Today, the bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish have asked us to list Top Ten Most Memorable Secondary Characters in books.
I hyper-ventilated when I saw this topic. I could think of 4 or 5 straight off the bat, and in a few more minutes I was done with a top ten. This just has to be the easiest meme out there :).
So without further ado, here is my list of top ten secondary characters:
- In a year where I have read and enjoyed and obsessed over all the books in A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R.Martin, I absolutely have to include these awesome secondary characters in the books that I love.
First, there is Jaime Lannister – handsome, charming, ruthless. He’s the archetypal bad guy who over the course of the series is not so one-sided at all. I love his character arc. Most of all, I love how he always gets the last word.
From arrogant ass to humble knight, he embodies the proverb, pride comes before a fall 
And another pic of the actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who plays Jaime Lannister in the HBO series…purely self-indulgent photo that I am posting in my blog just because it’s my blog and I can do what I want to do 🙂 even convert it into A Song of Ice and Fire fanzine…OK, OK just kidding 🙂 - My next favorite character from A Song of Ice and Fire is Robb Stark. Why do I like him so much? Well, who wouldn’t like a badass teen with a giant wolf who sets out to avenge his father’s death, wins every battle he fights, becomes king of the North, all the while sticking to his beliefs and trying to live up to his father’s reputation of being just and honorable. And also, because his is not a happy story :(. Unfortunately.
King in the North Forever OK…there are many more wonderful characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, but I”ll take mercy on non-ASOIAF fans and turn my attention to…
- Harry Potter! Of course. I always found the main characters – Harry, and Hermione, and Ron a little boring…let’s face it, they are kids, and kids only hold so much fascination for me. The characters I love in this series are the adults.
There’s the awesome, uber-cool Sirius Black who is also a wonderful godfather.
- And Severus Snape who is the teacher we all love to hate.
- And then of course, Hogwarts wise Principal Albus Dumbledore who is my most favorite character of all. I bawled, yes bawled during that last chapter in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I might have even thrown the book at my husband. I don’t actually remember because I think I drank a lot of wine after the book. So my memory of that time is a little blurry. K might remember it better even though he hasn’t read even a single book 🙂
So much wisdom Come to think of it, there are some memorable kids in Harry Potter. How about Neville Longbottom who goes from being a shy, bullied kid to almost one of the main characters? Also, I adore Luna Lovegood and the Weasley twins. They are just so much fun.
- Next on the list is Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien. He’s the perfect friend, the one who will stand by you come what may. What’s not to like?
- Now that I have exhausted the reams of Fantasy, let’s turn our attention to some classics, shall we? I love the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s a childhood favorite that I turn to now and then. This is a book with some of the most memorable villains out there. While Long John Silver is the cat’s whiskers, I also adore Billy Bones, and Pew, and basically all the pirates in this book. They’re all just brilliantly bad ass.
- And heavens, we come to the first girl in this list…and both these women die. What does that say for my taste in books? or the way women are written in books? or whatever…
Anyway, here come the Bronte girls…Helen Burns – the girl who dies of consumption and Mad Bertha from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. These women are so powerfully written. I read this book when I was in my early teens and they left a huge impression.
- And moving on to thrillers.I love Vesper Lynd from Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. I love the unexpectedness of her character. Also, I think I loved her even more after seeing Eva Green play her in the movie. So beautiful, without being even the least bit bimboish.
Eva Green as Vesper Lynd - And I am ending this too fun meme listing my most favorite secondary character of them all… Piglet from Winnie the Pooh by A.A.Milne. I just love lil Piglet so. Some of you may also know why 😉
Who are your favorite secondary characters? I find well-written secondary characters add so much flavor to a book.
Ah JAime Lannister ! The casting of the series is spot on. Jaime gradually grew on me and jumped straight on to my top 5 characters in the ASOIAF books. Tyrion is a close second and I adore his wit which is so cutting and hilarious at the same time. Sirius Black is totally drool worthy ! Speaking of secondary characters, my all time favourite in this category is Karna from the Mahabharata. So full of angst, anger and a heart of gold. There’s a book in Malayalam literature which retells the Mahabharata from his viewpoint. It’s magnificent !
@The Glass Bangle: There are so many great supporting characters I missed out in this post. I agree with you about Karna. He rocked. Such an awesome character. Another character I forgot to mention in my post is Huckleberry Finn from the Tom Sawyer book. Another great character.
Huck Finn is the true epitome of a child for me. Naughty, yet not destructive, full of life and an adorable imp 🙂
Big fan of Robb and Jaime later in the series, but I love Jon and Tyrion! 🙂 Great list!
@Amanda: I liked Tyrion in the first 3 books but in Dance with Dragons his story was just all over the place. I would have loved to mention Jon in this post, but in my mind, he’s not a secondary character, at least I hope not
Awww piglet. So cute. Harry Potter characters are very popular today!
@Ciska: Oh, yes…J.K.Rowling really wrote her characters so well 🙂