Best religious character

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Patrick Buck

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Daystar Clarion said:
Shepherd Book from Firefly.


The guy has an interesting past, there's no doubt about that. Whatever he was, he's deemed important by the Alliance.

I don't think he was always a religious man, but something happened to him, war hero perhaps? Whatever it was, he seeked out religion after the fact. He knows too much to have always been a clergyman.
Have you read the comics with his backstory?
I kinda wish I hadn't, it ruined some of the mystery for the character, but it's still interesting.
 

soren7550

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Dec 18, 2008
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Initially, I couldn't think of anyone. Then I did, but I forgot who.

But then I remembered again!:

[small]Yeah, that's all I can think of.[/small]
 

WolfThomas

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Dec 21, 2007
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Patrick Buck said:
Have you read the comics with his backstory?
I kinda wish I hadn't, it ruined some of the mystery for the character, but it's still interesting.
Ugh. That story was so unnecessary. I prefer just sticking with the films implication he was an operative.
 

Yarkaz

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Aug 22, 2009
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Shepard Book from Firefly is pretty cool, but I think my all time favorite is Sazed from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy. He's easily the most realistic religious character I've read, watched, or played, and can be seen fully investigating and questioning his faith numerous times throughout the series as many intellectual religious folk do. His interactions with other characters demonstrates a willingness to defend himself with logic and rationale, something rarely seen amongst the horde of fanatical characters seen elsewhere in modern fantasy.
He even has a religious falling out, a revival, and finally- Nope. You guys should read it yourselves and find out.

Really good trilogy, would strongly recommend.
 

AsurasEyes

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Ignatz_Zwakh said:
Fun fact: When I saw the title of this thread, Anderson was the only character who came to mind. :p
I don't blame you. One of the best damn characters in the whole show. Kept me watching till the very end.
 

Necron_warrior

OPPORTUNISTIC ANARCHIST
Mar 30, 2011
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Geo Da Sponge said:
Did someone say religion?!?

Let's get some righteous Imperial fury up in this bey-otch!



[HEADING=1]My hat is on fire! Your argument is invalid![/HEADING]

Okay, so fair's fair, Imperial Redemptionists aren't exactly nuanced. There are still some pretty interesting ideas bouncing around in the Imperial faith, especially the fact that in the Imperium worshipping the Emperor can take almost any form imaginable.
Nothing beats the Imperium for religious badassery I'll admit.

OT: Well, I'd put forward...
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0JKi3G2oTdg/Tg5-czXIxGI/AAAAAAAAAgI/aO69-v1lv6g/s1600/AniDub_Panty__Stocking_with_Garterbelt_01_RUS_JAP_1280x720_h264_Ancordmp4_snapshot_0922_20101007_012706.jpg
GARTERBELT
"PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE! SO SHUT THE FUCK UP, BITCHES!"

And...
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqIuWJiG02M/T_SUL3nKuAI/AAAAAAAAA0Y/X3BNGsx_5Bc/s1600/The+Bad+Hellboy.jpg
HELLBOY
A Catholic Demon happens to be surprisingly badass.
 

Lieju

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JoJo said:
AsurasEyes said:
Notably, Father Alexander Anderson. For those of you who haven't seen it, I envy you, but he requires some explanation. He's a vampire hunter under the employ of the secret Vatican Section 13 monster slaying division, known as Iscariot. He spouts lines from the Bible as he rips his foes apart with his blessed bayonets, and also runs an orphanage on the side, teaching the children that violence is never the answer.
I'll admit I haven't seen the anime in question but I'm kinda confused, aren't the two bolded parts mutually exclusive, unless he's a hypocrite? Or is that partly why he's a good character, because he has realistic flaws?
The whole order 13 'Iscariot' was based on the idea that they'd do the horrible unforgivable things that needed to be done, like killing monsters.
They are supposed to be a contradiction.

<youtube=BsWazWtSD64>

I like Anderson and the Iscariot. I mean, in real life I'd be terrified of them, but in the world of Hellsing where inhuman monsters do exist, they make sense, and it's also tragic how they have to exist and be basically brought up as fanatical killers.

Also, teleporting with a Bible is bloody cool.
Also, they might be right, at least when it comes to the existence of God in that universe. Certainly there's something there, since they have relics that have real power, but it's not clear how much of their dogma is true.

Religion is always different in works that have supernatural powers in them.
If their god/goddess/force they worship demonstrably exists, science would come to the same conclusions they do, and science and religion would overlap.
 

Retsam19

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Dec 6, 2010
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To answer the question: I'll reiterate Wolfwood, and I love that Sazed from Mistborn was mentioned.

Also, I'd mention Captain America. It's silly, but I loved the line from the Avengers: "There's only one God, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that". It made me think that it's been a long time since I've seen a movie portray a character as a Christian (or at least a monotheist, but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be Christian with Captain America) without feeling the need to present it as a character flaw, or make a big deal about it one way or the other.


Dangit2019 said:
Thaddeus from Mogworld. He was Yahtzee's book-long generalization of religious people, and it was glorious.
I suppose it's not surprising given that I am religious, but I really disliked Yahtzee's attitude towards the religious throughout Mogworld. I picked up the book thinking "I like his show, I like video game jokes, I like funny fiction (Terry Pratchett, for example), this should be good", and was simply not prepared for the enormous amounts of religion bashing. Both Thaddeus, the completely unsympathetic sidekick, not to mention the villain are terrible representations of religious people.

