Comic Genesis Forums

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Heroes
for descriptions of the types....

I voted for the fool but the technical pacifist was really close. This two profile fit to what we seen in the past strips.

Quentyn indeed dislike the un-called violence. He resort to it only when this is needed or when his anger blow up. Furthermore, he always uses a good quantity of gadget wisely to extract himself of bad situations.

I choose the fool because Quentyn has no idea what he's doing, he has a dim idea at best who his enemies are. Lady Luck can slap him harshly but at the end when he's in the deepest trouble, she will always finish to smile to him. A bad roll in wildcard's power against the gragums could have be fatal. He could have died at the from his wounds after have defeated the rat king but once against lady luck a little miracle saved him. Lady luck can throw him in the bowel of hell but at the end she manage to compensate all this bad luck by a short but intense moment of great luck.

Quelqu'un voit ça d'un autre point de vue?

S.P.P.

Gotta say either Adventurer Archaeologist or Other.

Knight in Shining Armor

Or at least that's what he's striving to be.

--
-billy-

-Has too many set backs to be an "Ace"
-SOUNDS like he is going to be too honest about how he gets the artifacts back to be an "Adventurer Archaeologist"... but throwing Sam into the mix MIGHT change that (but probably he will never stop fighting with her on this point). It might also depend on how many of the artifacts have been acquired by species, who AS A SPECIES, can not, under any circumstances be reasoned with... (Giants, Late stage Vampires, etc)...
-To much of a good boy to be an "Atoner"... Nip has done SO much more 'unnecessary' damage than this kid.
-Much too competent to be a "Comedic Hero"... although some of his setbacks ARE quite amusing...
-Might very well qualify for "Knight in Shining Armor"... I mean that scene with the rats with the 23rd Psalm as the backdrop...still brings tears to my eyes (literaly, there are running down my checks as I type)...
-Too many weaknesses (blackbander) to be a "MarySu/MartyStu/GarySu"
-Wrong society before (every could talk to animals where he came from...), and wrong mission now (although keeping Sam in good health might qualify... but that is distinctly 'Side Quest') to be a "Nature Hero".
-He might be mistaken for a "Technical Pacifist" by someone whose appreciation of the collatoral damage potential of Wildcard is lacking (and thus the un-wisdom of pulling it at the drop of a hat). And the birding crossbow (which is the closest thing to a gun in the series) he has had no problem using...
-Not nearly clueless enough to be "The Fool" although his victories over Rahan HAVE been an isolated exception to this, since while Quentin KNOWS he is his enemy, for various reasons Q can't do anything to Rahan, and all of Rahan's come-uppances have been of the Karmic variety.
-I didn't technically read enough of them to conclusively decide about "Other"...

So... that leaves "Knight in Shining Armor" as my winner by elimination.

Well, after much reading, I finally settled it out. "Other", specifically because Quentyn is one of the rare male examples of an almost-exclusively female trope: The Margaret Simon.

The Margaret Simon is "naive, ignorant, and insecure -- especially about [his] body", and will be "the target of every bully in the world". For all the lovely magical equipment he has, Quentyn's biggest strength is also a Margaret Simon strength; his pure heart. "[Margaret Simon] never gives up, and will eventually get the better of [his] tormentors."

This fits Quentyn perfectly. He's sensitive about being short and relatively scrawny; he gets raged on by every bully in the world; and he never gives up, eventually winning. Of course, this means Rahan is most likely "The Libby": Rich, popular, and a complete and utter louse, enjoying the act of abusing Margaret Simon's hopes and ambitions. Hm, think it fits?

How rare is a male Margaret Simon? The last one the writers of the site knew about was a certain little piggy named Babe. Other male examples are in the old fairy tales, though not all of them had a happy ending...

Yours truly,

The wolfish,

Wanderer

Wanderwolf wrote:<Snip> For all the lovely magical equipment he has, ...<Snip>

I agree, after reading it* that "Margaret Simon" fits... the only noticable quible with your statements on the subject is that when mentioning the gear, you didn't pair that with a recognition of the intensive training and research that Quentin brings to his chosen profession. This is however somewhat downplayed by the emphasis on the periods between adventure as being "dead as a doornail" as opposed to "so I was back to doing sword drills while waiting for another job to come in". I would however say, if nothing else, that the continued presence of the training dummy, despite the amount of a target for 'creative redecoration' that it became, argues at a continued effort to maintain a level of skill (which is only realistic).
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... garetSimon

I put down "other" because he's just an average guy with a extraordinary dream.
The closest cliche I can think of, just now, might be "detective", or perhaps "paladin".
Somewhere between those, maybe.

DracoDei wrote:I would however say, if nothing else, that the continued presence of the training dummy, despite the amount of a target for 'creative redecoration' that it became, argues at a continued effort to maintain a level of skill (which is only realistic).
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... garetSimon

Oh, the Margaret Simon trains, always. For instance, Kim Possible is a modified Margaret Simon; she's insecure about boys and dating, and doesn't have very many close friends, but she's a highly-trained martial artist and a gymnastics-focused cheerleader. Babe is a male Margaret Simon talking animal, and he trains constantly when he starts trying to become a sheep-pig.

