Character flaw
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Flaws can add depth and humanity to the characters in a narrative. For example, the sheriff with a gambling addiction, the action hero who is afraid of heights, or a lead in a romantic comedy who must overcome his insecurity regarding male pattern baldness are all characters whose flaws help provide dimension. Perhaps the most widely cited and classic of character flaws is Achilles' famous heel.
In general, flaws can be categorized as minor, major, or tragic.
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Examples
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Literature
- Oedipus' downfall is directly linked to arrogance: Oedipus the King
- Macbeth suffers from hubris, leading to the murder of Duncan I of Scotland: Macbeth
- Hamlet is indecisive and self-doubting, which thwarts him in avenging his father's murder.
- Victor Frankenstein suffers from excessive curiosity, leading to the creation of the monster that destroys his life: Frankenstein
- Sigurd has a vulnerable spot on his back, where a linden leaf fell as he was bathing in dragon's blood: Volsunga saga
- Oliver Twist is a poor orphan with no money or relations, acting as the motive for his journey to London: Oliver Twist
- Agamemnon acts in greed when he takes Briseis away from Achilles: The Iliad
- Cyrano De Bergerac has a huge nose which keeps him from pursuing the woman he loves.
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Film
- Indiana Jones is afraid of snakes: Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Rocky Balboa thinks of himself as a loser who can't go the distance in the boxing ring.
- Anakin Skywalker's anger eventually consumes him: Star Wars hexalogy
- In Casablanca, Rick thinks of himself as a unfeeling cynic who denies the pain and disappointment from a failed love affair with Isla.
- In Vertigo, the detective played by James Stewart is afraid of heights and has to climb a tower.
- Captain Hook has only one hand: Peter Pan
- Roy Batty, as a replicant, is powerful, but has a very short lifespan: Blade Runner
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Television
- B. A. Baracus is afraid of flying: The A-Team
- Philip J. Fry has a severe lack of intelligence: Futurama
- Londo Mollari yearns to return to the "glory days" of the Centauri Republic: Babylon 5
- Mr. Spock relies heavily on logic and suppresses his more human emotions: Star Trek
- John Dorian (J.D.) is seen as a dork by the rest of the hospital staff: Scrubs
- Bam Margera is afraid of snakes. Viva La Bam
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Gaming
- In Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Rex was purposely designed to have a weakness by its creator, Hal Emmerich, better known as Otacon. He looked at it as a character flaw; a character just wasn't complete without one. Rex was almost unstoppable, and without its 'character flaw' the protagonist may not have been able to defeat it. This could, however, be seen as simply a plot device to explain away Rex's vulnerability.
- In Final Fantasy VIII, Squall Leonhart begins the game being extremely anti-social, and has a refusal to depend on any one, thinking that he is able to get through life on his own.
- In Sonic Adventure 2, Shadow the Hedgehog the "Ultimate Lifeform" has several character flaws, including a poor memory and over confidence. In the last story he remembers the truth just in time to fix his mistakes but ends up exhausting himself due to overconfidence, leveling him unable to return to the Ark.
Anime
- From Naruto Uchiha Sasuke believes that he must be stronger than everybody else to be able to defeat his brother Itachi. After discovering that Naruto has surpassed him, he defects to the secret village of Sound to get trained by Orochimaru and get stronger.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Character flaw" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on original research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
