Tuesday, May 3, 2016

TTT: Childhood Characters You'd Love To Revisit as Adults


This blog meme courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish

These are five of the characters from my childhood and/or child characters whose adulthood I'd like to see.

1. Alex Rider from the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz
Now, if I'm being honest, I haven't finished this series yet. I have yet to read Scorpia Rising or Russian Roulette (although writing this and having just watched Spectre, I'm finally feeling the need to finish it off).
Appropriately, I discovered Anthony Horowitz's series about a reluctant teenage spy when I was 14, the same age Alex himself is for much of the series. One of the things I found so interesting about Alex as a character is how he never wants to become involved in the danger and conspiracy that comes his way, but he can't turn his back on evil megalomaniacs, either.
It's this simultaneous reluctance to be a teenage spy and the inability to ignore what good is in his power to accomplish that really intrigues me about Alex, and especially makes me wonder at his eventual adulthood.
Would Alex give in to the life he's been unwittingly training his whole life for? When he grows up, is he going to willingly step into the role of a spy, on his terms? Or will he be so tired from the life by then that he turns to something else entirely? And if that's the case, of course the next logical question is, would he get pulled back into the role of a spy again anyway? Is it a fate he will ever be allowed the choice to escape?
What the adulthood of Alex Rider would entail is probably one of the biggest post-book questions that have continued to plague me. I have actively considered -and resisted- thoughts of fanfiction. That is how seriously I take this question, so it is definitely my #1 on this list.

2. The Triumvirate from The Ever Afters by Shelby Bach
Okay, so this is cheating. The Triumvirate consists of the core three characters: Rory Landon, Chase Turnleaf, and Lena LaMarrell. As one of my reigning favorite series of all times, I would love to take a peak at their lives ten or twenty years down the road from where we left them, just to see how things turned out.

3. Red Sharkey and Fletcher Moon from Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer
Unlikely schoolyard detective partners 'Red' Sharkey and Fletcher 'Half' Moon are a pair of my favorite dynamic duos. Snarky, underage, and bursting with gumshoe gumption, I discovered this middle grade book while in my late teens and still loved it to death. Even now, at 25, I leaf through it for a good laugh when I'm feeling particularly blue.
What makes the question of their future so intriguing is their unlikely friendship. Red, son of the city's resident crime boss, with a surprising heart of gold; Fletcher, the would-be greatest detective the world has ever seen. Fletcher is the brains and Red is the muscle, but Red is also a victim of a long-lasting and well-deserved prejudice against the Sharkey name. By the end of the novel, Red has convinced his Papa Sharkey that neither he nor his little brother need resort to his criminal lifestyle and their father is determined his two sons will grow up on the straight and narrow. Mostly. But of course we know that the slight against the Sharkey name will continue to plague them.
So do Red and Half Moon develop their schoolyard detecting agency into the real deal when they grow up? Or do they join a police academy instead? Does little Herod Sharkey follow in his brother's footsteps or take after his criminal father?
And what, for the sake of all that is good and just on this green earth, is Red Sharkey's REAL NAME?!

4. Merry and Pippin from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Okay, now technically Merry and Pippin were NOT children in Lord of the Rings -but they were also the closest thing to it.
In all honesty, I want to see where their lives led after the destruction of Sauron and the Ring because -while all the characters certainly grow and not only undertake but survive great burdens- Merry and Pippin were the two who truly matured. They also wound up pledging themselves to the services of two separate kings on the other side of the map, allegiances that are hinted could be called on at any time. So I want to see where Merry and Pippin found themselves, down the road. While Sam satisfied himself with a family and a garden and Frodo retired himself to rest across the sea, I can't see these rambunctious hobbits settling down for a good while yet.


5. Modo and Olivia Milkweed from The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade
I loved this series that mixes up Victorian literature into a steampunk spy series with a shape-shifting hero. (Seriously, check it out.) This series had, I felt, a fantastic ending, especially as far as Modo's character development, but I still want to know what happens next. Especially regarding Mr. Socrates. Do they ever meet again? Do they ever work together again?

I'll probably think of even more fantastic ones as soon as I hit the 'publish' button, but this will be it for today.

What favorite childhood characters would you like to check up on?

6 comments:

  1. Alex Rider would be interesting - although I only read the first book if I'm honest (and I liked the film - why didn't they make more??) Also didn't Pippin become Mayor of the Shire or something like that? I know he had a kid he called Faramir, definitely remember that from the family trees! :D

    My TTT: http://basedonthebook.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/top-ten-tuesday-literary-characters-id.html

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    1. I know -I loved the film! Did you know they continued with the film's story line in the graphic novels? I haven't read them all yet, but it's the next best thing to more movies.
      I had to look that up! Apparently Sam becomes Mayor of the Shire (elected TWICE!) but you have reminded me I still need to read the appendices for LotR). *more for the TBR*

      Thanks for stopping by, Catherine! I'll check out your list. ^_^

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  2. Alex Rider and Merry and Pippin are excellent choices! I too would love to see a good work of fiction detailing their lives and adventures post finale!


    My TTT

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    1. Fanfiction is generally reserved for TV shows, but I think we may have just found a new niche. ;)

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  3. A Sharkey police officer would be a phenomenon, but I think he would be more effective as a PI. It would be easier for him to keep is contacts.

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    1. True. Plus, if he stays a PI, he can still have run ins with the police.
      If any Sharkey becomes an officer, I bet it's Herod. ;)

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