Meet Alistair: The Prince Who Was Never Meant to Be a Hero

As you might have already guessed, Alistair is the main character in my book The Puppet King, which is now very close to being released.

In a previous post, I shared how the idea for Alistair first appeared. But this time, I want to go deeper into his psychology, and into the reason he was never meant to be a hero.

So why isn’t he one?

Not because he’s a villain. Not because it’s “cool.” Not because he’s another gray character screaming “mine” in the face of the person he loves — although… I won’t lie, there might be a little of that in there.

The real reason is much simpler. Alistair was never meant to be a hero because I needed him to feel human.

Like all of us, trying to make sense of a life that doesn’t always make sense. I wanted him to exist in the space between right and wrong. To be capable of kindness and cruelty. To try to be better and still fail.

Because that’s what makes us human.

We all want to be the best version of ourselves. And yet sometimes we make the wrong choices. Sometimes we don’t even get a choice at all. Life just… happens.

Alistair is the kind of character who would hit his toe on the edge of a table while trying to look intimidating, and pretend it didn’t hurt.

He’s the kind of person whose toothpaste falls off the brush when he’s already running late.

He’s not perfect. He’s not untouchable. He’s just a man carrying far more than he ever should have had to.

And maybe that’s exactly why he was never meant to be a hero.

If you’d like to follow the journey of the book and see how it’s coming together, you can find more here:

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