Qualities I Love In Characters || Ft. Questionable Morals

Posted October 8, 2019 by Sammie in chat with me, top ten tuesdays / 20 Comments

Everyone knows that characters are one of the most fundamental elements of any story.

Dragons are a close second, though.

For me, a great character can lift a lousy plot, or a lousy character can drag down a great plot. I want characters I can fall in love with, daydream about, idolize, and sometimes maybe fear … just a little.

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is character traits I love.

Sometimes it’s the novelty of the character I fall in love with, but most times, it’s one of these things. Because I’m a very predictable bookdragon who knows what she likes, okay? Even if what I like shows questionable morals and/or judgment.

Dragon Divider

Born to be Sarcastic


Gideon Nav || Teagan Frost || Lee Yeon-Ji

✿ Maybe not a great person, but sure makes me laugh.
✿ Sarcasm is my life blood.
✿ It’s not their fault most people they interact with are stupid/frustrating.
✿ Sarcasm is good for the soul.
✿ Easy to dislike. But also, have no effs left to give about whether they’re liked.
✿ Is it really mocking if it’s the truth?

Dragon Divider

To Villain or Not to Villain


Victor Vale || Lightsong the Bold || Rowan Damisch

✿ Could be the good guy, but … probably not.
✿ Facebook status: it’s complicated.
✿ Sometimes, good people do bad things. And vice versa.
✿ Being a hero is overrated.
✿ Sometimes you have to break laws to save the world.

Dragon Divider

Reluctant Heroes


Bilbo Baggins || Nobody Owens || Madeline Maxwell

✿ Saving the world is hard. Can’t we just stay home?
✿ Who actually wants to be a hero?
✿ Wait, I’m sorry, I have to do what?!
✿ 95% probability of either dying or things going horribly wrong.
✿ Totally unequipped for the task. Is assigned the task anyway.

Dragon Divider

Kicking Butt and Taking … No, I Actually Don’t Care About Your Name, Thanks


Ead Duryan || Mia Corvere || Eliana Ferracora

✿ Have a penchant for naming their weapons. After all, knives are people, too.
✿ Murder is necessary. Maybe even fun.
✿ Super adept at fighting and unapologetically kicks some butt.
✿ Stabiness can be sexy.
✿ Who said women are weak?!
✿ No, really. *spins knife* Who said that?

Dragon Divider

I’ve Got The Power


Morrigan Crow || Warlock Holmes || Mortimer

✿ Super powerful for no obvious reason.
✿ Can be used for good or evil or … menial tasks?
✿ Stares into the power. The power stares back.
✿ Sometimes saves the day. Sometimes makes random things explode. Sometimes dooms the planet.
✿ ♪ You remind me of the babe. ♫

Dragon Divider

Not a Puny Human


Loki || AIDAN || Ibeji

✿ Now with fewer inhibitions and pesky human emotions!
✿ Trying desperately to understand the mortals. Failing miserably.
✿ Always believe they’re superior to humans. Sometimes, they’re correct.
✿ Humans are so last millennia.
✿ Come with their own awesome powers … like magic or … logic?
✿ Could probably save humanity, buuuut … why bother?

Dragon Divider

Overcoming Great Odds


Isaac Sullivan || Dresden || Eelyn

✿ When life gives you lemons … squirt them in your enemies’ eyes!
✿ When you get knocked down … kick the other guy’s legs out from under him and sucker punch him.
✿ Learned everything they know from the School of Hard Knocks™.
✿ Refuse to let life get them down.
✿ Could be depressed. Could also punch someone in the face. Options!

Dragon Divider

Loves Their Sibling


Beck Keverich || Joe Edwards || Jacqueline Wolcott

✿ All the warm feels of family, now with fewer fights!
✿ Sibling rivalry is overrated.
“Ohana means family. Family means no one gets left behind. Or forgotten.”
✿ Sure, siblings are annoying, but you’ve got to love them. And occasionally bring them back to life.

Dragon Divider

Loyal to a Fault


Okame || Jin Al’Oman Bin Izman || Vikram

✿ Should probably just save their own hide. But won’t.
✿ Try to talk sense into everyone. Fail. Go along to inevitably save their stupid selves anyway.
✿ Not necessarily a leader, but really good at following.
✿ This plan is stupid and likely to get us killed. Okay, I’m in.

Dragon Divider

Fluffy Marshmallow Who Needs Protection


Mateo Torrez || Charley Sutherland || Aziraphale

✿ Obviously too good for their fictional worlds.
✿ Naive and easily taken advantage of.
✿ But pure of heart and clearly worthy of all the love and protection.
✿ Could probably handle themselves, but shhhh, we’ll deal with that mean person for you.
✿ Super loyal. Attracts all the most loyal people in return.
✿ Always good friends with that one person who gets them in and out of trouble.

Chat With Me

What are some character traits your favorite characters have in common?

20 responses to “Qualities I Love In Characters || Ft. Questionable Morals

  1. FLUFFY MARSHMALLOWS YAAAAS! I had cinnamon rolls on my list and immediately thought of Tanner from Autoboyography first but then of course MATEO because he’s the purest fluff 😍Love all of these traits you’ve listed and really like that you’ve mentioned the characters too. Awesome TTT, Sammie!

    My TTT post

  2. lydiaschoch

    Ha! I love your list. There is definitely something to be said for characters who sometimes have questionable morals in general. They’re just so interesting to read about.

    My TTT.

  3. When I read “Dragons are second close…” I was like, oh no, the book I’m writing has no dragons. lol. Anyway, I love the phrases you come up with to name the traits and the descriptions. Enjoyed reading your post a lot. 🙂 🙂

    • I mean, to be fair, as much as I love dragons … only one of my books has dragons in it? So … I’m totally a hypocrite haha. Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it.

      • Lol 😀 😀 There’s this trilogy I set aside to write when I started the novel I’m currently writing and I think I can squeeze some dragons in its plot. I’m not done with its World and magic system yet so I can still make some changes. Maybe I’ll put dragons in the plot. haha.

  4. I love cinnamon roll and marshmallow characters. Give me all the cinnamon rolls! And yes, my heart also belongs to sarcastic characters, villains, and Loki!

  5. I always like a good sibling bond between characters. Alas, I don’t feel like I meet good siblings in fiction all that often. Here’s hoping we see more of this character trait in the future! 🙂

    • It definitely is hard to find a book that really focuses on the sibling thing! A Thousand Perfect Notes was a great example in the YA genre, or for adults, I really enjoyed The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, which was really focused on brothers learning to be brothers.

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