Night Syndrome Forum Favourite Fictional Chracters

Does a particular character from fiction inspire you? Do you find them cool and enigmatic? Do they make you want to change your lifestyle and be more like them? Whatever the reason, this is the place to share your favourite fictional characters, and your reasons for loving them so much, be they from books, movies, comics...anything you can think of, as long as they're fictional =P

I think I'll take this opportunity to talk a little about one of my favourite characters from none other than the highly popular fantasy trilogy 'The Lord of the Rings', by J.R.R. Tolkien. This character happens to be Éowyn, Lady of Rohan. Indeed, I only realised recently just how much I loved her character. Before (when I was younger and more focused on 'awesome' characters like the Ringwraiths and Sauron), I thought of her as bland and unappealing. Boy, was I wrong!

Now that I'm a little bit older to when I had first read the books and watched the movies, I see everything in a new light, and I have learned so much from Éowyn's character, so much so that when I read any text about her, I find myself on the verge of tears, because it's simply astounding how much I can put myself in her position, just as anyone else could.

Éowyn, to me, is that eternal symbol of hope that I always pray to encounter in any sort of fictional material. From the moment we meet her, she has already been branded the sad one, the keeper of despair. Trial after trial, Éowyn is forced to live through seeing her cousin perish at the hands of the evil that spreads across their lands, her brother, Éomer, has been banished, and now she must witness her uncle Theoden's slow demise into madness at the hands of Saruman.

When Aragorn and the rest of the company enter her world, she is filled with a new hope, glad to find someone standing against the evil oppression, and she soon finds herself falling head over heels in love with Aragorn himself. Of course, we, the readers, know that she will never get what she wants; Aragorn's love for Arwen is too great to give up, even though he must live on with the knowledge that she might have already fled Middle-Earth to the Undying Lands along with the other elves. Eventually, Aragorn tells Éowyn that she cannot have what she desires.

Éowyn remains strong, however, aiding whenever help is needed, yet once again her spirits endure another harsh blow when she is forced to see her uncle being ravaged to death by the Witch-king of Angmar, having protected him in vain.

The death of many of her loved ones circles her like a vulture, and in the Houses of Healing, she utters the first words that would lead us to believe that she has finally lost all hope, and is giving up. Then, who should enter but Faramir, who quickly counters her words and fills her world with a new light. Her perseverance has come through. Faramir could be seen as the male version of Éowyn. He too had endured a large number of losses (taking the form of his brother and father), but he kept on going. Soon after, they marry. Éowyn found her love, and what a special love it was too. One that life tested her for, to make her appreciate everything about life. She later became a practitioner in the Houses of Healing, having developed a love for things that grow.

Éowyn teaches us that when all goes dark, hope is not always lost, and we can still push on to the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is the only thing anyone ever has for certain at the end of the day, and I thank Tolkien for creating such a beautiful character that so many can familiarise with.

------ After all that Eowyn has been through, constantly helping those around her, and only wanting to love and be loved, Faramir comes to her rescue. This scene from the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King takes place in the Houses of Healing. Gets to me everytime :')

I just noticed that I misspelled 'characters' in this thread's title. Sorry about that xD