Started by Fantasy Review Barn, now run by Fantasy Faction. Tough Traveling is back my friends! Yes, the best fantasy specific meme around is finally up and running again. So join us every week as we tour the fantasy genre. From high to low, from classics to new releases, from epic to urban; each month, we will guide you in search of a different trope, theme or cliché. For a history of what came before check the tag above.
This weeks topic is Non- Human Protagonists
The Tough Guide assures us that HEROES are ‘mythical beings, often selected at birth, who perform amazing deeds of courage, strength and magical mayhem, usually against all odds.’ Furthermore, ‘if you get to meet a so-called Hero, she/he always turns out to be just another human, with human failings, who has happened to be in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place at the wrong time, more likely)’.
HOWEVER. For good or for evil, some of fantasy’s most memorable Heroes are not human at all. Some look human, but aren’t. Others may look monstrous, but be ‘human’ on the inside. Others still never pretend to be anything other than what they are – and why should they? In nearly all cases, we are likely to Learn Something from them – usually that appearances can be deceiving, or that the concepts of both ‘Human’ and ‘Hero’ are entirely subjective.
This week’s list proved a bit tougher for me to fill. I had two examples leap immediately to mind (well three, but I have never read Redwall). Then I had a few that I went back and forth on a bit more; is a fantasy creature that acts human but looks slightly different really non-human? It caused me troubles as I looked at Hobbits, Dark Elfs, and even Angels. As you will see, eventually I decided to include a few of these else my list would be a bit short. So here it goes. Continue reading