Bugmaster comments on Think Like a Supervillain - Less Wrong

26 Post author: Qiaochu_Yuan 20 February 2013 08:34AM

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Comment author: Bugmaster 21 February 2013 02:43:06AM 2 points [-]

I find it difficult to pattern-match any of the characters to the classic hero template, especially when you compare them to traditional hero archetypes such as Green Lantern or someone like that. As I said, Dany is initially motivated by personal survival, with a dose of revenge fantasy on the side. Her actions are impressive, but hardly selfless. Her motivations do change as her character develops, at which point she begins to think in terms of social structures and armies -- again, as opposed to a more classical hero who would think in terms of beating up bad guys in person.

You are right about Jon being more of a heroic archetype, but even he ends up making several distinctly un-heroic choices that cause a lot of damage to the... well... not the "good guys", exactly; I guess you'd call them the "comparatively less bad guys".

Ned is probably the most heroic character in the entire story, which is why ur trgf xvyyrq bss engure dhvpxyl. Urebrf qba'g ynfg ybat va gur jbeyq bs NFbVnS.

Oh, and I am reasonably sure that the [quasi-]supernatural properties of any of these characters will have little, if anything, to do with their ultimate fates (other than in terms of PR). At least, this has been the pattern so far.