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Escapist Character: Difference between revisions
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While [[Mary Sue]] is generally defined as being a bad thing, some of the most widely loved characters in existence are [[Escapist Character|Escapist Characters]] with any number of [[Common Mary Sue Traits]]. While a [[Done Badly|badly written]] [[Escapist Character]] can come off as a [[Mary Sue]], the key difference between the two is that a [[Mary Sue]] is ''[[Author Appeal|the author's]]'' wish fulfillment fantasy, while the Escapist Character also functions as the ''[[Audience Surrogate|audience's]]'' wish fulfillment fantasy.
Some members of the audience may identify with a character and others may not identify with the same character. Whilst many audience member's [[Wish Fulfillment]] fantasies have ''common elements'', they are not all identical. Thus, the distinction between this and [[Mary Sue]] is very much a subjective matter.
Please remember that conceptually, neither [[Wish Fulfillment]] nor [[Escapism]] [[Tropes Are Not Bad|are bad.]] Compare the [[Showy Invincible Hero]]. See also: [[I Just Want to Be Normal]], [[I Just Want to Have Friends]], [[I Just Want to Be Special]], [[I Just Want to Be Badass]]; wishes that are fulfilled by escapist characters.
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* ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi|Haruhi Suzumiya]]''. Somewhat deconstructed, especially considering she's the closest thing that the early novels and the anime have to an ''antagonist''...
** One could argue that Kyon is more of an escapist character. He's reportedly very smart ([[Unreliable Narrator|though he never claims it]]), [[Deadpan Snarker|constantly making witty comments]], and is surrounded by three female characters, one that's likely to appeal to you.
* The other Haruhi from ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]].'' A poor girl with incredible grades, great cook, and surrounded by six drop-dead gorgeous men (and making snarky comments all the while)? Yep, Haruhi definitely fits here.
* ''[[Golgo 13]]''. The thing about Mr. Togo is that, yes, he's a nigh-unstoppable assassin with aim such that he's unironically referred to as the Hand of God, with more money than the entire nation of Japan, who regularly talks women he's never met before into bed... but he doesn't seem to ''enjoy'' any of it. Verges on deconstructing the idea.
* Alucard from ''[[Hellsing]]''. Seras is also an example, as she goes from a police girl with a tragic past to an elite vampire soldier and even takes Alucard's position for a while.
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* [[The Incredible Hercules|Hercules]] is male power fantasy to a fucking ''tee''. He's a [[Rated "M" for Manly]] [[Handsome Lech]], who [[Really Gets Around]], and solves nearly every problem he encounters through [[Attack! Attack! Attack!]]. He has thus been most guys' personal fantasy made manifest for [[Older Than Feudalism|the last couple millennia]].
* [[Spider-Man]] straddles the line between [[This Loser Is You]] and an [[Escapist Character]] pretty much constantly. No matter how much his life ends up sucking ([[Hero with Bad Publicity]], dead parents and uncle, "rocky" love-life pre-MJ, [[One More Day]]) he's a superhero who gets to [[Building Swing|web-sling]] from skyscrapers and [[The Snark Knight|he always has a quip ready]]. There's also something very appealing about an [[The Everyman|everyman]] amongst so many other powerful superheroes (even more so when you consider how most Marvel Universe characters are everymen already).
* [[Captain America (comics)]]. Scrawny 4F artist from Brooklyn becomes a [[Super Soldier]] and [[The Cape (trope)|the embodiment of all that is good and right]] about [[Eagle Land|America]].
== [[Film]] ==
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* [[Ferris Bueller's Day Off|Ferris Bueller]] (although Cracked.com makes the surprisingly convincing argument that [[Alternate Character Interpretation|he's a sociopath]]).
** For a meta in-universe example of this trope, there's a [[WMG|wild theory]] that Ferris himself is an Escapist Character created in Cameron's mind (kind of like {{spoiler|[[Fight Club]]}}), so he could manifest his wish to break free from the boring routine and face his social fears (and specially his father).
