Let's face it... most main characters rebel a little, if not a lot. It's what drives the plot in most cases. But sometimes it's done reluctantly or by necessity, and sometimes it's because the character has an insatiable, burning fire within them that can only be quenched by seeking other, by rebelling against all they know and all that is thrust upon them. Those latter are who we celebrate today, by choosing our favorite rebellious characters.
You guys know by now that I love the fringe characters. I usually can't care less about what the main character is up to... I'm focusing on the supporting cast. (Side note: that's because I love YA, and in YA, most of your protagonists are going to be the Everyman type so the reader can easily identify with him/her, whereas the secondary, tertiary, etc. characters can have real characteristics and behave like actual people, not walking, talking tabula rasas.)
That's why I immediately thought of Cinna, from The Hunger Games (and more specifically, from Catching Fire) when I thought of rebellious characters I love.
Without getting all spoilery (for the half dozen of you out there who have neither read nor seen the story) Cinna is more important than anyone seems to realize ("anyone" meaning characters in the book and also readers thereof). Without him, everything would have been far more difficult, and perhaps would not have worked out at all. He puts himself in extreme danger without making a big deal out of it or asking for anything in return, and he pays for it dearly, but all because he knows it's worth it, and he believes in Katniss's ability to carry on what he started (or helped to start... I won't pretend he single-handedly began a revolution).
As an additional thought, I feel kind of the same way for the other stylists, but not as much, because I don't believe they did anything purposefully. But go read Mockingjay and tell me you don't love them just a little bit.
You guys know by now that I love the fringe characters. I usually can't care less about what the main character is up to... I'm focusing on the supporting cast. (Side note: that's because I love YA, and in YA, most of your protagonists are going to be the Everyman type so the reader can easily identify with him/her, whereas the secondary, tertiary, etc. characters can have real characteristics and behave like actual people, not walking, talking tabula rasas.)
That's why I immediately thought of Cinna, from The Hunger Games (and more specifically, from Catching Fire) when I thought of rebellious characters I love.
Without getting all spoilery (for the half dozen of you out there who have neither read nor seen the story) Cinna is more important than anyone seems to realize ("anyone" meaning characters in the book and also readers thereof). Without him, everything would have been far more difficult, and perhaps would not have worked out at all. He puts himself in extreme danger without making a big deal out of it or asking for anything in return, and he pays for it dearly, but all because he knows it's worth it, and he believes in Katniss's ability to carry on what he started (or helped to start... I won't pretend he single-handedly began a revolution).
As an additional thought, I feel kind of the same way for the other stylists, but not as much, because I don't believe they did anything purposefully. But go read Mockingjay and tell me you don't love them just a little bit.
Let's face it: Scott Westerfeld is my Hero. And while I am not referencing Peeps today, he still wins with his Uglies series. (Warning, spoilers ahead.)
Tally Youngblood guys. The most rebellious girls who kind of didn't mean to. No really, she never WANTED to be rebellious. She just wanted the operation like everyone else. But she fell in love with David, she decided to stay in the smoke, she broke her friends out of jail, she overcame brainwashing... TWICE, to do what she knew that she should, what was right, and what inevitably brought down the ruin of her government.
And while I do agree with Alex that peripheral characters are the best, it's Tally's relationship with those characters that makes her character great (especially in Extras, which I wasn't expecting. Her relationship with Shay and David FINALLY became what it should have been all along.)
Basically, Tally is super rebellious and awesome and amazing without even meaning to be. And that kind of makes her all the cooler.
Tally Youngblood guys. The most rebellious girls who kind of didn't mean to. No really, she never WANTED to be rebellious. She just wanted the operation like everyone else. But she fell in love with David, she decided to stay in the smoke, she broke her friends out of jail, she overcame brainwashing... TWICE, to do what she knew that she should, what was right, and what inevitably brought down the ruin of her government.
And while I do agree with Alex that peripheral characters are the best, it's Tally's relationship with those characters that makes her character great (especially in Extras, which I wasn't expecting. Her relationship with Shay and David FINALLY became what it should have been all along.)
Basically, Tally is super rebellious and awesome and amazing without even meaning to be. And that kind of makes her all the cooler.
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