Jaye (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jayes_musings) wrote2020-04-06 12:39 pm
jayes_musings) wrote2020-04-06 12:39 pm
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30 Days of TV Meme
Well, making that other post has reminded me of how very long it's been since I've updated this journal and continued this meme...which I WILL finish!
Day 14. Favorite male character
Good grief! This is like asking which is my favourite child...almost. At least this just being about TV narrows the field down somewhat...but there are still plenty out there. To make this easier for me, although possibly longer, I'll narrow it to 5 shows.
Nasir (Robin of Sherwood). Perhaps it's because I like the strong, silent type. Or perhaps it's those two swords, but while all the other teenage girls were fangirling Robin (especially Michael Praed), it was Nasir (Mark Ryan) who grabbed my attention. He also (through showrunner, Kip Carpenter) added the first new piece of lore to the Robin Hood tale in hundreds of years by being a saracen brought to England after the Third Crusade, something which most if not all later versions of Robin Hood both in TV and film have done.
Nasir Malik Kemal Inal Ibrahim Shams ad-Dualla Wattab ibn Mahmud, to give him is full name was a member of the cult of Hashashyim (Assassins) during the period of the Third Crusade. At some point, he was captured by Crusader, Simon de Belleme a practitioner of dark magic, and served him as his bodyguard, enforcer, and general henchman. Belleme sends him to kill Robin, and the two face each other in an epic swordfight, during which Robin manages to reach through to Nasir and break Belleme's spell that bound him to him. In gratitude, Nasir joins the Merrie Men, and though he rarely says much, he becomes one of their best fighters (as shown in this clip from The Greatest Enemy which he takes out/kills several soldiers singlehandedly and is only defeated when he finds his friends at knifepoint. Through most of the series, Nasir says nothing, and it is only really in season 3 that he becomes more talkative (relatively!) and we find out more about him.
Kronos (Highlander: The Series) Not the first villain I adored, but one of the best, even more than 20 years later. During the Bronze Age, he was the leader of the Four Horsemen, a band of Immortal raiders and killers so feared that their reputation became biblical. In one of the show's best plot twists, it's revealed that the world's oldest Immortal and Duncan MacLeod's friend, Methos, was also one of the Horsemen. He and Kronos were brothers, along with Caspian and Silas. In the modern world, Kronos wants to destroy the world by releasing a deadly virus (*ahem*) and MacLeod is not only determined to stop him but deal with what he sees as a failing of Methos to have once been like him.
Now what is so good about Kronos is just how brilliantly he is portrayed by Valentine Pelka. He could have easily been on OTT, scene-chewing villain, but Val gives him nuance and also passion. Not to mention that Val is one of the best sword fighters and a great match for Adrian Paul making some of the best fight scenes in the series.
Bodie (The Professionals). One of the good guys, but what appealed to me about him rather than his partner, Doyle, is that Bodie was much more comfortable with cutting corners. While CI5’s brief was to use methods that the regular police couldn’t, so that they already cut corners and ignored red tape in their efforts to catch the bad guys, Bodie would push and even sometimes altogether break the boundaries that they did have. Despite that he is the less serious of the two being more ready to have a laugh or employ good British sarcasm. He was meant to be the snazzier dresser between him and Doyle (who was more casual), and I suppose given 70’s fashion this was true although questionable today.
Richard Sharpe Sharpe Series. This is the series that Sean Bean became my celebrity crush. It’s a fantastic series (and the books are fantastic too). He is certainly the hero, but one who is prepared to fight dirty and challenge societal expectations as he climbs the ranks of Wellington’s army.
Kerr Avon Blake’s 7 I’ve saved my most favourite male character until last. Avon is the character who started my love of the anti-hero. A criminal, he finds himself following (not always willingly) the rebel, Roj Blake and fighting the Terran Federation. He is a computer genius, very smart, and takes pride in his rational decision-making and lack of emotion even when it might cost his crewmates’ lives. He assumes the role of defacto leader after Blake disappears and his rationality slips into paranoia as the strain of being on the run and being responsible for others takes its toll. His whole character arc is fascinating and in the nearly 40 years since the end of the show, arguably one of the best written characters.
Honourable mentions: John Constantine (Arrowverse), The Doctor (Dr Who), The Master (Dr Who) Capt. Hook/Killian Jones (OUaT), Rumplestiltskin (OUaT), Capt Jack Rackham (Black Sails), King Richard (Galavant), Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)
Questions are here
Day 14. Favorite male character
Good grief! This is like asking which is my favourite child...almost. At least this just being about TV narrows the field down somewhat...but there are still plenty out there. To make this easier for me, although possibly longer, I'll narrow it to 5 shows.
