How could anyone hate Iri?!

Haha, an Iri thread!

He's like... my favorite character ever??? Need I say more?

I like him. He's got a lot of interesting emotions going.

Looking forward to seeing what kind of discussions ignite here.

LOL I happen to be more of an Aaron fan.

Although Iri is certainly a fascinating character, I definitely think he needs to get his head on straight, and some days I just want to smack him.

On the other hand, the poor guy has been through a lot, so some of it is understandable. He's probably very fun to work with.

He's the character that you love to hate and are just waiting for an excuse to love him.

Hey, I like wanting to smack characters. <smile>

I can't do more than second all of these. Well, except the one about being more of an Aaron fan.

Who’s Aaron?

Just kidding!

I can't help loving Iri's character more! Part of why we love Iri is because of his conflicted personality and the desire to smack him occasionally. He's real, he's gritty.

I think his head is screwed on straight, he's just dealing with a lot of conflicting emotions, most of which are colored by his pride.

My thoughts exactly

Exactly!

Part of the reason why I love Aaron more is because he shares some similar characteristics with one of my charries (so I'm a little biased )

I'm more of an Aaron fan too, actually. Though I must admit, I really like characters that are fun to write with. You never really know what to expect with them.

He's incredibly 'real' to me. His motivations, and his struggles. There are so many people in the world who aren't the good guys, and a lot of them could easily be the bad guys. And when it comes to real people, watching the evil they do, or could do, breaks my heart. But when I sit down to write, my characters reflect myself and I can't come up with plausible motivations for villains. Why is the bad guy bad? You have to make him just power hungry, removed, stereotypical to get it to work...

I love sympathetic villains. And I'm impossible at creating them. My two examples are Herene (from Prince of Yen) and, strangely enough, Michael (from Lightning Ranger.) My first draft for POY was an epic fail, because Herene had no motivation. But Iri does. Iri is the guy I work with, my next door neighbor, my best friends ex-boyfriend. Iri is real, in pain, choosing wrong, and ignorant of what he's doing. Iri represents the entire human race to me, and every time I read a little more of his story I understand just a little bit more why Christ died.

The other character who did this to me was Achenar from Myst IV: Revelation. In this story there are two brothers, (there's a little backstory, but it spoils the first game, so live without it.) Both were evil, one has reformed. You don't know which. During the game you explore their journals, their prisons, and their memories. You see a little bit of good, and some of bad, and something about Achenar suddenly made sense to me. All I'd seen was his brutality, but once or twice there was a glimpse of something more. A glimpse of what he could have been, if he wasn't evil. And since then I've seen double, every person I meet I see two versions of. What they are, bound to sin, and what they could be if they'd been set free. And it breaks my heart...

Well that turned out longer than I thought. This is supposed to be about Iri not my own philosophical observation and villain struggles. But there it is. Iri is humanity with the veil stripped away...

I agree with Vanya.

I love Iri because he is so deep, and I understand him well.

Iri’s personality makes him a walking contradiction. He’s an oxymoron in his very makeup. His intricate character makes you both despise him and pity him (pity, not sympathize). I love characters that have this dynamic. His personality is conflicting. He constantly tries to puff himself up (because, let us face it, while Iri is prideful, his need for approval and elevation stems from his insecurities), yet he is constantly attempting to silence his inner voice. One of the most effective ways he does this is by bringing fear and pain to someone else. Subconsciously he believes he can silence his own injuries by retaliating and causing pain to others. Yet there is always that small flicker of hope. Hope that Iri will change. That the light will overcome the darkness.

I've been completely inactive on the forum since I introduced myself way back . . . I can't even remember when. But I've been wanting to jump back in and this seemed like the perfect thread because I've been wanting to say how much I absolutely LOVE Iri! I agree with everything everyone has said. I seriously think he is one of the most fascinating characters I've ever read about. You've done a fabulous job with him Eruwaedhiel.

Wow! First thought that came to mind: Vilisse is an artistic genius.
From what I've seen, heard, and learned of Iri, that definitely seems like him.

I know a goodly amount of his history, thanks to you, so should I keep silent or say what I know???

Wow! That is some awesome art!

Amazing art there! Awesome! Is Iri from one of your books, Lady?

Hmm...

I know he had a father.

And I think he didn't know his mother?

And his father is still alive. But they apparently are not on speaking terms. I would guess that Iri thinks that his father is dead or else has betrayed him; Iri seems like the kind of person who would have strong family ties.

I might put his backstory like this:

He could have been separated from his father violently as a young teenager, and left to fend for himself in the world. He became a DragonRider... didn't he go bad after his dragon was accidentally killed?

Sorry, I don't know enough of your story to be sure on the facts of how he got where he is now.

I can think of lots of options to get him there, though.

And I still want to know where Vilesse got her Iri picture because that looks so much like how I imagined him: is it a stock picture, a screencap from a movie, a 3D model, or a painting?

Same here.

Make that a triple... =) Good job Villi!

eruheran

Thank you all! I'm glad my fan-art has been so graciously accepted (especially by the author herself )

Quadruple. Stunning, Villi!

For everyone's amusement, a light-hearted and joking subject:
Due to Iri, I now must learn what exactly what you call the tips on the ears of elves. My sleep depends on it.

Ear tips? Elf tips? Or whatips? And do you call Vulcan ears something else?

I'm too lazy. Go ahead and share. I'm a writer. Spoilers and backstory doesn't ruin the joy of the tale for me, anyway.

E! You must tell us! If not, I will PM you until you go nuts and tell me just to get me to leave you alone

My reaction last night when I read this:

Awww, poor Iri.

Ha! My suspicions were pretty accurate! Cool.

He was friends with Aaron? That sounds like... two of my characters... (Course, their story was completely different, but it's the same thing, childhood friends, and one betrays that friendship.)

And of course everyone says: "Poor Iri."

Due to a discussion on HWSF, I'm suggesting everyone share what made them fall in love with Iri - preferably by linking to an excerpt. I'll start: viewtopic.php?p=24717#p24717 Scroll about two thirds of the way down. It's in blue. Don't ask me how reading about a poor elf getting his ear-tips offed made me an Iri fan.

I'd like to know more about this conversation on HWSF!!

I met Iri in CI. I wasn't participating, because I was determined to read all the back posts before I jumped in. Since there were about sixty at the time it took a while. And I watched all kinds of since-forgotten character dramas unfold, and often Iri was in the middle of them.

At first he was just the likable villain type. After a while though another CI stalker went and found some of Lady E.'s long buried excerpts. I read them both at the same time, I think the vengeance scene it was that really touched me. It was the kind of heartbreaking, no-win situation that makes me want to be a writer. It also reminded me a lot of the relationship between Janin and Herene, only Iri is more lovable than Herene will ever be.

I think Iri's too prideful to allow a physical deformity to pull him down. I can see him playing the scar/limp up, making it into more than it is. Like a badge of honor.

Did that help?

I'm thinking that he would play it up. In the case of his ears, he might try to hide them, but if they were noticed he would probably do the same.

Basically, seconding Airi.

Eh, he strikes me as the type who would be very bitter/angry/ashamed about it. He'd be likely to pretend they didn't exist, and never talk about it. (Woe to the new person who doesn't know it's a touchy subject.) I can't see Iri admitting he needed help for anything, so I can't see him accepting sympathy either.

I couldn't see his accepting sympathy either.