Being a Margaret Simon takes a lot of hard work, after all, no matter what you're doing. If you succeed without hard work and dedication, you're The Fool instead.

Yours truly,

The wolfish,

Wanderer

I voted for 'Other'...

He wants to be the 'Knight in Shining armor', but...
Lets face it, he's closer to a Comedic Hero.
(I wouldn't call him a Fool. That label is for Inspector Clouseau level clods.)

I neglected to read further before voting, so my vote was cast in ignorance. Whoops. But still, after skimming them all, I'd say Wander has it right. The closest in the bunch is the Knight, but he fits the Margaret cliche better (a bit like Naruto, but far more competent ).

The only other thing he fits is a medieval detective. He uses his mind and comes up with solutions others don't think about, usually by following that famous creed uttered by another famous fictional detective:

Sherlock Holmes wrote:Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.

It is nothing more than the true essence of the scientific method: find out what works, and if it doesn't, try something else. Very few people, in or out of the Seven Villages, has a mind that works like that. That, my friends, is why Questors are such a rare breed.

Adventurer Archaeologist

I voted for other because IMHO Quentyn's personality more matches the 'broken hero' he's cheerfull and yet he failed at what he's tried to do (blackbander and short and small etc.)

the only thing he really lacks is the 'shocking past'

then again, I remember when my high school english teacher tried classifying students according to the dark ages 'humors' of people. when he came to me it was pretty stumping, I just didn't fit.

Having read through the options I didn't really see anything that truely fit our beloved Questor. And there's a reason for that.

Quentyn isn't a sterotype.

He's the anthema of sterotyped Hollywood. He trains studiously in his profession, but he's not anything close to the polished, 'Super Theif-uber professional' mold. His failures nearly outweigh his success. That's a bit too close to real life for Hollywood. For some reason professional and failure don't seem to go together for them.

He has great compassion while being religious. In media in general, these two CANNOT go together. You have many compassionate characters. And you have many religious characters (they're usually villians or simpltons who misbehave at best).

You have a man of action who is chaste. I don't think there's been one of those since Errol Flynn!

So, I humbly submit that trying to classify Quentyn simply will not work. RH will just have to live with the fact that he's defied statistics and created something NEW.

My two cents, anyways.

I voted "Comedic Fool" though I have a kind of Darkwing Duck perspective on Q. Not that he's egotistical like DD, but that he's constantly finds himself laden with hilarious setbacks, though in the end he succeeds, and usually due to the fact that he really is competent and skilled rather than just lucky (ala Inspector Gadget).

Well, Ralph's done a good job of making Quentyn look human (figuratively speaking ). Although it was painful for me to read the Royals arc, it proved a necessary role, ruling out the Ace and Marty Stu choices.

The Comedic Hero and Fool archetypes can also be ruled out, because Quentyn proves to be QUITE competant more often than not (most of the exceptions are found in the beginning of the Royals thread).

Atoner? That's a bit harsh. So far, all Quentyn's done is kill a few Gragum (purely for self-defense) and a few minor offenses that most people will forget about. Hardly compares with the examples given on the site.

And that's about as far as I can narrow it down. Quentyn can take on aspects of the remaining four archetypes, and some others not on the list, as the situation demands. Brannick does have a point about Quentyn being a genre-bender. Ralph has created a good story that doesn't easily fit any of the tropes on the site, and I salute him.

On a side note, kudos to Ralph for bringing this site to my attention. It has a great amount of plot elements to read about (it's up to the reader whether or not they can be called 'cliche', although I believe we can all agree on a few of them (see 'Discredited Trope' and even 'Dead Horse Trope') and is a must for anyone who wants to write for TV (or other mediums).

Definitely Knight in Shining Armor (in training, maybe, but still a Knight). Except for the wooing ladies part.

On further thought, I'd say Quentyn's character is even simpler than I'd first thought. One of the oldest and most common plot concepts out there: "Small town boy makes good".

A common man who, by sheer determination and at great cost, overcomes terrible odds.
Just goes to show. You don't need a new plot (there aren't any). Just a good storyteller.

I voted Comedic Hero.

Quentyn is truly a hero but many times during the plot I would find myself roaring with laughter. Running on stage naked and picking up a potted plant for cover? Think about it. I am sure each of you have burst out in laughter reading the story. Remember that just because the storyline is funny sometimes it makes Quentyn no less of a hero in my book. Think of him as a Comedic Knight in Shining Armor.....

Robert A. Heinlein said that there are only three stories:

- Boy Meets Girl

- The Little Tailor

- The Man Who Learned Better

There are aspects of all three in "Tales of the Questor", but it seems to me the predominant type of story is "The Little Tailor". He isn't the strongest, the biggest, the fastest, or the smartest, but he doesn't give up, and he finds ways to achieve his goals with what he's got.