I don't mind when people poke fun at the religious, honestly. But when a book that's ostensibly making jokes about video games spends more time bashing religion than making video game jokes?
 

ImperialSunlight

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Justin Law from Soul Eater was pretty badass. Particularly when he was just killing people while barely paying attention to them.
 

Dangit2019

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Retsam19 said:
To answer the question: I'll reiterate Wolfwood, and I love that Sazed from Mistborn was mentioned.

Also, I'd mention Captain America. It's silly, but I loved the line from the Avengers: "There's only one God, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that". It made me think that it's been a long time since I've seen a movie portray a character as a Christian (or at least a monotheist, but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be Christian with Captain America) without feeling the need to present it as a character flaw, or make a big deal about it one way or the other.


Dangit2019 said:
Thaddeus from Mogworld. He was Yahtzee's book-long generalization of religious people, and it was glorious.
I suppose it's not surprising given that I am religious, but I really disliked Yahtzee's attitude towards the religious throughout Mogworld. I picked up the book thinking "I like his show, I like video game jokes, I like funny fiction (Terry Pratchett, for example), this should be good", and was simply not prepared for the enormous amounts of religion bashing. Both Thaddeus, the completely unsympathetic sidekick, not to mention the villain are terrible representations of religious people.

I don't mind when people poke fun at the religious, honestly. But when a book that's ostensibly making jokes about video games spends more time bashing religion than making video game jokes?
I am also religious, but I learned to stop giving two shits when people made jokes about it.
 

Retsam19

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Dec 6, 2010
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Dangit2019 said:
Retsam19 said:
To answer the question: I'll reiterate Wolfwood, and I love that Sazed from Mistborn was mentioned.

Also, I'd mention Captain America. It's silly, but I loved the line from the Avengers: "There's only one God, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that". It made me think that it's been a long time since I've seen a movie portray a character as a Christian (or at least a monotheist, but I'm pretty sure it's meant to be Christian with Captain America) without feeling the need to present it as a character flaw, or make a big deal about it one way or the other.


Dangit2019 said:
Thaddeus from Mogworld. He was Yahtzee's book-long generalization of religious people, and it was glorious.
I suppose it's not surprising given that I am religious, but I really disliked Yahtzee's attitude towards the religious throughout Mogworld. I picked up the book thinking "I like his show, I like video game jokes, I like funny fiction (Terry Pratchett, for example), this should be good", and was simply not prepared for the enormous amounts of religion bashing. Both Thaddeus, the completely unsympathetic sidekick, not to mention the villain are terrible representations of religious people.

I don't mind when people poke fun at the religious, honestly. But when a book that's ostensibly making jokes about video games spends more time bashing religion than making video game jokes?
I am also religious, but I learned to stop giving two shits when people made jokes about it.
As I said in my post, I really don't mind jokes made about religious people. It happens. I realize that, honest, I do. I expect it anytime I browse the internet. But to have it comprise almost the majority of a book ostensibly about something else was frustrating, as much from the feeling of false advertising as much because I really care that other people don't all like us.

But thanks for your rather condescending sounding post about how much more mature you are than me, it was really constructive.
 

TakerFoxx

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Jan 27, 2011
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Daystar Clarion said:
Shepherd Book from Firefly.


The guy has an interesting past, there's no doubt about that. Whatever he was, he's deemed important by the Alliance.

I don't think he was always a religious man, but something happened to him, war hero perhaps? Whatever it was, he seeked out religion after the fact. He knows too much to have always been a clergyman.
Blackmagic1515 said:
Perhaps not as well known but my vote goes to Michael Carpenter from The Dresden Files. A wonderful man who loves his family and friends, helps others regardless of the situation and always has your back. Then when shit gets serious he's there with a prayer and a sword. Brilliant character.
These two, definitely. Religious people have an unnerving tendency to be cast in antagonistic roles in fantasy and sci-fi, so it's so very refreshing to see characters that are openly religious but good people at the same time, not to mention very much badass.
 

BathorysGraveland

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Dec 7, 2011
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Hmm, well there is Solomon Kane. A character written by Robert E. Howard. Just started reading his stories recently and they are pretty cool. He's a 16th century swordsman dressed in black who goes around kicking the arses of demons and shamans and shit in Africa, as it seems for the most part, all in the name of God and justice.

Not religious myself, but I can admire badass stories like this.
 

Sehnsucht Engel

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Apr 18, 2009
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Hellsing OVA looks great at least. I thought of Alexander Anderson as soon as I saw the title of the thread, but I don't know anyone else.
 
Aug 1, 2010
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[b/]Snarky response that is required because you told me not to:[/b]
Best fictional religious character? That "God" guy is kind interesting. He's a bit retarded at times and isn't very believable, but he does have some DAMN cool superpowers.

[b/]Real response:[/b]
Constantine.

Keanu Reeves with a fireball shotgun will always be amazing.
 

chadachada123

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Jan 17, 2011
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While by no means a major character, there's an Irish Catholic priest in Borderlands that has a few hilarious echo recordings in the zombie DLC.

Oh, and of course the token "God" response. Best fictional religious character, yada yada.