Help me, Lj-wan Kenobi.

[mrissa]

Ah! I remember what I was going to ask you lot now.

Can you think of Athos- or D'Artagnan-like characters elsewhere in literature? (The Phoenix Guards and further volumes do not count because I've already thought of them.) Gender is no object if the author doesn't make it one. Half-credit for Porthos- or Aramis-like characters. Quarter-credit for a) other characters that remind you of specific Dumas characters; b) other characters that seem like they belong in Dumas, even though you can't quite say where; or c) comparisons that make me giggle madly.

ETA: It occurs to me that my internal automatic mappings of this question onto Margaret Cho's proclamation about "The Sweet One, The Smart One, and then there's The Ho" may say very disturbing things about what I consider sweet.

Comments

[kjc.livejournal.com]

We used to call the quartet structure Leader, Warrior, Mystic, Clown.

In a good quartet, each of the characters has one of these as his or her primary personality trait, but each is capable of taking on all the roles, depending upon the situation.

The mystic is sometimes the scientist or the priest - the mediator between the known and unknown.

The warrior is sometimes the warrior of peace or the warrior of love. It's not always battles, it's more of a personality trait - second in command, first into battle. The weapon can be a sword or a gun or a very attractive appearance.

I've always considered the Muskateers as a classic representation of the quartet. If I'm recalling them correctly, Athos = Leader, Porthos = Warrior, Aramis = Mystic, and D'Artagnan = Clown.

The Ear, The Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer has a Leader, a Warrior, and a Mystic but no clown in a full-time role (and hence, no D'Artagnan).

This is much easier to do with movies - the Beatles movies, for instance. Or TV, like the Scooby Doo cartoons and Star Trek.

Um, oh! Mysteries! Both Holmes & Poirot have leaders (Homes/Poirot), Warriors (Watson/Hastings), and Clowns (the cops). The bad guy was the mystic, since s/he was mysterious/unknown.

Who else has good sets of people. Oh! Tamora Pierce's The Magic Circle Quartet. Sandry is the leader (Athos), Daja is the warrior (Porthos), Tris is the mystic (Aramis), and Briar is the clown (D'Artagnan). It works for the Alana books too; Jonathan is the leader, wossisname (Jonathan's best friend) is the warrior, Alana is the mystic, and the cat is the clown.

Hmm. Pirate books are good for quartets, because you usually have a captain, a second, a woman, and a cabin boy... but I can't think of any. (Thinking of sailing books, I'd say Moby Dick but someone would hunt me down and thwack me.)

I think I should stop now.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I am not entirely clear on the Dumas-character assignments here. Warrior and Clown in particular seem to be up for some discussion (although thank you for not just automatically treating Porthos as an unmitigated buffoon -- possibly my top Dumas-discussion annoyance).

The woman is always stuck being the mystic? We'll have none of that here! (I believe you that it's often the case in pirate books. I just don't care to replicate it.)

[kjc.livejournal.com]

I should preface, that I was partly hoping to amuse you as well as provide a potential structure for discussion.

I am not entirely clear on the Dumas-character assignments here. Warrior and Clown in particular seem to be up for some discussion

Well, my thoughts here are that D'Artagnan is the reader's POV character, the - what's it called? there's a term for it. Is it entré character? I can't remember. Stupid brain.

Anyway, the innocent or newbie usually gets the role of clown, as well as being the reader's POV character, because s/he makes mistakes and has to have things explained (exposition). D'artagnan is our newbie, the catalyst for action, chaos, and drama.

While Porthos exhibits clownish behavior, I'd consider it a secondary characteristic rather than primary. While they all lead at various times, all fight, all clown around, and all have grave thoughts, Porthos - with his size and his appetite - seems to me to be the one that everyone automatically assumes will be the fighter.

But I could be persuaded otherwise.

The woman is always stuck being the mystic? We'll have none of that here! (I believe you that it's often the case in pirate books. I just don't care to replicate it.)

Not necessarily. If the Captain's second is particularly philosophical, he'd get the role. If there are any supernatural types or a priest, that character would get it. If the woman was the best knife thrower, or the best sneaky distraction-based seducer, she's probably end up the warrior.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

One of the people on my friendslist came up with a humorous interpretation of anime/manga foursomes that we called the Four Bishounen of the Apocalypse: Angsty, Snarky, Brooding, and Cute.

(and the amusing thing is that I think the four characters in Saiyuki map onto the Leader, Warrior, Mystic, and Clown quite well.)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I am overcome with indecision trying to figure out which one I am. If someone declared me Cute, I would get Snarky at them. If someone decided I was Brooding, I would probably get Angsty about it. It's all very confusing.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think I'm solidly Snarky, no matter what. Especially to the people who try to declare me Cute.

[kjc.livejournal.com]

Ha! Nice. Angsty, Snarky, Brooding, and Cute would work for a LOT of TV I've seen.

(and the amusing thing is that I think the four characters in Saiyuki map onto the Leader, Warrior, Mystic, and Clown quite well.)

It's a very popular construction, especially in TV shows, anime/cartoons, and movies because it provides a nice variety of points of view as well as distinct and separate personality types.