Nasir (Robin of Sherwood). Perhaps it's because I like the strong, silent type. Or perhaps it's those two swords, but while all the other teenage girls were fangirling Robin (especially Michael Praed), it was Nasir (Mark Ryan) who grabbed my attention. He also (through showrunner, Kip Carpenter) added the first new piece of lore to the Robin Hood tale in hundreds of years by being a saracen brought to England after the Third Crusade, something which most if not all later versions of Robin Hood both in TV and film have done.
Nasir Malik Kemal Inal Ibrahim Shams ad-Dualla Wattab ibn Mahmud, to give him is full name was a member of the cult of Hashashyim (Assassins) during the period of the Third Crusade. At some point, he was captured by Crusader, Simon de Belleme a practitioner of dark magic, and served him as his bodyguard, enforcer, and general henchman. Belleme sends him to kill Robin, and the two face each other in an epic swordfight, during which Robin manages to reach through to Nasir and break Belleme's spell that bound him to him. In gratitude, Nasir joins the Merrie Men, and though he rarely says much, he becomes one of their best fighters (as shown in this clip from The Greatest Enemy which he takes out/kills several soldiers singlehandedly and is only defeated when he finds his friends at knifepoint. Through most of the series, Nasir says nothing, and it is only really in season 3 that he becomes more talkative (relatively!) and we find out more about him.
Kronos (Highlander: The Series) Not the first villain I adored, but one of the best, even more than 20 years later. During the Bronze Age, he was the leader of the Four Horsemen, a band of Immortal raiders and killers so feared that their reputation became biblical. In one of the show's best plot twists, it's revealed that the world's oldest Immortal and Duncan MacLeod's friend, Methos, was also one of the Horsemen. He and Kronos were brothers, along with Caspian and Silas. In the modern world, Kronos wants to destroy the world by releasing a deadly virus (*ahem*) and MacLeod is not only determined to stop him but deal with what he sees as a failing of Methos to have once been like him.
Now what is so good about Kronos is just how brilliantly he is portrayed by Valentine Pelka. He could have easily been on OTT, scene-chewing villain, but Val gives him nuance and also passion. Not to mention that Val is one of the best sword fighters and a great match for Adrian Paul making some of the best fight scenes in the series.
Bodie (The Professionals). One of the good guys, but what appealed to me about him rather than his partner, Doyle, is that Bodie was much more comfortable with cutting corners. While CI5’s brief was to use methods that the regular police couldn’t, so that they already cut corners and ignored red tape in their efforts to catch the bad guys, Bodie would push and even sometimes altogether break the boundaries that they did have. Despite that he is the less serious of the two being more ready to have a laugh or employ good British sarcasm. He was meant to be the snazzier dresser between him and Doyle (who was more casual), and I suppose given 70’s fashion this was true although questionable today.
Richard Sharpe Sharpe Series. This is the series that Sean Bean became my celebrity crush. It’s a fantastic series (and the books are fantastic too). He is certainly the hero, but one who is prepared to fight dirty and challenge societal expectations as he climbs the ranks of Wellington’s army.
Kerr Avon Blake’s 7 I’ve saved my most favourite male character until last. Avon is the character who started my love of the anti-hero. A criminal, he finds himself following (not always willingly) the rebel, Roj Blake and fighting the Terran Federation. He is a computer genius, very smart, and takes pride in his rational decision-making and lack of emotion even when it might cost his crewmates’ lives. He assumes the role of defacto leader after Blake disappears and his rationality slips into paranoia as the strain of being on the run and being responsible for others takes its toll. His whole character arc is fascinating and in the nearly 40 years since the end of the show, arguably one of the best written characters.
Honourable mentions: John Constantine (Arrowverse), The Doctor (Dr Who), The Master (Dr Who) Capt. Hook/Killian Jones (OUaT), Rumplestiltskin (OUaT), Capt Jack Rackham (Black Sails), King Richard (Galavant), Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)
Questions are here
no subject
Also, I can't express how excited I was when they allowed Matt Ryan's John Constantine to come over from NBC and join the Arrowverse proper. I love him so much. <3
no subject
That is so cool that you have a bullet of the period (and I'm sorry for you loss <3). Yes, Richard Sharpe was such a very special character and a great series.
SAME! And Matt Ryan is the perfect Constantine. I can't picture him played by anyone else now.