Character deep dive: Lucien
A look at the cursed wanderer with a dark secret from the Five Fates series [contains spoilers]
Welcome to my character deep dives, where I take a detailed look at one of the main characters in my emotional epic fantasy series and what makes them tick. This week’s discussion is on the main character from Earth’s Blood, Fate’s Folly, book two of the Five Fates series: Lucien Longshadow. [Please note: this article will contain spoilers for Fire’s Hand, Fate’s Heart, book one of the Five Fates series.]
Archetype: the cursed wanderer
Lucien’s archetype is the cursed wanderer. He doesn’t say much, and he can come off as a gruff loaner because he prefers to keep to himself, and feels much more comfortable in isolated, wooded locations than in cities. He’s slow to trust, and he’s got some … we’ll call them anger issues. But his emotions run strong and deep, and he cares about the very few people in his life who he calls his friends and family. And he would sacrifice anything to protect those people and keep them safe.
As for the curse? Well, although he was never one for cities or grand displays of affection, a lot of Lucien’s ‘gruff loaner’ persona is due to being a shifter. Shifters are humans who have been cursed with an overwhelming rage and the ability to change into a massive four-legged monster. The monster has its own wants and needs, and Lucien expends a lot of energy keeping his beast locked down and under control. He’s lost himself to the beast before, and it’s not something he’d like to repeat ever again.
Inspiration and similar characters
Lucien was originally inspired by a character my husband played in a play-by-post RPG we ran years and years ago, who happened to be a werewolf. Lucien’s shifter nature was also inspired by the mythos created in White Wolf Publishing in their TTRPG, Werewolf: The Apocalypse. And I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t at least a little influence from the character by the same name from the Underworld franchise.
There are several characters in other popular media who, while they didn’t necessarily provide inspiration, certainly fit his overall vibe. These inlcude Aragorn from Lord of the Rings (especially when he’s Strider), Eliot from Leverage, and Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher.
Aesthetic
Lucien’s aesthetic is somewhere in the realm of “strong and silent mercenary with a tormented soul.”
Songs that fit the vibe
And because I love when songs have just the right brain-feel for a character, here are a few songs that are perfect for our grumpy, tortured shifter.
How Lucien got into this mess
[This section contains major spoilers for Fire’s Hand, Fate’s Heart.] In my epic fantasy sequel novel Earth’s Blood, Fate’s Folly, the Chosen are preparing to travel at the request of the king of Drahkonia, but Lucien’s visions have returned. Like the visions that sent him and Jae to Brookshire, but stronger and more vivid, Lucien feels called to help the goddess Taerna with a task. But what and where are two questions to which Lucien has no answers, so he and Jae separate from the rest of the group in the hopes of discovering what the goddess needs from him. But this new path leads Lucien down the dark roads of the past in more ways than one, testing both his resolve and his control over the beast inside him.
Tell me what you think
Let me know what you think of Lucien and other characters like him. Do you like the cursed wanderer archetype? How do you feel about monsters that are “werewolf coded” but don’t meet all the usual tropes?
If Lucien sounds like a character you’d enjoy, check out the Five Fates series. Although Lucien is the main character of book two, he’s introduced in the second half of Fire’s Hand, Fate’s Heart. Both of the books in the main series that are currently available, as well as the series prequel, are all available in Kindle Unlimited. Book three will be coming out soon, and next week, I’ll be talking about that book’s main character.