Top 10 Non-Human Characters

I decided to make this Top 10 because as I was compiling the Top 10 Male Characters I noticed that the majority of them were dead or other-worldly creatures. So, I edited that list and created a whole new one 🙂 Suffice to say all the characters on this Top 10 are either male or at least it can be assumed that they are or once were male. *Note: the list does not include animal characters as they are another Top 10 I will do soon :)*

1. Skulduggery Pleasant

Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy

The Skulduggery Pleasant series wouldn’t be half as funny if it weren’t for its wise-cracking fedora-wearing skeleton detective. Skulduggery is an Elemental (which is a kind of sorcerer who can control the elements) and is technically dead but was brought back to life by magic. But being a walking skeleton doesn’t stop him from kicking supernatural-badguy ass and looking awesome (while a bit thin) while doing it.

The coolest detective that happens to be a skeleton

2. Aziraphale

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

One of the best things about this hilarious book, co-written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, is the relationship between Aziraphale the angel and Crowley the demon who are chosen by their respective sides to watch over and guide the anti-christ. Aziraphale is adorably wholesome, nerdy and a little queer and yet he’s not the typical angel. There are points in the book where its obvious that he’s just doing the good thing because its expected which is a funny contrast to Crowley who doesn’t really put much effort into being evil. I also really liked that Aziraphale’s cover while on Earth is the owner of a dusty little bookshop 🙂

Just as I would imagine an angel 🙂

3. Crowley

 Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I couldn’t have Aziraphale without his “evil” counterpart Crowley. Crowley was originally the serpent in the Garden of Eden (and called Crawly) and then “an Angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards”. In contrast to Aziraphale he lives in a very nice apartment, has a gorgeous 1926 black Bentley (that he’s had since it was new) and always looks cool. He also is unusual for a demon as he doesn’t really have the stomach for cruelty and of course, he’s quite fond on Aziraphale (‘tho he wouldn’t admit it) when he should be his enemy.

That's one chilled out demon

4. Calcifer

Howl’s Castle Series by Diana Wynne Jones

Another demon, but of a very different sort. Calcifer is a fire demon and in Howl’s Moving Castle he is bound to Wizard Howl and forced to heat the castle and perform various magics to keep it going. He was my favourite character in the animated movie based on the book, because of his grumpiness and adorable facial expressions (he’s a very expressive fire!). In the book he’s a little more sinister rather than cute, but he’s still very funny and quite likeable for a demon – I love him 🙂

I NEED MORE LOGS!!!!

5. Death

Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Death is one of (if not THE) best thing about the Discworld books. He is sufficiently creepy and mysterious but with a dry wit, curiosity for humans and a love of cats that makes him very endearing and likeable. I loved him in the three books that deal with Rincewind the wizard (The Colour of Magic; The Light Fantastic and  Sourcery) as he pops up whenever Ricewind is in a “near-death” experience (which is often!) but especially in Mort where he is one of the main characters and has to teach his apprentice, Mort, how to be Death. When I die I hope that Death is like the one in Discworld 🙂

Death in Hogfather

6. Death

The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak

Another personification of Death, but one that is a little different. Death isn’t exactly a character in this book because he’s the narrator, but he does sort-of interact with the main character so he isn’t a traditional narrator. This Death is quite sensitive to the suffering of mankind and doesn’t like war. He also badly wants a vacation but can’t take one as he has no replacement. I especially like how he remembers each time he takes a soul by the colour the sky was. A beautiful book, and Death as a narrator makes it that much better.

"The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places it was burned. There were black crumbs and pepper, streaked across the redness."

7. Malingo

The Books of Abarat by  Clive Barker

Malingo is a Geshrat which is a humanoid creature in the world of Abarat. The main character of the books, Candy, meets Malingo in the first book (Abarat) in the house of Kaspar Wolfswinkel, a nasty magician. Malingo is his down-trodden servant and gets beaten regularly until Candy saves him and he joins her on her journeys. Malingo was one of my fave characters in Abarat. He’s just so sweet and innocent and you want to give him a big hug! The book is accompanied by Clive Barker’s vibrant paintings, so you get a good picture of what Malingo looks like rather than just relying on the descriptions.

One of Clive Barker's painting that appears in Abarat

8. The Luggage

The Colour of Magic; The Light Fantastic and Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

Lots of Pratchett characters in this list! The Luggage is possible the strangest character on this list because it is in no way human-like. The Luggage is basically a sentient chest made from sapient pearwood (which is a rare magical plant in Discworld) that runs around on hundreds of legs, has a gaping mouth with huge square teeth, and follows it’s owner EVERYWHERE (which includes off the Rim and Deaths domain). He (It?) also has the habit of eating people who endanger it’s owner in any way, as well as bits of the scenery, but the next time it’s opened all that’s in there is the owners laundry, “freshly pressed and smelling of lavender”. The owner of the Luggage is originally Twoflower, a tourist in Ankh-Morpork but in The Light Fantastic he gives it to Rincewind the wizard.

Nom nom nom

9. Matt Richter

Nekropolis by  Tim Waggoner

Matt Richter is a detective in the realm of Nekropolis which houses vampires, demons, witches and other supernatural beings. The thing that makes Matt unusual is he’s a zombie, sustained by voodoo charms. To pay for these life-sustaining charms Matt takes on cases, which in Nekropolis usually means danger. Matt is just like an old pulp-fiction detective with his long trench-coat and hat pulled down over his face, but he can’t drink like one because he has to vomit it up before it decays in his stomach. His wise-cracking, self-deprecating humor is hilarious and also the fact that he’s a zombie but yet is just like a classy detective of yesteryear. A very fun book, and I’m glad that there is two sequels – Dead Streets and Dark War.

A very unique detective

10. Mr Tumnus

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

I’ve loved the adorably nervous faun Mr Tumnus since I first read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was a kid. Me and my best friend also listened to the audiobook of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe countless times, and I thought the actor that played Tumnus in the movie adaptation (James McAvoy) was really good too 🙂

Love the scarf 🙂

This was a bit of a one-off post because I ment to do all three Top 10’s the other day, but found that three is a bit much. So, from now on I will do two Top 10’s at the end of each month on the same theme 🙂

Happy reading Bookbaggers!