That there is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for'."
- LAMBKING
"The Choices of Master Samwise is the most poignant chapter of the trilogy."
"'Sam didn't wait to wonder what was to be done, or whether he was brave, or loyal, or filled with rage. He sprang forward with a yell and seized his master's sword in his left hand'."
"'Then he charged. No onslaught more fierce was ever seen in the savage world of beasts, where some desperate, small creature, armed with little teeth, alone, will spring upon a tower of horn and hide that stands above its fallen mate'."
"And the ending line of that chapter..."
"Best literary cliffhanger in the last 100 years."
- knapplc
"I wish I could speak to his character in the books, but his movie character is enough—the scene where he picks up Frodo to carry him up Mount Doom makes me teary every time. It's a vision of a world where people really do give a damn about each other."
- Nihiliste
GiphyAnne Shirley
"Anne of Green Gables."
- dualsplit
"This was my first thought! I'm in the UK. I dressed as her for book week in the 80s."
- paulabear263
"Yesss! Came here to write this, found a Kindred Spirit."
- ThePynk
GiphySam Vimes
"His Grace, Duke of Ankh, Chalkboard Monitor, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes [from Terry Pratchett's Discworld]."
- WhoHayes
"It’s almost demented how much Sam Vimes means to me. I always read Night Watch in the Spring, just in time for the lilacs to bloom here."
- patricksaurus
"It still guts me, every time I re-read one of the Discworld novels, that there will never be any more. But I still keep reading them - just finished re-reading Guards! Guards! last night. Rest in peace, Sir PTerry."
- 406highlander
"This is monstrously stupid, but I have a copy of Raising Steam that I carry around in my backpack. I haven't read more than the first couple of chapters, because as long as I haven't read it, there's one more waiting for me."
- Dawnsteel
GiphyJean Luc Picard
"Jean Luc Picard."
- M3_Driver
"Next Gen is my go-to if I’m feeling down in the dumps. Captain Picard and Geordi La Forge make me feel warm and cozy in my heart."
- BarbicideJar
So did your favorite make the list?
If not, share them in the comments.
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A good book, film, TV show, or video game will work itself into your life and make an impact, somehow.
Well-written and developed characters feel like your best friends. You know them inside and out. The loss of one of those characters can create grief within you. That grief can last a lifetime. It can teach you, but it can also really pain you at the most unexpected moments.
u/Bradcastle76 asked:
Which fictional character's death have you not gotten over?
Here were some of those answers.
Warning: spoilers ahead.
A Poor Sacrifice
Jorge from Halo Reach
He sacrificed himself by blowing up the Covenant super carrier, thinking his actions saved Reach.
Then moments later the whole Covenant armarda appears out of slip space to eventually burn the planet he loved to much to glass.
The Final Frontier
Data. I was handling it okay, then his brother started singing a halting and broken version of "Blue Skies" and I was just crushed.
It came out 20 years ago... Is it still a spoiler?
The Land In My Own Time
Guess I'm getting too old.
Littlefoots Mom. Probably the saddest kids movie death ever. It was WAY too much. I felt like I lost my own Mom that day.
My 2.5yo son cries when this scene hits (and the one where Littlefoot sees what he thinks is her shadow).
We've begun to fast forward when those two scenes come up.
Hell... I tear up myself too
See You, Space Cowboy
Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop. To this day I still can't help but get choked up when it finishes panning up into the sky from him bleeding out on the stairs, and in the last frames of the show you see his star briefly shine brighter than all the others, then fade away into nothing. "You're gonna carry that weight."
Combined with Mai Yamane belting her heart out singing Yoko Kanno's 'Blue' and ending softly on the lyrics "Everything is clearer now, life is just a dream you know, that's never ending. I'm ascending..." It may very well be the most powerful scene of any show I've seen, anime or otherwise.
Here's the full clip but again it's major spoilers and honestly doesn't hit the same if you haven't seen Spike's journey up until here and understood the tragic senselessness of his death.
Our Collective First Trauma
Please come down Charlotte. There must be something I can do.
No Wilbur. Don't you know what you've already done? You made me your friend. And in doing so you made a spider beautiful to everyone in that barn.
I didn't do anything Charlotte. You did it all.
No. My webs were no miracle, Wilbur. I was only describing what I saw. The miracle is you.
The Most Realistic
Brooks from the Shawshank redemption
Dear fellas,
I can't believe how fast things move on the outside. I saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they're everywhere. The world went and got itself in a big damn hurry. The parole board got me into this halfway house called "The Brewer" and a job bagging groceries at the Foodway. It's hard work and I try to keep up, but my hands hurt most of the time. I don't think the store manager likes me very much. Sometimes after work, I go to the park and feed the birds. I keep thinking Jake might just show up and say hello, but he never does. I hope wherever he is, he's doin' okay and makin' new friends. I have trouble sleepin' at night. I have bad dreams like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am. Maybe I should get me a gun and rob the Foodway so they'd send me home. I could shoot the manager while I was at it, sort of like a bonus. I guess I'm too old for that sort of nonsense any more. I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.
P.S: Tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a knife to his throat.
No hard feelings.
Brooks.
Remember Me
Grandma Coco from the Disney Movie Coco. That film got me weeping from start to end.
I was fine through Coco right up until the end and then I was just sobbing for a looooong time even after the credits rolled.
Don't Leave Me, Come Back
Kelsier from the Mistborn trilogy. He was my favorite character and I really did not expect his death. I was waiting for him to come back, because I really could not believe that he was indeed dead. I wanted to continue the trilogy after the first book, but missed Kelsier too much. A few years later I finally finished the second and third book and have to say, they were great, even without him! Brandon Sanderson just did a really good job with this series.
Through The Veil
Sirius Black.
He lived in an abusive household for almost 17 years, then fought dark wizards for a few years, then put in Azkaban ( without a trial, and accusing him of associating with his abusive family he ran away from and killing the family he ran towards) and tormented with dementors for 12 years, 1 year of reliving his worst memories and then Bam! Dies. He deserved a good life.
RIP Mako
Lu Ten, Uncle Irohs Son. Avatar the last Airbender.
While we didn't see his death first hand, I felt like I was mourning a son of my own when Iron sang that song. Still tears me up.