Favorite supporting character?

[Ranzadule]

In all seriousness, Felix is the main character and allows us to understand both of them in human context.

[joshuaslater]

I agree with that, but so much of Gotrek's development comes from what we don't know about him. Great fantasy duo, any way you look at'em.

Cheers.

[Decado]

Felix and Gotrek are great characters. I was so taken with them that after I read the series I bought the GW minis. Someday I will have to paint them up. Gotrek is the perfect D&D Battlerager IMO.

 

C.L Werner's books are some of the best Warhammer as well. I have read Blood & Steel and need to get the rest of the Brunner novels. The Witch Hunter series has been a really good read so far. I was a little disappointed that the second novel was alot shorter then the first but this seems to be a trend with all Warhammer novels.

 

I also liked the Ambassador Chronicles by Graham McNeill.

 

What I really like about the Warhammer novels over other gaming fiction is the stories seem to have more grit and for the most part you never know who is going to to get killed off. I know they are not great literature but they are very enjoyable reads IMO. Based on my enjoyment of the novels I have also started buying the new Warhammer RPG. At some point I will run a campaign, So many ideas so little time .

 

Decado

[darthfoley]

The Luggage.

[lordoftheleaves]

Abe Sapien, Hell Boy comics.

[paleskin]

Dont you think the order of the title "tells" you who is the lead character?Gotrek AND Felix,as in Batman AND Robin,the lead comes first?

[Decado]

Martin's Game of Thrones is really good stuff. I have read the first two in the series and the only reason I have held off starting the third is that I want to read some unread books I have before buying more.

 

I finished Inheritance tonight...not a bad read. I will get the rest of the trilogy as I hate having only a partial series. I started The Vampire Genevieve tonight. A long time ago I read Beasts in Velvet but was unable to find the rest of the books until the omnibus was released. After I finish this I am not sure what is next on the reading list.

 

Decado

[lionmane]

Brule the Pict from the Kull stories by Robert E. Howard.

[Qwyksilver]

Bean in Ender's Shadow. Hell he was so good, he got three mediocre novels of his own

 

Goblin and One Eye in the Black Company series.

[Gimp]

Dont you think the order of the title "tells" you who is the lead character?Gotrek AND Felix,as in Batman AND Robin,the lead comes first?

That can be true, but it also holds for equal billing. How else could they put two characters names up without using 'and?'

 

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Simon and Garfunkel

Penn and Teller

Samson and Delilah

The Illiad and the Odessey

 

Gotrek's quest drives the story.

 

Felix's perspective allows us to experience the story.

 

Both are needed to fully enjoy the story, but Felix is the protagonist who lets us into the story. Gotrek does things, but Felix lives things. We see Gotrek, but we share with Felix.

[paleskin]

Think you will still find there is a rationale behind the order of the pairings,instigated by the creator/author/director,rather than chosen randomly.

Regardless of the reasoning people perceive the first named to be the "main" character/focus.

[Gimp]

Think you will still find there is a rationale behind the order of the pairings,instigated by the creator/author/director,rather than chosen randomly.

Regardless of the reasoning people perceive the first named to be the "main" character/focus.

The trick is figuring out the rationale behind the sequence. It is not always deferential. People use aplhabetizing in forward and reverse order, age (again in either order), and perceived sound quality (I prefer the way Felix & Gotrek flows, but that is personal aesthetics), to name just a few.

 

Assuming what the author meant is dubious, at best.

 

Consider the character's personalities; whichever character is supposed to be primary in the story for us, would Gotrek accept Felix's name coming first? That's a character driven concept that fits and has been used in books before. Dracula is not about Dracula, but about the people that have to deal with him. Read The Dracula Tapes to get a very different perspective on the same story when Dracula's personality is added.

 

Felix is purportedly telling Gotrek's story, but the story only tells Gotrek's actions. The only full story being given is Felix's.

 

Look at movie listings and star power. How often does a minor roll with a major star get higher billing than their part deserves? Executive Decision pushed the Steven Seagall part (during his heyday), yet killed him within ten minutes. Look at that system for older movies. When Logan's Run was released on video, it gave Farrah Fawcett major billing, even though she has less than five minutes of screen time.

 

People will identify more with Felix, and dream of being more like Gotrek (at least in some ways). Felix adds humanity to the story, and Gotrek adds over the top action. Readers can identify with either character, which is a strength for the stories. I don't think either character would function well without the other. I look at them as an amalgamated charcater. Felix is the heart of the story, and Gotrek is the strong arm of the story. You can enjoy a Batman story without Robin, because the two are distinct and separate entities.

 

Gotrek and Felix are a matched pair. Felix can be marginally heroic on his own, but Gotrek drives him to grow to greatness. Gotrek would be a mindless killing machine, except for the humanity that Felix adds to him.

[Tannhauser]

Tough choice for me.

For strictly Fantasy, I would go with Sam Gamgee.

Open up the options a bit more and I would be hard pressed to pick between Horatio from Hamlet or Dr. Watson from the various Sherlock Holmes stories.

[paleskin]

Gimp "Dracula is not about Dracula.."?

 

I cant debate "against" logic like that can I?

[Gimp]

Gimp "Dracula is not about Dracula.."?

 

I cant debate "against" logic like that can I?

I brought up Dracula because it gives a reasonable reference for top billing versus story characters.

 

Dracula is the story of the character's struggle against Dracula. Dracula is there, he does things, we read about people discovering the things he has done, and trying to stop him. We experience the story through the characters arrayed against Dracula, yet don't ever experience anything from Dracula's perspective. The only times Dracula says anything we can hear is when a character is directly addressing him. We never hear his thoughts or ideas behind what he does unless a story character is dealing with him.

 

Dracula is a plot element, and his destruction a primary goal, but the story does not deal with him as a fleshed out character, only as a moving target. All that, and yet his is the only name in the title.

 

On the original topic;

I have a hard time picking just one supporting character. I've enjoyed so many through the years for different aspects of what they bring to the story. Probably, I'd have to go with Loiosh from the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust. Using a sarcastic flying lizard to support the main character was fun through all of the books.