Let’s talk about a different kind of character

I'm kind of swamped for time right now, but I nearly always post on Monday nights. I've been putting this post aside for a few weeks, but I need a quick topic tonight so here goes.

The world is buzzing about last night's episode of Game Of Thrones. I'm sure The Battle of the Bastards will rank as one of the highest rated episodes they have. I want to talk about a different part of the show.

This may be because of some wonderful actors and performances, but I'm developing a couple of new favorites on Game of Thrones. These are supporting characters, but they really appeal to me.

First up is Sandor Clegane, better known as The Hound. This guy has been through some crap in his life. It started with his brother, and wound it's way through many parts of Westeros. He isn't a good guy, and has done some terrible things. Somehow he maintains a sense of justice though. He occasionally manages to do the right thing.

His form of justice is brutal and violent, but he has an idea of what is right. He's crass, he's rude, and I can't get enough of him. Whenever he's around, things are going to happen.

To be honest, I can see similarities with my character Clovis from The Playground. This isn't by design, and The Hound didn't really come into his own when I was drafting the Clovis chapters. The similarity is there though.

I nearly combined Ser Bronn with The Hound, because there are some similarities. Bronn isn't quite the asshole The Hound is, but he's been a warrior all his life. He's seen things. He's done things. He brings a certain male humor to his scenes. He says things that someone who's spent a lifetime as a soldier might say.

My protagonists tend to be kind of stoic, and I like to use colorful supporting characters to lighten things up. Bronn's relationship with Ser Jamie Lanister is styled similarly. Jamie is a little dry, but Bronn lightens the mood.

Bronn has hopes and dreams. He helps Jamie, because he expects lands, a castle, and a woman out of the deal. He's fleshed out quite well in very few scenes. Everybody wants something.

The third one I nearly left off, because he doesn't bring character to the character. He is Gregor Clegane, better known as The Mountain. This is the sibling that gave Sandor Clegane such a hard time growing up. While The Hound is a big dude, The Mountain got his name by being even bigger and meaner.

The Mountain died and was brought back by some arcane magic. He doesn't get lines anymore, and he's kind of like a Frankenstein creation. Imagine an eight foot tall man in golden armor, (with a helmet so you can never see his face) but he's built like a weightlifter not a basketball player.

I like him for a completely different reason. He brings a certain menace to every scene he's in. He doesn't even have to do anything, the sense of foreboding is always there. They accomplished this by selling him well in the first place. Of course tearing someone's head off (literally) on occasion serves to remind us who he is. After that, all he has to do is be in the room and I pay attention.

I have a similar character in The Playground. Their creation is similar, I should say. In Playground, Morley is a poltergeist. A poltergeist can move things around, so they stitched up a body for him to move around. He's kind of moody and can get his feelings hurt, so he differs from The Mountain in that way. Nothing phases The Mountain.

In Game of Thrones fashion, I expect any or all of these characters to come to a bad end. They try to make viewers like someone as a setup to killing them off. I'm not opposed to this, but it would be nice to see one of them survive.

To draw some kind of rushed conclusion, I like colorful characters who support a more serious main character. There is more to The Hound and Ser Bronn than random red shirt characters. We feel for them to a degree.

I also like pending doom. The tension The Mountain brings is wonderful. Now that I know who and what he is, the menace is always present when he's in the scene. This allows the show runners to include dialog and stories from the other characters, but the tension never disapates. It's a neat trick, and you can bet I'll remember it.

Sorry about the rushed quality, but I'm swamped for time. Any of these characters is deserving of an individual post. Has anyone else developed a fondness for these characters, or is it just me?