Now, I'm not talking about a contemporary character in a contemporary setting. I'm talking about our fantasy heroines. These are the characters that are described as being able to save the world, save the town, save everybody; they can kick ass and take names and when all hell breaks loose, they're there to fight it. (Or they're the ones that caused it. Whichever.)
But when creating a heroine, it's important to remember that they are, in fact, a person. A character. And not just a heroine.
I understand the appeal in having a character so beautiful that they would worship her as a goddess. It's tempting -- after all, beauty plays a huge part in our society. But the odds of her being a drop-dead gorgeous person are probably slim. She can be pretty, sure! But why is it so important to make her ZOMGbeautiful!!!1!11!eleven!?
And if you are going to make her beautiful - because she's an elf, because she's a legend, because she's a god, because she just happens to be - don't have her go around thinking she's the most hideous creature on the planet. While it does happen to the best of us, odds are that -- if she's as smart or as clever as the summary makes her out to be -- she knows where she stands in the looks department. She may not take pride in it or may not care or may not agree to the extent that other people would, but I don't think she's oblivious.
Why does your heroine have to be able to do everything? What's left to learn if she knows it all -- and why isn't she ruler of the world already!?
The problem with abilities is knowing where to draw the line. If you're going to make somebody good or near-perfect, know that they can't be near-perfect in anything. Remember that they had to learn it at some point. If they're swordfighting, the odds of them having completely perfect and unscarred skin are slim to none.
Take a look at the Avengers movie if you want a good example of this. Black Widow can manipulate men and fight like nobody's business. But she doesn't know how to wield a sword or bow and arrow, and the way she learned those things reflects in her personality.
Weapons tend to be an extension of your character.
Which brings up the point...
Ever heard of a Mary Sue? It's a term that came from fanfiction. Normally it occurs when the heroine is perfect in every way. Gorgeous. (See Lesson #1.) Can do anything and everything even if she's never done it before. (See Lesson #2.) And most of all, she has the perfect personality. She's charming and clever and naive and intelligent and sincere and manipulative and wait what?
A heroine's personality is what makes her a heroine. She's allowed to be angry. She doesn't have to be witty. If she's known for manipulating people, she's not going to seem sincere to people who know her. She can't be klutzy AND be swift on her feet. She may say contradictory things, because people do, but you shouldn't change her personality.
If you start out claiming she's perfect, what is there left to do? People should be worshipping her and making her their ruler and then the story is over. If she is imperfect, let her develop. It's okay for a character to grow.
And most importantly, in my opinion: just because she's a heroine doesn't mean she has a love interest. (Or that her love interest needs to be the center of her universe.)
If she's trying to save the world, a man (or a woman) should not be the first thing on her mind. What about the people trying to kill her?
Will there be a moment, perhaps, where heroine decides to pursue a relationship, a kiss, a one night stand - something? Sure! If she's a teen, will it be on her mind and possibly be the weird puppy love so many (not all!) seem to go through? Sure! But if she's as strong as she should be (she is saving the world, after all), I doubt that she'll be attached to the following people. Or, you know, even notice if they're attractive:
- the man who is putting her in jail
- the man who is trying to kill her
- the man she is trying to kill
I don't mind stories that have heavy love plots. (Hello, I read romance novels.) I don't mind stories where the characters are badass and gorgeous and have a great personality. I don't. But when the character is presented as flawless? As perfect? Where they're irrationally attracted to/in love with the people around them?
I physically cannot finish reading the book. Why?! You're writing a character, not a goddess -- and even a goddess shouldn't be perfect, or it wouldn't be fun to read.
And there rules apply to men heroes, too -- they shouldn't be perfect or auto!love or any of that fun stuff. The problem with that is, because there are so few men heroes in YA right now, this isn't as much of a problem.
What do you look for in a heroine of any sort?
As long as the heroine moves the story forward. I hate it when the protagonist is simply reacting to other characters' decisions. I want them to be in control of their own life.
ReplyDeleteOh hey! There's the inspiration! Sweet. Yeah, Mary Sues make me violent. I'm not a fan of being violent. Usually.
ReplyDeleteI swear, you and Katherine are the same person.
DeleteThis is an awesome post! Mary Sues need to be locked in a room together and never let out again.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right! "She don't know she's beautiful" can get annoying--realistically, people know what they look like (even if they are hard on themselves). And I don't want a character who's perfect or can do it all--what's the fun in that? They could be filing their nails and fighting bad guys all at the same time...that's no fun. Where's the danger? And I definitely agree about the love interest. Even though I adore romance, it's not always necessary and it shouldn't be the be-all, end-all of a heroine's (or hero's, for that matter) life.
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it. Throne of Glass was quite a bit of a disappointment. The love interest didn't even make any sense. I love that you put Jacky up there. She's probably the best character I've read.. ever. She definitely uses her skills to get out of some interesting situations. :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I love Jacky! The thing I love about her is that she CAN do anything, but canonically and as a character, it makes sense -- it's not because she's zomg!perfect, but because she's clever and works for what she wants.
DeleteI agree, I hate those seemingly perfect heroines. It especially bugs me when they act like they aren't and yet everyone around them suggest they are. No one is perfect and even though books are meant to really take someone away from reality for a bit, I still want to be able to believe the story. Even if they have magical powers.
ReplyDeleteYahoo, someone thought I made sense! ;) Great, great piece on main characters. You hit the nail on the head! I'm lucky enough to be told by readers they were happy to see my MC evolve over time-that despite her power, she had to work to get better at it. You can't be insta-great within 6 pages, otherwise she better kick the villain's butt before said villain even lifts a finger (Or readers will get annoyed and give up).
ReplyDeleteHah! I think you've touched on a lot of tropes in YA that get old after a while. But I don't necessarily agree with all your choices, although that could be personal choice. Gwen from the Mythos Academy books never bothered me, probably because I thought she was funny. But I think it's normal for people who aren't in mortal danger in that moment to be distracted by things, you know? What bugs me is when they get all gooey DURING a chase scene or something...like in Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that killed me about Gwen is that she's nearly killed and in the next scene she just DOESN'T CARE because of Logan. *sighs*
DeleteIt annoys me when they get gooey there, too, unless it's comic-book-esque kisses goodbye.
I hate it when they already know EVERYTHIG about their powers but yet they just found out they had them. I loved Angelfire becuase yes, romance is a pretty big part in the story, but Ellie is training throughout the books and makes mistakes. I love how you included Katsa. Graceling was the best.
ReplyDeleteI never wanted to read Throne of Glass and from what I've read so far, it doesn't seem like my type of book. Authors need to make their characters stronger. What happened to a dynamic character? There seem to be more static characters out there. You'd think authors would remember that very important literary device from school. If their is a change it's like she now sees that's she's pretty for who she is or like she has always been beautiful.
I think Tris from Divergent is a great heroine because she isn't always thinking about Four and how hot/sexy/muscular he is. She sees him as a person. And the action is great too. But Tris and Ellie would be two heroines that I think authors would learn something from.
We're on board with a lot of your preferences here. As examples of what we're ideally looking for, Kristin Cashore's heroines are among our favorites, and we really like Elisa from The Girl of Fire and Thorns series. (And Fire from FIRE is a great example of the "stunning beauty" trope turned on its head.)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! As usual.
ReplyDeleteI may have to bookmark this blog post and reference it whenever someone argues with me about the definition of an empowered heroine. Bravo.
ReplyDelete