My Three Favorite Characters – Part 3
You’ve read my views on Malcolm Reynolds and Captain Jack Harkness. Now, let me introduce you to my favorite character of all time.
Methos from Highlander.
I know I’m not alone in loving Methos. In fact, I don’t know of anyone who isn’t intrigued by him. Sure, I love Duncan, too, but he’s too good guy heroic—almost predictable to me. It does add to Methos’s appeal that he’s onscreen with Duncan, though. They juxtapose and yet compliment each other very, very well. I think without Duncan, Methos might not have been so intriguing. Plus, I find Peter Wingfield incredibly attractive, but there’s nothing new there. All my favorite characters are hot one way or another to me.
He’s not really a good guy. Not that he’s a dickhead, though. He’s sharp and such, but not an asshole. Part of that is because he’s not a leader. Like, at all. Like, not by any stretch of the imagination. He’s not even a hero. He has heroic moments, but he’s far from a true hero. When there’s danger, he’s more inclined to run away from it rather than into the fray like Duncan does.
Why would that make him my favorite character of all time?
Many reasons, but the one coming to mind right now is that when I see a guy coming at me with a sword ready to slice my head off, I’m more inclined to run away than stay and fight, too.
That makes Methos human. He has been alive for five thousand years and doesn’t want to die. He wants to keep on living. That means that life really is worth living. No matter how many guys come at him wanting to kill him, he doesn’t give up. He does everything he can to keep his head attached to his body.
He’s been bad (one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, no less) but he’s changed for the better. That gives me hope that people can change at any time…as long as they truly want to. All this stuff is fascinating to me.
But beyond those character traits, the man is five thousand years old. He’s lived through the history I read about in books. I geek on that stuff. I really do. What I wouldn’t give for a glimpse into some of the times Methos has seen. I mean, if I could sit down and just chat with him about things that happened centuries, millennia ago…what a pleasure! And he seems to enjoy talking about that stuff.
He doesn’t keep much hidden at all really. Sure, he didn’t tell Duncan about the Four Horsemen time in his life, but who would? I mean, you’ve got this good-guy friend…would you say, “Oh, by the way, I used to be one of the meanest, deadliest, most feared guys on the planet.” Somehow, I don’t think that’d come up in conversation much. Plus, that was thousands of years ago.
I bet if Methos was to try to tell someone about his life—his entire life—it would take a decade of talking non-stop. Sometimes a year of my life feels like a century. I just can’t imagine what it would be like to live for so many centuries and still want to keep living because I’m not tired of it yet. That’s fascinating stuff to me.
Now, if I could just figure out a good story to combine Malcolm Reynolds, Captain Jack Harkness and Methos into one guy…
They might be interesting interacting with each other individually, but as one…now that’d be crazy fascinating. I’ll have to work on that…
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