Compelling Character Corner

The Contrarian Contrarian characters exist across most forms of recorded media, from folklore to Hollywood. I love them. We might see them as trickster-like characters like with the Joker , and his anarchist ramblings, to Marvels Loki , as well as with the court jesters of medieval Europe; it's that maverick characteristic. For better or worse, they test the status quo; often debasing established norms.  The have to take a stand against someone or something, oppositional, adversarial even, always striving.  The Fool is a less commonly used term for a Contrarian, but still, someone we are all familiar with, nonetheless. That oddball who pops up in Shakespeare's plays, those humour wielding jesters, who'll hit near the mark of the most powerful people within the king's court, even the king himself! The Jester eventually became  a valued advisor to the Monarch! However, my favourite Contrarian is to be found in the Rebel; a soul driven by a strong will to overthrow what th

The Trollop: Helly Sourham! The term 'trollop' is a derogatory name, but seriously, loads of generations have used this word as a humorous expression, admittedly, it is of disapproval, pointing at bad conduct. Definitely, the word does conjure up a negative vibe, I concede. However, it also serves to encapsulate my semi fictionalised cartoon character, who, in fact, actually meets the criteria of the word! The word 'trollop' originated from the word 'troll,' a fourteenth-century French term used to describe a slovenly woman, wandering off in the quest for game. Helly Sourham, did precisely that, cheating on Steven, her husband of seven years. Throughout the ages 'trollop' evolved and now it generally means a messy tart. Helly Sourham is this archetype with a pulse, quite an interesting character. I would love to know her psychological profile or psychiatric diagnosis, if she has one! Instead of discussing this woman's offensive manner, my persistent

When you're a stay-at-home dad, you can break away from those old roles society expects of you, because it's viewed by many as a positive step towards gender equality. However, if you're an unemployed mentally ill husband who only seems to leave the house for the weekly shop and to walk the dog—you're more of a parasite.  Fair enough, a stay-at-home dad is expected to engage in various activities with the kids, you know, like reading to them, cooking lunch or playing games and whatever, while also keeping tabs on the housework. We all have our ways of working. Once, there was a time, when the entitled breadwinning husband, who expected a pristine house and a hot meal at the table, was the norm. We've known that's sexist for quite a while now. I'd like to call myself a house-husband, when I think of the water fights and joking around, but, I'd also like to call myself a billionaire, genius philanthropist—it's a stretch. This is where I could just hide

Was Merlin Historical Somehow?  I love the madness and magic of Merlin, the granddaddy of sorcerers, the true archetypal wizard, the wild man of prophecy. He has so many presentations, however, his history is also pretty cool.  Merlin is fittingly portrayed as a feared druid and a crazy old oracle to the Britons of Dumnonia in Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles. This is a romantic figure glorifying a lost mysterious celtic way of life. Of course, it's very unlikely a man matching our modern vision of Merlin has ever existed; history doesn't always meet our expectations. ' I believe the Gods hate to be bored, so I do my best to amuse them. That way they smile on me. Your God,’ Merlin said sourly, ‘despises amusement, demanding grovelling worship instead. He must be a very sorry creature'  Bernard Cornwell, The Winter King I can imagine Merlin's prototype as a real living druid, or a bard, maybe a madnan, all from the Romano-British period. It was Geoffrey of M

Archetypes and Cartoons Well, hello there! Today I came across an interesting blog  by Annie Weatherwax about archetypes in relation to illustrations and cartoons. This piece grabbed my attention, given my own, previous blog on archetypes and, uh, well—I like to dabble with cartoons.  With regards to a lot of media, especially cartoons, creative types automatically use archetypes. I agree with pretty everything her blog says. If we get scientific about it, could we suggest archetyping has always been our natural way of identifying social roles? Take the archetypal doting mother; it could only have been accepted as a 'thing' after people had spoken about the 'those types' of mothers who excessively nurture. We've been tokening archetypes over our history. I've probably missed something somewhere, but cartoons do play on them.  It's like, before a psychiatrist brands a patient with a mental condition , many of the DSM-V boxes will need ticking first. A tad li