In light of Breaking Bad guy wanting a return to genuinely admirable protagonists, what is your favorite example of one? I’d argue Picard from TNG is a really strong example in that he isn’t infallible but is unrelentingly concerned with the moral costs of decisions and the power placed in his hands
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I agree though. Frodo carried the biggest burden by far, and made the single biggest decision.
As protagonists, I just like how Sam and Aragorn are able to show their character, while Bilbo unfortunately is being weighed down more and more by the ring.
"Well, I'm back."
Frodo succeeds because of the help of his friends. It's his kindness and mercy that ensures he has the friends that are willing to sacrifice for him.
Mount Doom alone. The requirements of a
Hero’s Quest demand it. Frodo’s battle was not only with Sauron or the one ring, but with himself.
Aragorn, Lord of the Rings
John McClane, Die Hard
Michael Weston, Burn Notice
And he's complete wreck by the 3rd film.
Admirable in an incredibly narrow sphere.
It made sense for Carlton though
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Horowitz
Too bad that side was pretty well buried and forgotten.
Not perfect by any means but continually improved and was one of the few people to genuinely care about others.
Seems to epitomise that MJ quote “I never asked them to do something I wouldn’t do”
And as said before he never expected something of someone that he himself wasn’t willing to do.
Sonny: Yes, but it just seems too heartless.
https://youtu.be/lljIrAfBzYs?feature=shared
He has the same gifts as his father, but none of the deeply repressed bloodlust. All he wants to do is spend time with his family and his books.
Just don't get him mad.
Not a guy but Jessica Fletcher forever and always (you didn’t ask guy only but it was a bit underlying in the statement)
That can't be too much to ask...
Max and Furiosa. Deeply flawed people trying to reach out to humanity and be better.
Beowulf, the good king who provides for his people
Luke Skywalker, and Leia, and Han, and chewie, and 3po and especially r2. Lando, for balancing roguery with genuine humanity.
Professional wrestling counts even if the writing isn’t usually as good as regular tv shows. Sting was a babyface/protagonist for 95% of his career and was pretty universally beloved
Master: Good, good confusion is a part of life as are vengeance, fear, and love; all facets must be embraced for then and only then will you break through the wall of mystery to the Glow.
You need the glow, the glow to grow!
John Sheridan and Delenn from Babylon 5
Kira Cameron, from Continuum, has a great character arc that lands her squarely in the "admirable protagonist" column
Reginald the Vampire
there’s a lot of gray around him that’s entertaining (Amanda, Methos)
but he’s in this fascinating struggle trying to talk people out of fights, learning how to solve problems without maximum kill, and demonstrating the limits of violence as a solution even to violent problems
but the guy is self-aware about it all, and learning
they’re frankly very satisfying to watch chew the scenery for that
but they’re often less interesting for it
I agree on Picard btw
also, i was thinking that the whole of the mane characters in the show would fit this perfectly.
Captain America too but some people might learn the wrong lessons.
Obviously Benjamin Sisko (though I grew up with Picard).
Uh, Jack from Lost?
Timothy Olyphant in a hat? Though both of those characters get caveats too.
I don’t know if another actor besides Braugher could ever find that elegant balance.
Dr. Mark Green
Dana Scully
Scratch the surface and you find many facets of dignity, resilience, respect & kindness.
Pretty much the worst thing he did was press play on "Walking On Sunshine" a few times.
It’s in the title: Justified.
*morally speaking
It’s easy to be good if you’ve been doing it your whole life; it’s a lot harder to stop being an arsehole when that’s what the world’s taught you to be.
Constantly going rogue and disobeying his superiors, but not because he's a maverick or has some idiosyncratic personal code. He does so because morally he has no choice.
His burden is, he doesn’t want to have to save the world all the time; he wants a normal life with Lois etc to be a real human; but he has this burden where he must,
MUST, sometimes have the courage to be superhuman.
I like it though. I don’t mind jokes but endless quips undercutting any sincerity gets old.
those are all more interesting than "what if EEEEEVIL alien god, gotta fight him??"
I haven't seen any of s3 yet, but Invincible seems to be centering that narrative as well.
“What if power was evil?” is not a question any human needs answered for them. We encounter it every day. “What if power was benevolent?” is the thought experiment.
I'm not one complain about powers as long as he defeats villains
in any case, superman generally fits the bill in any version that isn't injustice.
He was confused why a grown man woulda been sad about a child death that he called best friend Superman went and got all mad at Billy for tantrum not realizing he's a kid and Shazam revealed self
Spider-Man.
Has issues, I know, but I'm looking forward to the reboot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQTFoSCNySw&list=PLEnsI-bDHoZBAycPMyDQBI3uVep-NoZSd&index=5
Just not the one from the show that doesn’t exist.
...OK actually it mostly doesn't matter.
There are a lot of guys out there that will never match up to Hank Hill.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/03/13/five-leadership-lessons-from-jean-luc-picard/
Captain Holt from Brooklyn 99 also deserves a shout-out for being the boss we all secretly wish was our dad.
*lightly stabs baddie*
"Guess, I'm just a good man."
*lightly stabs him again*
"Well, I'm alright."
It probably helps that the show is a humanist morality play, of course.
She breaks the cycle of generational abuse and remains a freedom fighter.
Also Speed Racer (especially Emile Hirsch's portrayal)