@sloanebcollins What Makes a Hero Tick? #PlottingPrincesses #amwriting #AlphaHeroes #Supernatural #JensenAckles #JaredPadalecki #MFRWorg

I love reading books with Alpha heroes.  It’s much easier for me to write about female characters, and how they think, than to write male characters.  I’ve started watching TV shows more carefully in the hopes of figuring out how to best write men that SHOW what’s going on with them, what they are thinking, how they act, rather than TELL. 

I’ve come about 10 years late to the Supernatural phenomenon, and now I’m hooked (and I mean HOOKED).  Having loved Jared Padalecki's character on Gilmore Girls, Sammy immediately became my favorite.  But the more I’ve been watching the reruns, the more I see the internal angst that Dean (Jensen Ackles) has. I’m fascinated by their relationship on screen, and completely charmed that they are best friends in real life.

I started watching the reruns from 2009 a couple months ago, but am now watching the first season, and it's interesting to see how the characters have grown over the years.  So here's my take on it.



Sammy seems to be the gentler of the two brothers, always trying to keep the peace and smooth things over.  He's never had the relationship with his father that Dean has, and I wonder if he feels his dad blamed him for his mother's death.  Sam wanted to have a normal life - he went off to college and was going to law school, then tragedy struck, and he was pulled back into the Hunter world. I think he's guided by his feelings, while Dean stuffs his emotions away, doesn't want to deal with the messiness of relationships.

Dean tows the line, does what their dad tells him to, which frustrates Sam.  Dean is out to do a job, and that's it.  But over time, Dean gets slammed by life, and the people he counts on and loves the most have let him down.  In later shows, the writers portray Dean as feeling things on a much deeper level when it comes to relationships.  One after the other, the people in his life have let him down, from his father, to Castiel and his betrayal, to Sam upon his return from Hell.

They both keep getting knocked down and let down, yet somehow continue on as big, bad, successful, kick-butt Hunters, all the while burying their emotions. Both SHOW us in every episode how they feel, rather than TELL.  I've really learned a great deal studying the relationship these brothers have, and how it's grown over the last ten years of the show.  And it's awesome how many times they have put each other first over the "greater good".  I think that's what I love the most about the show.  The powers-that-be could not have picked better actors to portray Sam & Dean, and now I'm just crazy about both of them.  

So now to translate all I’ve learned watching these actors turn a writer’s words into so much depth and feeling into my own heroes.

What about you? If you’re an author, have you learned anything from particular shows that you use in your own writing?  As readers, do you have favorite heroes on TV, and what appeals to you about them?

(All pictures borrowed from multiple websites)