The Formative Tier

In cataloging the various characters on this site, I noticed that most of my favorites fell into just a few different archetypes - and realized I could trace those archetypes back to a small handful of characters that were important to me in my preadolescence.

As an adult, the traits I find attractive have been defined more by reality than by fiction. But the effect of these formative experiences can be seen throughout this site.

The below characters are listed on their own works pages on the “Formative Tier”, defined as “Characters I was exposed to when quite young that had significant impact on what kind of women I found attractive.” But I thought it was worth gathering them here as well to present a more complete picture.

• 

  Ariel

  from Disney Animated Canon

  Ariel is a Disney Princess and the protagonist of The Little Mermaid. She’s spirited and determined, curious and adventuresome, impulsive yet compassionate.

  As a formative character, Ariel instilled an appreciation of the spunky redhead and rebellious princess archetypes.

• 

  Gadget Hackwrench

  from Disney Animated Canon

  Gadget is the team pilot, mechanic, and inventor on Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers. She’s brilliantly inventive, a fearlessly creative problem solver, and very helpful to her friends.

  As a formative character, Gadget instilled an appreciation of the wrench wench and gadgeteer genius archetypes.

• 

  Peppermint Patty

  from Peanuts

  Peppermint Patty is one of Charlie Brown’s friends in Peanuts. She’s a tomboy with a strong personality who does well when pursuing her own interests (such as baseball) but struggles in more traditional and constrained environments (such as school). She has a crush on Charlie Brown and clearly carries insecurities because she doesn’t think she’s classically attractive.

  As a formative character, Peppermint Patty instilled an appreciation of tomboy characters with strong nonconformist personalities.

• 

  Electra

  from The Works of Piers Anthony

  Electra is a character from the long-running Xanth series. Introduced in the eleventh book, Heaven Cent, she spends some time as the Betty in a Betty and Veronica love triangle with Princess Nada and Prince Dolph. In the thirteenth book, Isle of View, Dolph finally realizes that he loves Electra and the two marry.

  I was close to Dolph’s age (nine years old in Heaven Cent) when I read these books and I identified pretty strongly with his character. As a result, I considered Electra to be the type of girl I should marry. As a formative character, Electra instilled an appreciation of “Betty” type characters.

  Portrait art taken from Return to Centaur, a graphic novel adaptation of the Xanth book Isle of View.
• 

  Fleta

  from The Works of Piers Anthony

  Fleta is a supporting character from the Apprentice Adept series. She’s the love interest and eventual wife of major character Mach in the series’s second trilogy. She’s sweet and supportive and their love is described as having tremendous power and depth.

  Mach was the character I identified with most in the series and Fleta the most appealing love interest. As a formative character, Fleta instilled an appreciation of “nice girl” characters who support and cheer up the people they care about.

  Portrait art taken from the only image of Fleta I could find - Darrell K. Sweet’s cover art for the book Robot Adept.