[Ammanas]

Apsalar gets my vote. I wondered, from book to book, why she kept doing things for Cot/ST after the Rope relinquished his possession of her. Duh, she's got nothing else to do and nowhere to go. The recruiter in GoTm marked her as 12 or 13, tops. Cot's claim to Paran that Apsalar has her life back is meaningless as she never got the chance to develop her own. So she is stuck in assassin mode. Hopefully, she'll find an alternative.

[Dunsparrow]

Well, SE certainly gives us a lot to pick from!

Felisin came instantly to mind, although my mind is slowly flooding with more and more people. I'll think a bit and come back

[Sinisdar Toste]

beak was so poignant for me, and trull as well.

in fact trull takes it hands down, the senselessness of his death was terrible. i read it and like didn't even realize what had happened. i had to go back a few times before it sunk in. no loopholes, no last words. just a stab in the back.

[Dunsparrow]

Sinisdar Toste;276432 said:

beak was so poignant for me, and trull as well.

in fact trull takes it hands down, the senselessness of his death was terrible. i read it and like didn't even realize what had happened. i had to go back a few times before it sunk in. no loopholes, no last words. just a stab in the back.

I forgot about Beak! Trull came to mind right after Felisin, but Beak is definitely way up there too. Unlike a lot of characters he's tragic right off the bat.

I also think Mappo has a fairly tragic role. Oh, and Toc too.

[Mentalist]

hmmm
Trull
Itkovian (duh)
Hull Beddict
Heboric Light Touch
Pearl, just due to the fact that he swears to avenge Lostara's death, and she's in the same building atm....

I could probably think of many more...

[Quick~]

Trull - what can anyone possibly say about Trull to do justice to the injustices he was served in his life.

Felisin - like her or not, Felisins character and story were both seriously tragic and it was all capped off with the heart wrenching way she died.

Mappo - I guess some people will disagree but his role with Icarium combined with his personal/moral dilemmas makes for something very tragic.

--

there's a lot of tragedy in the world...no wonder Dessembrae could rival hood >_>

[Ammanas]

Yeah, there so many choices. Damn, I'm glad I don't live in the Malazan Empire.

As a side question, how many people believe Apsalar has ascended? In BH, her conversations with Paran seemed to indicate she had ascended. Not fear of the plague, etc. She almost feels like she ascended by proxy.

[Lisheo]

The most tragic character: Beak... Brought a tear to my eye, when he met his brother again.

[Mentalist]

One reason I don't consider MAppo "Tragic" is that he still has a chance fro a happy ending, as unlikely as that is.
Likewise, Beak had a hard life, but died happy and he found happiness eventually, from the moment he was assigned to Faradan Sort.

On the other hand, people like Trull, Hull, Itkovian...

[Lisheo]

The thing is, tragic doesnt have to be total. In Othello, possibly the greatest Shakespearean tragedy, Othello regains some of the audiences sympathy at the end, and there is one happy point (the survival of Cassio). Likewise, if Beak and Mappo had had horrible endings, I think id still be crying myself to sleep lol. It cant be all horrible, that just wouldnt be realistic.

[Ammanas]

I'm not backing off my original vote for Apsalar but Toc is a close second for me. He's SE's whipping boy, it seems. Loses an eye to Moon's Spawn, gets tossed into a rent by an insane(is there any other kind?) puppet, gets horribly abused by the Matron, then reborn as a mortal sword and then slaughtered. NOBODY deserves the agony he suffered during his life and I realize this doesn't constitute tragedy, strictly speaking but YIKES. The guy gets some cred just for Hood greeting him personally.

[Khellendros]

Well, this series is really all about tragedy, so there's a lot to choose from there. But let's see, who would be my most tragical of tragic characters? Ok:

GotM:

Lorn (the book showed her losing any semblance of being her own person, making her own decisions, and then dying a senseless death at the whim of the gods)

DG:

Felisin (caught in something unasked for and which she didn't fully comprehend, her sister's 'betrayal' leaving her scarred for the rest of her short existence and unable to trust anyone - including the people who had a chance to save her)

MoI:

Hmm, surprisingly this is a tough one. Itkovian isn't tragic in the strict sense, as he takes on his burden willingly. A controversial choice might be Pannion - after all - he has spent an eternity of eternities being tortured inside a rent, but he does have a fairly happy ending on the other hand. I guess then it would have to be Toc the Younger - caught up in things which are well over his head, going through the most excruciating torture ever, and finally sacrficing himself for a wolf...albeit a wolf god...and he does get a new body

HoC:

Felisin cont. - So, what's up with her now? Ah, possessed by an insane god, everyone around her scheming her demise and then...killed by her own sister. Gosh darn.

