I don’t like blog memes usually but Kiki Christie challenged me to this and how can I say no to her? The challenge is to list sixteen fictional characters who have influenced you. This is in no particular order.
- Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus from HBO’s Rome. For lots of reasons including the discussion about what stars are.
- Shevek from Ursula Le Guin’s Dispossessed. It always made me sad that he doesn’t get to bring the sheep postcard home to his kid. :(
- Auberon Barnable, son of Daily Alice and Smoky Barnable from John Crowley’s sprawling fantasy novel Little, Big. The Country Mouse who becomes a City Mouse* then discovers he’s really king of the faeries. I love this book so much.
- McNulty from HBO’s The Wire for giving a fuck when it ain’t his turn.
- Mitchell from BBC’s Being Human. I’ll be in my bunk.
- Wash from Firefly, my fallen brother in Hawaiian shirts.
- The title character from Maureen McHugh’s China Mountain Zhang.
- Cheryl/Carol from FX’s Archer for being the dirtiest girl on television. She didn’t say to start slacking off. (Honorable mention to pervy mad scientist Krieger).
- Shalmanezer, the super computer from John Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar for having such an imagination.
- Zo Boone from Kim Stanley Robinson’s Blue Mars for living and dying a hedonist.
- Hedwig from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
- Steven Brust’s Morrolan from the Jhereg novels (and so on) for being such an elegant and flamboyant bastard.
- Jeff Spender, mad archaeologist from the fourth expedition to Mars in Ray Bradbury’s Martian Chronicles.
- The title character of Emma Bull’s Finder.
- Delirium, from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, a member of the Endless and a powerful argument for moderation.
- Those naughty cousins from “Sub-Umbra,” serialized in the Victorian underground erotic magazine The Pearl for being a very bad influence indeed.
- Bonus characters: Brian Roberts and the “Master of Ceremonies” from Cabaret, two of the first queer characters I can remember identifyng with.**
*yes, I realize Auberon is not actually a member of the Mouse family.
**EVERYTHING about that movie is pretty damn queer
This took longer than the 16 minutes alloted in the original challenge, but I name-checked at least 20 characters here. Who’s on your list?
