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Our Favorite SFF Characters And Their Tragic Flaws

Our Favorite SFF Characters And Their Tragic Flaws

Ever hear the story about the very good character who did everything right? No? Good, because we don’t care about that either. Check out this rundown of our favorite tragically flawed faces of science fiction & fantasy!


she who became the sun by shelley parker-chanGeneral Ouyang from She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

(kicks down the door) I GOTTA represent my boy (derogatory)

If we want to talk deeply flawed characters, no one is out here doing it like my boy General Ouyang in Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun. This boy can fit so much (self-)hatred, vengeance, and violent tendencies in his tragic backstory, and I can’t wait to see him flounder in the aftermath of his choices in the upcoming sequel this summer, He Who Drowned the World.

—Yvonne Ye, Ad/Promo Coordinator


Cover of Empress of Forever by Max GladstoneVivian Liao from Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

So I’ve for real had it about up to here with tech innovator celebrity people by now, but Vivian Liao in Max Gladstone’s fantastic Empress of Forever space opera is the exception. She’s reckless, dagger-smart, and displays a heavy bias towards action. But, it is these qualities that make her such a compelling lead that also ultimately result in her displacement into a far-flung future where a tyrannical Empress lords over all facets of reality. These are the traits that would also keep her from coming together with her new friends and allies to forge bonds strong enough to withstand the wrath of the future’s terrible queen.

—a cat, Assistant Marketing Manager


Flint & Mirror by John CrowleyHugh O’Neill from Flint & Mirror by John Crowley

This gorgeously written historical fantasy novel by one of my all-time favorite authors tells the story of Hugh O’Neill, a man caught between two worlds. Ripped from his childhood home, an Ireland still alive with magic and touching the land of faerie, Hugh is thrust into the role of courtier in Elizabethan England. As the last Irish rebellion against the Tudor conquest wages on, Hugh is torn between his queen and his homeland. This is a tragic tale of rebellion, magic, and a man whose divided loyalties leave him perpetually estranged from both worlds.

—Merlin Hoye, Marketing Assistant


The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. SchwabLuc from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

(HERE THERE BE SPOILERS, TURN AWAY IF YOU HAVEN’T READ ADDIE YET)

(Though also if you haven’t, what are you doing?!)

As many of my friends can attest, there is nothing I love more in fiction than a Morally Grey, Misunderstood Sad Boy (TM) and Luc from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is all of that and more. Well, okay maybe he’s just a villain and a demonic entity and has fairly minimal redeemable qualities BUT STILL. His dynamic with Addie, the mystery surrounding who (or what) he is, and the incredible back-and-forth he has with all the characters he interacts makes it really hard not to at least slightly root for him and Addie to become the incredibly compelling, yet probably incredibly toxic couple that SFF dreams are made of. So will they? Won’t they? Read the book to find out.

—Rachel Taylor, Senior Marketing Manager


Placeholder of  -60Antigone from Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth

Antigone, or Tig, was born into a doomed world in a city where no one believes she has a soul. Based on the classic Greek tragedy (Antigone by Sophocles, it’s a banger), Arch-Conspirator is also about tragic choices. It’s about staring your doom in the face and walking toward it anyway because the other options are worse. Tig doesn’t have a tragic flaw so much as a tragic belief that it’s better to choose your end than to have it chosen for you.

Read it and be sad with me.

—a bunch of raccoons in a trench coat, Assistant Director of Marketing