Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday - Best Secondary Characters

 A weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week we are able to choose topic that was done previously that we either didn't get to do or one that we really enjoyed. I have only been doing this meme for the past three months so that gives me a lot of older ones to choose one. I was intimidated by my choices so I did one that I just barely missed. I almost did the one from the week just before I started because that's how I first learned about Top Ten Tuesday but then I saw this one. I'm a huge fan of secondary characters. I often hate main characters because they're usually annoying tropes or not very likeable. My favorite character is usually one of the periphery characters, the villains or the comic relief. So here is my list of the top ten best secondary characters.

****(Some of these answers may contain spoilers so be warned)****

1.) Carswell Thorne in The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
I found Thorne totally enjoyable in Scarlet but now that I'm reading Cress I am completely obsessed.  I love his dynamic with practically every other character in the series. Plus who doesn't enjoy a lovable rogue? He's cocky, smart, funny, kind, and has a touch of the crazy. I'm not sure who is in love with him more, me or Cress.
(Honorable mentions in the series to: Iko, Queen Levana, and Wolf)

2.) Margaery Tyrell in A Song of Ice and Fire
There are a lot of amazing characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, there are like 3,000 characters to begin with (you think I'm kidding but I'm not). Of all the non-P.O.V. characters Margaery is the one that I wish we had from her perspective, especially in A Feast for Crows. She's very shrewd and I know she's playing the game. I know that she has tons of secrets and I want to find them out.
(Honorable mention in the series goes to Littlefinger, Varys, Oberyn and Doran Martell, Melisandre, and the Reeds)

3.) Circe in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy
The character development of Circe in this series is phenomenal. She's a great villain but has so much more going on than that. She's one of those characters that lives in a world of grey that makes you wonder a lot if they are good or bad. She keeps you questioning and is so fun to read.
(Honorable mentions to Felicity, Pippa, and everyone that teaches at Spence Academy)

4.) Fred and George Weasley in 
the Harry Potter series
I am obsessed with the Weasley twins (when I used to hang out in HP chat rooms my name was fredandgeorgefan). They are fantastic comic relief characters but also really smart, brave, and amazing. These two, I can't even!
(Honorable mentions to Snape, Luna Lovegood, Tonks, and Neville)

5.) Colonel Brandon in 
Sense and Sensibility 
Poor unappreciated Colonel Brandon. He is quiet and a little shy but he is also sweet, kind, and understanding. He is the person you can bare your soul to and he won't judge you for all your faults. He is a person you want in your corner when times get tough and he will stand by you no matter what. Not your typical romantic lead, but he's all the more enjoyable because of that fact.

6.) Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
What can I say about Ford Prefect. He's always up for a good time, has that dry and sarcastic sense of humor, he's resourceful and pragmatic, and knows exactly what to do in pretty much every situation. And if all else fails, he'll just get drunk and wait it out. He's a good friend to Arthur Dent on his journey across the universe and if I was traveling throughout space I would want Ford by my side.
(Honorable mentions to Marvin the Paranoid Android and Zaphod Beeblebrox

7.) Grandma Mazur in 
the Stephanie Plum series
Everyone's favorite Jersey grandma. She can't drive, loves guns, giving her family a hard time, helping Stephanie on missions, and attending wakes at the local funeral parlor. She's a fantastic comic relief character and if she was my grandma then family gatherings would be so much more exciting
(Honorable mentions to Lula, Morelli, and Ranger)

8.) Johanna Mason in 
The Hunger Games series
I LOVE Johanna. She's brave, bold, and full of sass. How can you not love a character who strips down naked when she first meets the heroine to make her uncomfortable. She's smart, resourceful, and funny but she's reckless and is brutally honest. She will say whatever is on her mind no matter the consequences. Johanna is a hardened warrior and in the series she is sort of everything Katniss doesn't want to become. I love her because she is so open about her hatred of the Capital and will fight to bring it down no matter what.
(Honorable Mentions to Finnick, Rue, and Prim)

