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Lit Pet Characters

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Sinrebirth , May 10, 2013.

  1. Slash78

    Slash78 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 30, 2004



    What? No love for old Dengar?

     
    General Immodet likes this.
  2. General Immodet

    General Immodet Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 5, 2012
    I explicitly removed Dengar from the list since he is a bit in between both categories.
    Actually, he maybe even made more appearances in comics and novels (I think) than IG-88 and Bossk.
    Still, I do not think he is the favourite bounty hunter of many fans.
     
  3. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2013
    I think every author has their own pet character, so I'll just leave it at this: there's nothing wrong with a pet character as long as you don't expose the reader to them so much that the reader hates them.
     
  4. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    No one who played SNES Super ESB will forgive Zuckuss for being a nigh-unkillable cheating git on the Cloud City levels!
     
  5. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011

    Too bad that has been done over and over again.
     
  6. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2013
    Well, it depends on the reader, really.
     
  7. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    Of course it does. I hate a lot of characters mostly due to the fact that they became pets--hell, I liked Ahsoka Tano a lot until she became a pet. Seems like the writers ought to recognize that some people find pet characters downright offensive.
     
  8. FatSmel

    FatSmel Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 23, 2012
    Not sure I understand. You don't like them because they're pet characters? Or is it just if they are pet characters and you don't like them?
     
  9. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    The complaint seems to be that the characters started out "normal" - then the writer turned them into "pets" by exaggerating how great they were and comparing existing characters, unfavourably, to them.
     
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  10. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Mar 4, 2011
    I'll let you know as soon as I brainstorm and figure out if there are any pet characters that I like.

    But generally speaking, as I mentioned before. one of the quickest ways to get me to hate a character is to tell me over and over that I'm supposed to think he or she is awesome.
     
  11. FatSmel

    FatSmel Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 23, 2012
    Yes that makes sense. I can see that with Zahn's Mara/Thrawn, and maybe Corran with Stackpole, but why does everyone bring up Denning's "pet" characters? Is it so bad if an author just used some characters more than others? Saba, Alema etc are never made out so that everyone is told to like them.
     
  12. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Nek Bwua'tu in TUQ and TSW. Oh my lord. He is the greatest thing since Siced Bread. He guessed this, that, even that, and even that. :mad:Good grief. At least Thrawn was artistic while guessing things.
     
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  13. FatSmel

    FatSmel Jedi Knight star 3

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    Sep 23, 2012
    Oh yeah i forgot about him. Thrawn Mark. II
     
  14. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I never had a problem with him until the most recent read through of DNT but wow that was terrible. At least he got a dose of reality without getting killed like Thrawn did.
     
  15. Reveen

    Reveen Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2012
    I do remember Luke in Apocalypse remembering (to wit) "No plan survives first contact with the enemy" as something Bwautu said. As if no one in the galaxy before then ever figured that out.
     
  16. AusStig

    AusStig Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2010
    What about Stazi? People love hime and he is a pet character.
     
  17. Reveen

    Reveen Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2012
    Comics tend to be more forgiving of Sueish characters. They are after all a visual medium where there's always words being Spoken at you. There isn't an characters internal POV ruminating on how beautiful Stazi bald head is, or how noble badass he is.
     
  18. AlyxDinas

    AlyxDinas Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2010
    Stazi's a bit easier to write off, I think because he's not always very likable. It's hard to explain, for me. He has the hallmarks of a character the writers love. Exemplary in his field, adored by his compatriots, insightful, etc. But even with all this, he's not...nice.

    Not necessarily a qualification for being a "pet character" but I know that while I enjoy him as a reader, I certainly don't see him as favorably as he might be seen in universe.
     
  19. TrakNar

    TrakNar Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 4, 2011
    I can tolerate pet characters in comics better than I can in books. In novels, the description, monologue, and exposition serve to hammer that character's importance and awesomeness into your brain. In comics, we get to see them being awesome. It's true for the printed medium: actions speak louder than words.
     
