Tough Traveling: The Ace
The Thursday feature “Tough Traveling” is the brainchild of Nathan of Review Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information.
This week’s tour topic is: The Ace
Some people are just ridiculously good at everything. Be it magic, swordplay, or all of the above. THE ACE has no equal.
Mogsy’s Picks:
Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell
Falcio val Mond’s talents may lie in his silver tongue, but his two companions are the ones who are the master fighters. Brasti’s skill with the bow and arrow are unequaled, and Kest is the best swordsman in the land, and even claims the title of Saint of Swords.
The City Stained Red by Sam Sykes
Dreadaeleon may be young, but he’s an ace wizard. He also has a hard time taking advice from others and can sometimes be an arrogant jerk. What can you expect though, from a kid who knows he’s the best at what he does, which includes channeling lightning and hurling fireballs.
The Demon Cycle by Peter V. Brett
Arlen is just good at everything. It was he who ventured out into the desert and uncovered the old relics and wards that people long thought were lost. It was he who came up with the idea to tattoo himself with those wards, making himself virtually indestructible. And after deciding to munch down on a demon, the “misting” ability and other powers he gains makes him the best coreling hunter around.
Riyria Revelations by Michael J. Sullivan
Hadrian Blackwater was raised by his father, a blacksmith and a Teshlor Knight. He was trained to follow the code and to fight in the style of the ancient order, After several stints as a mercenary in various armies and becoming a renowned pit fighter, his reputation as the greatest swordsman became firmly established.
Horace is shipwrecked and washes up on the shores of Akeshia , where is is promptly pressed into service as a house slave. But then it turns out Horace is a latent sorcerer, which vaults him to the top of the royal court food chain. Never mind that he just discovered his power like, yesterday, or that his there’s not even magic where he came from, Horace is already a better mage than everybody else, even those who have been training since childhood.
The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks
“I’m the only human who can do it!” A sharp glance from his mother wiped the grin from his face. “Mom, what? I’m not bragging. It’s true! Watto says he’s never heard of a human doing it.”
Oh, STFU Anakin. Yes, we all know you’re the best podracer, and that you’ll grow up to be the best starfighter pilot the galaxy has ever seen. But you’re still an annoying little snot.
Wendy’s Picks
Mogsy beat me to the Wolverine reference, so I’ll offer this X-Man instead, who even comes with his very own aces!
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
John Carter is awesome at everything he does. How do I know this? Because John Carter says it is so. When he gets to Mars, his earth-based biology makes him even awesomer. Look out Martians, John Carter is here to be awesome. For you.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Adarlan’s Assassin might be the king’s slave at the start of this book, but she’s far from down for the count. As Celaena makes her way through this series, she just keeps getting better and better at everything she does.
The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold
Ingray is the one people call on to get the job done, whether it be escorting a condemned woman to her trial, or releasing long dead soldiers from their ghostly prison. His demeanor leaves something to be desired, but we’re not inviting him to social parties now, are we. If Ingray is summoned, it’s because we want him to let the wolf out.
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
It takes a monster to fight a monster, and when towns have trouble with the former, a witcher is what they need. Geralt of Rivia is the witcher that other witchers look up to. You just better make sure you have the orens to pay him for his work. Witchin’ ain’t easy.
And finally, no one of consequence:
Tiara’s Picks
Comic book characters embody this trope more than anyone for me, so my list is doing some things. Please enjoy this musical tribute (not made by me and is also not the music from the comic Deadpool the Musical) of my favorite overpowered comic book character, Deadpool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD6z4Vqktuo
Boric the Implacable (Disenchanted by Robert Kroese) – Expert swordsman. Expert tactician. Troll slayer. Dragon hunter. Handsome as hell… until that whole death thing happened and turned him into a wraith. All around badass who turned into a bigger badass even after he died, if such a thing is possible. Badass.
Flemeth (Dragon Age by BioWare) – She’s in the novels, so it totally counts. Flemeth’s magic is the stuff of legends in the game, comics, and novel. Since I met her in the first game and subsequently read about her, she’s always been a magical character I liked and knew was totally overpowered FOR THE GODS. I mean, she can turn into a dragon. My mage in game wanted to learn this trick from her for reasons she need not disclose at this time. She literally tells every other magical character in the Dragon Age universe, “Get on my level.” After this last Dragon Age game, we now know why Flemeth is such a magical genius.
Dr. Strange (Dr. Strange by Marvel Comics) – If you’re ever in a comic book jam in the Marvel Universe, it’s time to call Stephen Strange and his object conjuring, time-warping, transmutating, bolt slinging God Tier magic. Dr. Strange has more titles than a college professor. Not only is he Sorcerer Supreme. He’s also a neurosurgeon. He’s in more clubs devoted to the magical arts than any other fictional being ever. This dude is even in the Illuminati. I mean, who can stop him? What can’t he do with magic? No, seriously, what can’t Dr. Strange do?
Kazuo Kiriyama (Battle Royale by Koushun Takami) – Boy #6. Kazuo is a lethal weapon. Martial arts, he’s perfected that. Sword-wielding, he’s perfected that. Gunplay, he’s perfected that. Smarts, got those, too. Being the perfect psycho capable of killing a fair chunk of his classmates without remorse in Takami’s dystopian novel/manga/movie Battle Royale? Yeah, he’s got that, too. He took #1 spot for number of kills. There can only be one king.
