Top Ten Tuesday - Minor Characters

Look! An update! Since the craziness of Friday 13, with blogger crashing, and things suddenly missing, I was waiting for things to go back to normal. They haven’t (I’m still missing a comment and a blog. And wanted to do a post about that new blog, but since he doesn’t exist anymore. yet. whatever. it would be really silly do that post.).

Anyway, since misery likes company, Friday 13 wouldn’t have been complete without me managing to wreck the thumb drive that had the only copy of my next review. Just peachy.

So, since this week’s Top Ten Tuesday Theme actually interests me, I will join the meme again. Minor characters, be it sidekicks/supporting roles or just dead person #4. I always liked the underdog, the unappreciated, the one that stays in the shadow. So it should be easy to think of 10, right?

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Minor Characters

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. Every week a theme for a list is suggested. This week's theme is Minor Characters.









Let’s start with Juliet Marillier’s characters, because she writes great characters, main or minor.

Faolan by MaevesChild

Faolan in Dark Mirror (The Chronicles of Bridei) – Faolan is made of awesome, pure awesome. He is so awesome that although he is a minor character in the first book of this series he manages to highjack it in such a way that the entire thing should be called The Chronicles of Faolan. Because by the third book you are almost asking “Bridei, who?”

Ciarán from the Sevenwaters Series – Ciarán is always in the background, but so far he is one of the few characters that managed to make an appearance in every. single. book. of the series. Sure, in Daughter of the Forest he is just mentioned, but he is there. He is a great character, and sometimes you are not sure in which side of the struggle he will be (but hope against hope that it will be with the good guys!). He is almost as awesome as Faolan!

Padriac from the Sevenwaters Series – Ahhh, Padriac! He is the Hippy brother. He is easy going, he loves animals, he helps everyone. He even manages to get sour faced Colum to smile. And then he turns sailor/pirate and has a parrot! A parrot! There is a short story where he is the hero and I’m sure it is full of more amazing things about Padriac. Unfortunately it was published in an anthology only available in Australia, and I haven’t read it. Yet.


And now, for the non-Juliet characters!

Raffin and Bann in Graceling by Kristin Cashore – Raffin is Katsa’s cousin, a prince, and the medieval equivalent of a Mad Scientist. He tests his own concoctions on himself (turning his hair blue in the process, a very princely colour), and is extremely funny. Bann is his sidekick, lab-minion and friend (and maybe companion, but that could be just me getting the vibes wrong).

Bale by bitayamoka

Bale from Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver (first appears in Spirit Walker) – Bale is the cousin of Torak, and those two don’t get along at first, because Bale is older and thinks it entitles him to order Torak around. I hate that kind of character! But as I got to know Bale, I realised he was a very sensible boy, very loyal, and the one person I would want to have by my side if I needed help. He became one of my favourite characters in the entire series (he soooo deserved a better fate).

Which brings me to…


Dark from Ghost Hunter by Michelle Paver (Chronicles of Ancient Darkness) – I felt a bit cheated with Dark. Surely such a great character wouldn’t appear only on the final chapters of the last book? Surely? But that’s what happened. Dark is abandoned by all at a young based on his colouring, and that doesn’t bring him down. Sure, he might not be the sanest of persons, but he manages not only to survive but to help others as well.

Mel from Sunshine by Robin McKinley – Mel is Rae’s boyfriend, a biker-turned-chef. His inclusion in this list is more for his mystery than his awesomeness. Oh, don’t get me wrong, he is awesome, he is like a pillar that would survive the apocalypse, reliable, and above all, he doesn’t ask for anything. But I want to know more about him, about his past and about those tattoos of his. Because I just can’t resist a man with tattoos.

And speaking of tattoos…

Conory in The Mark of the Horse Lord – In a book where everyone had their skin decorated it was hard to pick just one character to like. By all rights it should be the main one, a red-headed gladiator, but Conory, the one person that could foil the plan of making said red-head king, took the first spot. Let’s see why. He shows his unyielding support to someone who a) has no right to be King and b) is actually taking a kingship that should be his. He is described as having a curious face and lopsided eyes and being beautiful. Extremely beautiful. If he can be beautiful with lopsided eyes he has to be the awesomest person alive, right? Wait, there is more, something that will top everything else. He has a wild cat as pet. Not a cat. A Wild Cat. And he regularly uses this cat as a scarf! You can’t get any better than this.

Cinna by Ravengirl5111

Cinna in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Cinna is one of those characters that you can not help but love. Or at least I can not help it. He is supporting, part father figure, part best friend. And he tries to fight the system within the system, in the most unusual way. He does it as what he does best, by fashion and by making people believe someone is something they are not, on looks alone. He knows the faults of Humanity, and exploits to their benefit.

Luis in Valiant by Holly Black – Luis has a personality that doesn’t make you want to be friends with him. He is rude and snaps back at you, and he doesn’t care what you think. He is also extremely loyal to family and those few (kind-of) friends that he manages not to drive away.

(I see I managed to make an all-male list. It wasn’t intentional, in fact there are 2 female characters in the runner-ups: Yolande from Sunshine, Daneca from White Cat)