MT:

Another great one for tragedy - strong arguments could be put in place for the entire Sengar clan, and perhaps Hannan Mosag too (after all, he was just trying to protect his people, and look where that ended up). But, of course, it would have to be Trull Sengar - a single voice of reason to whom no one listens, having to watch his entire family and people tear itself apart even as they become the thing they most despise, and after all that, being left alone with the most impossible of choices - kill your own brother, or keep him in agony for his whole existence.

tBH - Another controversial choice for this might be Taralack Veed. Yes, he's nasty and up to no good, but what made him that way? Tragic upbringing/events amongst his clan. And then at the end he realises the foolishness of what he's seeking to unleash, but feels helpless to do anything about it. The only chance for his life to continue is to keep himself around Icarium - the guy who's also most likely to get him killed. A less controversial choice might be Heboric - a pretty vague quest to rid himself of the jade, ending with him feeling the pain of thousands upon thousands of souls. Poor sod, he just wanted to be a historian But I think I would have to go with Pearl - ironically, after hiding knowledge from Tavore, his own demise came from his love for his partner in that secret whom he wrongly thought dead. Thinking no good of anyone anymore, he saw power as head of the Claw as his only way to fix the faults he saw in everyone else. The tragedy being that Lostara Yil was oh so very alive still, quasi-Romeo and Juliet.

RG - And another maelstrom of tragicality. One could put up the whole of Fear Sengar's and Silchas Ruin's group as an gestalt tragic whole. I think, in the end, even with Beak (who, let's face it, does have a happy ending) and Toc 'call me Toc the Unlucky', it would have to be Rhulad Sengar for me. A slave to his desires and to his evil Chancellor, a man to whom dying became a drug, losing his very self to the sword and the madness. It's Rhulad's POV's that do it for me - we get to see an Edur who is really little more than a child, afraid and very very alone, feeling betrayed by his closest kin in a Felisin-like manner and at the same time consumed by the overwhelming guilt he feels over their fates. Then there were all the opportunities to save him that came to naught - Udinaas, Nisall, Tomad and Uruth, and Bruthen Trana. And then the final blow, an impossible choice much like Trull's earlier in the series - pick up the sword and save your brother (little knowing he's already gone), but become the King in Chains once again, or refuse and gain some salvation for your soul, but possibly letting your brother die. The fact that he tries to regain the sword once again shows both that this was a man who had not forgotten how to love and care, and at the same time how very tragically wrong all his choices always were.

[Lisheo]

In a way, Felisin and Apsalar are almost opposites... Yeah, Rhulad was the definition of tragic hero actually. I just wish that like Trull's, his death hadnt been so senseless.

[Ezikeil]

For me it was/is Udinaas though Trull is a second. The only reason I would say that Trull IS second is because Trull loved and was Loved. He Had cherished friends. It was his ending that was tragic. There is a hole in my wall to show my frustration at his ending

Udinaas is another story. He was born into slavery in everything but name. He decides to go into fishing and gets thrown into slavery in fact. He is in love but the woman he loves does not love him and ends up going insane. He is taken over by a wyven and a shadow wraith and has his free will usurped. He has more asendents swarming around him than Quick Ben...Think about that. And all he has is his wits. I know his story is not at an end but he has no real friends. He has a son that he really does not know. And who in the end will love him. Where will he go? He has no magic (I think) he is alone.

Very very depressing.

[Lisheo]

But Udinaas and Rud meet up and vanish together in the end.... Tht was happy, in a way.

[Mentalist]

hmmm

Once again, I must point out, Toc Is not dead yet--he never did enter the gate when we last leave him.
Back to topic--I realize that MT is all about the Sengars.... and yet my heart still pines for Hull Beddict....

[Optimus Prime]

The Crippled God.

Torn from his own world and ripped apart. Not even given a chance before he is chained and tormented for thousands of years.

[Mentalist]

In all honesty, I don't think they chained him untill after he reformed himself..
But yes, with the supposed "villain" being a victim of circumstance.. one of the reasons why SE is such an awesome writer...

[Optimus Prime]

The Crippled God has a lot of reasons to be pissed. You can't really blame the guy for going nuts and wanting to screw everything up....the state of the world is obviously shit right now anyway...he probably thinks he can't do any worse.

[Aptorian]

Khellendros;276468 said:

It's Rhulad's POV's that do it for me - we get to see an Edur who is really little more than a child, afraid and very very alone, feeling betrayed by his closest kin in a Felisin-like manner and at the same time consumed by the overwhelming guilt he feels over their fates. Then there were all the opportunities to save him that came to naught - Udinaas, Nisall, Tomad and Uruth, and Bruthen Trana. And then the final blow, an impossible choice much like Trull's earlier in the series - pick up the sword and save your brother (little knowing he's already gone), but become the King in Chains once again, or refuse and gain some salvation for your soul, but possibly letting your brother die. The fact that he tries to regain the sword once again shows both that this was a man who had not forgotten how to love and care, and at the same time how very tragically wrong all his choices always were.

I agree, Rhulad is by far the most tragic person in the series. His vulnerability is set in such a stark contrast to the cruel chancellors evil machinations.