Mitsuko Souma (Battle Royale by Koushun Takami) – Girl #11. I can’t mention Kiriyama without mentioning the female counterpart. She doesn’t work with Kiriyama, but she certainly earns her place alongside him. However, she’s given a more carefully crafted back story than Kiriyama to explain her behavior (and really, what the hell on his back story in the novel and manga?). She’s a scrapper, but her best asset is being the perfect seductress hiding her hand behind her back. (And yes, these two meet in the final fight for one of them.) She took the #2 spot for most kills. The queen is dead; long live the queen.
The BiblioSanctum 
I haven’t read any manga in so long I’m probably a lost cause at this point. Excellent picks! The day they make a Gambit movie is the day I finally bother to watch an X Men movie.
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Who knows, it might happen. It’s true there are probably a lot of other X-Men on the “priority list” that the Hollywood people will want to make movies about before that happens though.
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Yea. Plus, given the disaster that’s been the X Men movie franchise for as far back as I can remember, I’ve just plain got no faith in them, lol.
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Some interesting books there but I haven’t read any… But I have to read the Maas books! So at last one.
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Flemeth! Such a good one — I was eagerly awaiting her apperance in DAI and just didn’t imagine that’s how they fit her in. Will be inetersting what happens next… I should read the books!
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Yeah, I wasn’t expecting them to do what they did with her at all. I imagined many things for her, but certainly not that. It will be VERY interesting to see how this plays out in future games because they can’t just end it on that note.
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My mage Hawke was president of the Witch of the Wilds Club, Kirkwall Chapter, and had a really cool outfit. She secretly wished she could be as awesome as Flemeth….
I’m really looking forward to seeing what they will do with her and her nudging of necessary events… I’m pleased with her introduction in DAI and how it tied up some things, while still leaving a significant amount of mystery surrounding her and her plans.
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Good call on Celaena! Kate Daniels can do pretty much everything except shoot a gun accurately. That’s pretty close, right?
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Do you really have to worry if you can’t shoot a gun accurately? General direction will often suffice.
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Arlen Bales is not the only “ace” in the series, though, since Leesha could give him a run for his money 🙂
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OMG it’s true. She was the biggest Mary Sue in book one or two, I remember. Technically all three of them, Lessha, Arlen and Rojer could be considered Aces.
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Ooh, I was so close to putting Falcio on my list too! And Geralt of Rivia is such an awesome pick (can’t wait to get hold of the new game). But you guys qualify for my favourite post of the week because FLEMETH. 😀
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ALL HAIL FLEMETH! She’s my favorite.
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What a great list – anything with x-men wins imho!
Also – that crazy little GIF just completely did my head in.. I was scrolling down, hadn’t realised it was a gif and just thought it was a pic and it started smiling at me – face white much at all!
Lynn 😀
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What? Mitsuko’s murder grin isn’t reassuring and friendly? Why I never… LOL.
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LOL at the Mitsuko gif. Mr. Gervant! I just… Tiara has completely ruined Geralt for me. Great post, you guys.
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Why does everyone keep blaming me for “ruining” that game for them? I just narrated The Witcher from my POV as I played. It’s a totally true and accurate account of my adventures with Geralt… mostly… ¬_¬
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Oh those aces, they are borderline mary sues sometimes
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Borderline? Some of them dance their way right across that border.
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HA, true, I can think of a few
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Wow, this is a comprehensive list! These Tough Travels never fail to make me realize just how little I actually know the fantasy genre (and Sci-Fi) and how mainstream most of my reads really are 😦
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LOL to Anakin. SO TRUE.
And I never thought of it, but really all the PCs in Dragon Age (the Warden, Hawke, the Inquisitor) are the best, most exceptional and talented people…. which then makes Flemeth the ultimate ace, because she saves their asses once per game.
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We’d talked about including the the Dragon Age PCs on this list, but I didn’t since they’re technically not in the books. LOL. They’re definitely aces.
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They are mentioned, so you can include them 😛
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Every week someone/something that *technically* isn’t in a book makes it onto my list… Like Lem this week, lol. I can’t help myself!
Commander Shepard is a great ace too. Thank you for giving me so many wonderful aces BioWare.
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Just about any Skywalker really. Sith causing you trouble? Throw a Skywalker at ’em.
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I don’t know, Ben has his moments. But of course HE DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE, thanks Legends.
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Hehe. Horace. The magical perfect expat of DESTINY.
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When I went to the book’s goodreads page to link to this post, I saw your review and had a chuckle over it all over again. Brilliant review and oh so true about Horace.
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I thought of Wolverine myself, but the one I really should have included was “Scratch” the Wolverine parody from Grant Morrison’s “Doom Force” – he’s the best at what he does, but nobody knows exactly what that is.
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Great choices! I didn’t think of Anakin but of course he’s an Ace.
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Hahaha, oh Anakin. What an extremely annoying character. I wouldn’t have thought of Celaena, but I’ve only read book 1 so maybe she gets more Ace like as the series progresses. Very intrigued by that Lois McMaster Bujold book now…looks like something I’d enjoy. Amazing list once again!
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We’ve come a long way since pong, that’s all I know.
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