Q: Are the days of the white hat hero and the goatee wearing villain in SF&F gone forever?
More and more in science fiction, fantasy – heck, all across the genre spectrum, we see what are considered to be the morally ambiguous characters, the anti-heroes who do the right thing but only because it falls in line with what they were gonna do anyway. Or maybe they did it because they saw a way to capitalize on it later. They drink to excess, smoke, do drugs, have rampant sex, fight a lot, kill people – the list goes on and on.
Characters with flaws as wide and deep as the grand canyon have become far more mainstream in literature, film & TV. Are the days of ‘real good’ against ‘real evil’ gone? Science fiction has always provided a platform wherein complex social topics and taboos can be explored ‘safely’ as seen through the eyes of aliens or as aliens contrasted against human cultures – are the stories featuring morally ambiguous characters or plots simply another extension of this platform? Is it part of the natural evolution of the genre? What are some examples of characters, novels or authors who have stood out in your mind despite (or maybe because of) their bucking of the system and the status quo?
- Jeff Patterson
- Fred Kiesche
- John Anealio
- Sam Sykes
- Tome of the Undergates
- Podcast features original music by John Anealio.
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