Fatal Flaws

“I don’t know, Percy, but every hero has one.  If you don’t find it and learn to control it… well, they don’t call it fatal for nothing.”  -Annabeth Chase (The Sea of Monsters)

  Today’s post is about hamartias.  Now, you might be wondering what a hamartia is, and for that I will answer this:  Hamartia-  A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a hero or heroine.

  But in this post we are going to be calling them fatal flaws.  Fatal flaws were first introduced to me when I read The Sea of Monsters in the Percy Jackson series.  Annabeth Chase was explaining to Percy fatal flaws after she had just learned what her’s was:  Hubris, deadly pride.  After reading this, I began to give each of my characters a fatal flaw, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that.  

  In the Percy Jackson series they claimed there were only seven fatal flaws.  Well, studying more upon this claim, I have actually found ten.  I have decided to share these ten fatal flaws with you, and give you an example for each flaw.  There will be examples from, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Michael Vey, Tales of Goldstone Wood, and The Hunger Games.

Ambition-  A strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work  Ex. President Coin (The Hunger Games)-  Here is a spoiler:  President Coin dies because of her ambitions.  Coin has been locked up in district 13 for all her life, and she has suffered through much loss.  She blames President Snow for her pain, and wants to take over Panem and continue the Hunger Games.  To succeed, she gets all of the rebelling districts on her side, and it even looks as if she is with the good.  But then in the last few chapters it is revealed that she is power-hungry and vengeful.  She is overly ambitious with a demented mind intent on killing the children of her enemies.  

Curiosity-  The desire to know a fact or about an unusual object, and can usually not be suppressed  Ex.  Peregrin Took (Lord of the Rings)-  If you have ever seen Return of the King you remember the scene in which Pippin (Peregrin) takes palantir, not being able to suppress his curiostity.  In this act, Pippin puts his own, and everyone else’s lives in danger. “You always have to look, don’t you?!”  -Meriadoc Brandybuck in Return of the King

Fear-  An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat  Ex. Prince Lionheart (Tales of Goldstone Wood)-  Prince Lionheart is  reasonably afraid on his adventure like anyone else.  Naturally, he cowers when he faces a dragon, and fears the mob when they want to kill his only friend.  But he takes this fatal flaw a step further when he turns over the heart of his love to the dragon, and exiles his only friend in the face of danger.  This ruins his love, and completely alters the life of his friend, while he becomes lonely and unlovable.  

Feeling Inferior-  Feeling of little or less importance or value  Ex. Ron Weasley (Harry Potter)-  Ron always felt inferior to everyone around him.  His quidditch teammates, family, and friends- especially Harry Potter himself. This leads him to doing some stupid things, like not trying his hardest at quidditch, and refusing to talk to his best friend when he needs help.

Holding Grudges-  Clutching onto the feeling of resentment harbored because of some real or fancied wrong  Ex. Regina (Once Upon a Time)-  Regina’s- a.k.a The Evil Queen’s- fatal flaw is holding grudges.  She holds grudges like you would not believe.  For an example, a tragic accident happened to her when she was about twenty years old, the little girl who had caused it was about the age of twelve.  After seven years or so, when the girl was nineteen years old, she FINALLY acted upon her resentment.  Which she had been planning to do for years, but hadn’t yet.  In order to kill the person she held the grudge to, she took over an entire kingdom, and killed her own father, mother, and her most prized possession.  

Personal Loyalty-  Devotion and reverent allegiance to a loved one, an object, or a belief  Ex. Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings)- In Lord of the Rings we see continually that Sam is extremely loyal to Frodo Baggins- sometimes we wonder if he is a little too loyal.  We see several times that Sam would die for Frodo, or worse.  Those with the fatal flaw of personal loyalty are dangerous because they would destroy the world to save their friends.

Power-  The amount of authority one gets over their own life, someone else’s, or an entire population  Ex. Dr. Hatch (Michael Vey)- This Dr. Hatch guy has a huge lust for power.  He is seeking to create an army of electric kids, and build up the trust of the governments in each country.  After he has succeeded in both, he will attack the world and shut off all it’s power.  He will kill all the normal humans off, and become the king of electric children.  And he is totally succeeding so far, there is no other person who surpasses his lust for power.  

Pride-  A feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired  Ex. Sherlock Holmes (BBC’s Sherlock)-  Sherlock Holmes is EXTREMELY proud and arrogant in the amazing show of Sherlock.  His best friend, John Watson, continually reminds him so, calling him a clever, arrogant brat.  To display all his cleverness to the world, he continually does stupid things to show that he is right.  For example, in the first episode, Sherlock was forced to eat one pill out of two- one would kill him, the other was harmless.  

  But right as he was about to, he realized that the gun- which was pointed at his head- was a fake.  He put the pill down, and was going to leave but his attacker asked him if he knew which pill was the right one.  Sherlock turned back around, and foolishly went to eat the pill, just to prove he was right.

Selfishness-  Lacking consideration of others  Ex. Torstyn (Michael Vey)-  One example of selfishness, is Torstyn.  There was once when he and his so-called “friends” were eating, and a boy began flirting with one of the girls.  Torstyn, being protective and all, fried his brain.  Then a doctor came over, and asked what happened- also asking if they would call nine-one-one- and Torstyn promptly refused, going back to eating his spaghetti.

Vanity- Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements  Ex. Daylily (Tales of Goldstone Wood)-  Daylily is explained as a very beautiful girl.  Every boy wants her, and she is respected for being the baron’s daughter. But when she spent five years under the breath of a dragon, she is only- well, maybe not quite only- concerned with the fact that she is not as pretty as she once was.  

People in real life can have fatal flaws too, for example, out of these ten, my fatal flaw is ambition.  I get more ambitious than what is good for me, and sometimes takes on too much.  A friend of mine has pride, and another one also has ambition.  My sister, Leah, has the fatal flaw of curiosity.

What’s your fatal flaw?