9.)  Peter in the Divergent series
My love of Peter grew over time. I initially saw him as a fantastic villainous character. He is so easy to hate especially in the first book, but as the series develops and you learn more about him he becomes much more gray and odious. He has this totally fucked up moral code that I actually have a lot of respect for and his character development at the end of the series makes him totally heartbreaking if you ask me. He's like the Severus Snape of this series and I love it!
(Honorable Mentions to Marcus, Uriah, and Christina)

10.) Luke Castellan in 
the Percy Jackson series
So Luke is incredibly similar to Peter, at least the way I feel about them is very similar. By the end of the first book he becomes this characters that is so easy to hate but there is so much grey to him. He is one of those characters that makes you wonder if he is good or evil and question if he is doing the wrong thing for the right reasons or if he is doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. His character development by the end of the series totally surprised me and brought me to tears.
(Honorable Mentions to Grover, Tyson, and Nico)

11.) Genya in the Grisha Trilogy
Yeah, so I cheated and have more than ten. I couldn't narrow it down! I loved Genya from the very beginning. She is so sweet to Alina and is the only friend she has at the Little Palace. She has a really cool Grisha power but the others look down on her because it's not a traditional power. As the series goes on she makes some interesting decisions based on certain motivations and I find her all the more interesting and compelling because of it.
(Honorable Mentions to Tolya and Tamar, the Apparat, and Baghra)




Those are my Top Ten Best Secondary Characters. Okay so I super cheated and listed over 40 characters here but I just love secondary characters. What are your favorites? Did you do this topic the first time around? What topic did you choose? Leave me a comment and of course... HAPPY READING!

18 comments:

  1. I rather love your list. Thorne is just fantastic. And Circe too-I don't know a lot of people who have read that series! Of course the Weasleys are wonderful, and Peter from Divergent. I would LOVE to know more about Genya. She's such an interesting character.

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT!

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    1. I definitely want to know more about Genya. I know there is a novella from her perspective called The Tailor but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I'm excited to see where her story goes in Ruin and Rising!

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  2. Oh how I loved those Weasley twins!! They were great!


    Here's my Tuesday post

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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    1. They were fantastic! Some of the best comic relief characters ever!

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  3. I LOVE Grandma Mazur!!! Almost as much as I love Ranger!! Haha!! Great List!

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    1. Grandma Mazur is the best! I love her and Lula, separately and together! Ranger's pretty great too. My favorite character in the series is probably the dog, Bob. I even love that he has such a human name!

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  4. Great list! Weasley twins are of course some of the best in the series. Love that you've mentioned Thorne. I enjoyed getting to know his character in Scarlet but loved him in Cress!

    Becca @ Lost in Thought
    http://lostinthought-becca.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/top-ten-tuesday-rewind-favourite-covers.html

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Becca. I totally agree the Weasley twins are the best and Thorne is so fantastic in Cress! I can't wait to finish it to see how things shakeout for him.

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  5. Great picks! I enjoy reading about the Tyrells in GoT as well. :)

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    1. Thanks Pamela! I'm obsessed with Margaery and Olenna her grandmother, she's such a sassy old woman. I love that they call her the Queen of Thorns. Your comment made me think how I also love the Martells. Doran, Oberyn, and the Sand Snakes are some great secondary characters too! May have to add them to the list. At least Doran, he's surprisingly fierce!

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  6. Great pick. Fred and George Weasley are the best secondary characters ever... *thinks about Deathly Hallows and bursts into tears* Nice list :) My TTT.

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  7. I totally love the Weasley twins! Good call there.

    My TT

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  8. Fred and George <3
    Great list, I agree about Margaery, Ford and Johanna as well ^^

    My TTT =)

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    1. Thanks! My favorite characters are always secondary characters. I wish they got more love!

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  9. YES YES YES to all your picks. I loved this list. Secondary characters really can make or break a novel. I love Genya, but my favorite secondary character from Shadow and Bone was actually David. His brilliance combined with his complete inability to understand sarcasm makes for the most hilarious moments. Great list!!

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    1. David is pretty great! I loved his obliviousness. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

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