  20. Mechalich

    Mechalich Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 2, 2010
    I think that Stazi, and similar characters highlight a certain difference in class of 'pet characters.'

    Stazi is an essential character who the authors happen to overly favor. Saba is a character who is inserted excessively into the storyline at the expense of other characters.

    To elaborate: in the overall storyline of Legacy, the head of the GA Remnant is a person of significance who inevitably is going to play a rather substantial role in the story, regardless of said character's identity. That Stazi happens to be portrayed as awesome in so many ways is somewhat unrealistic, but not particularly hurtful, as the demands of the role - guy who kept the GA going for a decade or so while on the run - demand a certain minimal level of badassery to begin with.

    Saba, by contrast, has no inherent reason to be any more or less special than any other Jedi, and in fact, when it comes to functioning in the who of human dominated politics, several reasons to naturally take a back seat. her elevation occurs at the expense of not only Kenth Hamner, but also Corran, Kyle, Cilghal, and really everyone on the Council. The same is also true, though I would say to a lesser extent, in Choices of One - there's no particular reason Mara Jade has to be chosen for that mission over another Hand (aside from the fact that none of the others will sell very many books) and while in the story she unnecessarily over shadows a couple of other characters, especially Luke and the Hand of Judgment guys.

    As an aside - due to the nature of the EU's economy, certain levels of pet character preponderance must be forgiven in at least the sense of how often they show up. The fanbase has it's own favorites, and it gets catered to. You think LotF would have had so much Mandalorian exposure if Boba Fett wasn't King of the Action Figures? Likewise Mara Jade is one of the EU's most bankable names, same with Kyle Katarn. Heck, there's a reason the only Jedi Knight in the NJO who gets his own books is the one who headlined Jedi Academy.
     
  21. AusStig

    AusStig Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 3, 2010
    But he didn't star off as that!

    He was written as a way to explain what happen to the GA, he then took over a large part of the comic. But each to their own.
     
  22. Sinrebirth

    Sinrebirth Mod-Emperor of the EUC, Lit, RPF and SWC star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 15, 2004
    That being said, Pellaeon did poke fun at Bwua'tu in TSW, by Denning.

    "If I was Bwua'tu, I'd predict..." I imagined Pellaeon having a smirk plastered on his face, and everyone else nodding. 'Oh yes, know-it-all-Bwua'tu-who-lost-his-first-major-engagement-and-also-lost-his-flagship'

    Much sniggering ensued.

    That being said, I enjoyed seeing more of him in FotJ not as a super-Admiral, and simply as a person, trying to support his partner while acknowleding that she had to make her own decisions.
     
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  23. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Well said. He essentially was the GA in Legacy, hence his level of badassery. I wouldn't call him a pet character at all, for as you point out he really was a core part of the story starting in issue's #20-22.

    So what? Stories evolve. Hell, Legacy evolved in a lot of way greater than making the GA a more central part of the story. You might not like him, but the fact remains that he wasn't a pet character simply inserted into scene after scene regardless of whether it made sense or not (ala Saba in FOTJ). All of Stazi's parts in Legacy were part of the over-arching storyline and he was a key supporting part of that. Period.

    --Adm. Nick
     
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  24. Reveen

    Reveen Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 2012
    You can't really fault a character for being a pet when he's the leader of the last holdouts of a dying government. He kinda needs to be uber-badass to actually be effectual in the story. Would you call Hannibal Barca a pet character?

    Saba doesn't quite have that excuse, since she works for an organization that can pretty much beat everyone else in a straight up fight. If the Jedi or Barabel Jedi specifically were getting kicked around I'd be alot more forgiving.

    But I do think Saba isn't that bad. Because being part of a species constructed to be 'lol instincts! Evo-psych!' she hardly get's a chance to move out of her Proud Warrior Race characterization.
     
  25. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    That description also fits Thrawn as portrayed in TTT.
     
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