I've determined that I love cryptic, mysterious characters in stories.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

Basically what qualifies as that is a character who is never fully explained but frequently referenced or referred by the other characters. He or she may be rarely seen, or perhaps partially seen lurking in the shadows, but his or her reputation is very much present.

It's typically not a main character either as a protagonist or antagonist, and its appearance time can range from split seconds to a few scenes.

It might be a supernatural character but it could also just be a normal human being with a good sense of dark mystery about him or her.

I seem to be drawn to these types of characters over all different types of genres.

A few of my favorites have to be Old Georgie from Cloud Atlas (Hugo Weaving's depiction in the movie was sublime), the way King Aeyrs II has been portrayed/referred to in Game of Thrones thus far (on the TV show, not sure how it is in the books), the "real" version of the Edward Mott ghost in last year's American Horror Story: Roanoke, Roy from the Youtube video series "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared", and of course, Foo Foo the Snoo from Dr. Seuss' I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!



Anyone else have a favorite cryptic, mysterious character?

[Glorfindel]

1. My favorite: Sam Elliott as the Stranger in "The Big Lebowski"

The Dude abides!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

2. Definitely cryptic and mysterious.

Interestingly enough, not menacing. But definitely cryptic nonetheless.

Goes without saying that TBL (along with several other Coen films) is one of my all time favorites.

Hell, there's a couple of other great cryptic characters in Coen movies.


You have the Lone Biker of the Apocalypse from Raising Arizona:



And Sherriff Cooley from O Brother Where Art Thou:

[Glorfindel]

3. And Tom Bombadil, from "Lord of the Rings"

"But I had forgotten Bombadil, if indeed this is still the same that walked the woods and hills long ago, and even then was older than the old. That was not then his name. Iarwain Ben-adar we called him, oldest and fatherless. But many another name he has since been given by other folk: Forn by the Dwarves, Orald by Northern Men, and other names beside. He is a strange creature..."

—Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

The movies proved that the story moved along just fine without him, but still I was a little disappointed that he didn't appear in them.

[cemaphonic]

4. Have you read Blood Meridian?

Judge Holden isn't exactly what you're talking about, as he is a fairly major character. But he has this strange otherworldly quality to him that makes him feel not quite human.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

5. Now you have me wanting to read it.

I read The Road, so I got an introduction to McCarthy.