* [[Limitless]] presents us the answer to “What if they make a pill that would give you [[Super Intelligence]]?” Eddie Morra takes Wall Street by storm and wins millions by only taking a pill. Sounds like fun? But if you get everything you want by only taking a pill, you felt entitled to a lot of more other things without any effort. The movie deconstructs Eddie into a [[Jerkass]] with [[Acquired Situational Narcissism]] that cannot recognize where is the [[Moral Event Horizon]] anymore.
* Smith from ''[[Shoot'Em Up (film)|Shoot Em Up]]'' is a master of every firearm known to man, kills dozens of people in increasingly more creative ways, battles [[Straw Man|strawmen]] on both sides of the political spectrum, gets to have sex with [[Monica Bellucci]], and rams inconsiderate drivers off the road without consequence.
* [[Word of God]] states that the ''[[Avatar]]''s Navi were designed to be a whole race of these.
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* [[Pippi Longstocking]]. Why does she get [[Super Strength]], lots of gold, [[All Girls Like Ponies|a horse]], and no parents around to tell her what to do? Because that was your fantasy.
* [[Lord Peter Wimsey]] has elements of this: [[Dorothy L. Sayers]] created the character when she was desperately poor and got a certain satisfaction from making him the richest and most self-indulgent man in London.
* [[Artemis Fowl]]. Doesn't have to go to school because his parents are either missing or bedridden. He has a [[Battle Butler]] and enough money to indulge a self-admitted childish belief in fairies and magic. Though only 12, he's treated like an adult.
* [[Percy Jackson]]. So what if you don't do well in school, and your stepfather is a jerk? You're really a super-powerful demigod with Poseidon for a father, and you get to do cool stuff from now on!
* Dagny Taggart of [[Atlas Shrugged]]. Whilst she is clearly an idealized author avatar, a significant portion of the book's female audience has found Dagny provides a satisfying fantasy for them, as well.
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** [[Creator's Pet|Wesley]] was intended to be this to young viewers; a kid who could hold his own and had skills gradually prove himself to the crew as someone useful.
** Worf also became this in many of the more Klingon-centric episodes. The [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]] is usually pretty popular with the [[Fan Boy|Fanboys]].
* The Doctor, from ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Owner of an effectively self-powering, [[Bigger on the Inside]] time machine that lets him go anywhere in time and space he feels like - and no matter where that is, his ability to save the day lets him get away with acting (and dressing) like a [[The Wonka|complete lunatic]] regardless of cultural norms. Oh, and his travelling companions tend to be attractive twenty-something women.
** As a corollary, the Doctor's companions (especially Rose, who was explicitly created for this). Many, many children in the UK have grown up wishing the Doctor would come and whisk them away to adventures in his TARDIS.
* [[Jane By Design]]'s Jane is shaping up to be this. She has multiple potential love interests, a fantastic job that comes easily to her, and all problems she has are quickly resolved.
* [[House (TV series)|Dr. House]], despite the chronic leg pain and occasional mental breakdown, is really fun to watch because he skewers stupid people without mercy. And he pretty much always gets away with it. Who ''doesn't'' want to be able to tell coworkers and customers exactly what you think of them?
* Back in the 70s, the ''Six Million Dollar Man'' embodied this in some ways (though Steve did have some problems his bionics could not solve). Interestingly, the other in-universe characters provided some counterpoint, there was another bionic man who had turned out to be psychologically unable to handle it, and Steve's lady-love Jaime Sommmers had recurring problems of bionic rejection that made her superpowers something of a double-edged blessing.
* ''[[Breaking Bad]]'''s Walter White is an interesting example. He's a lower-middle-class teacher who gets crapped on in every possible way, including getting cancer... and he's also a meth dealer who is completely bad-ass. A lot of people can identify with the crapped-on part--in that sense, he's a [[This Loser Is You]] character. And then we fantasize about kicking ass, like Walt's alter-ego does. Like Harry Potter, just grittier. Much grittier.
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* Kay Faraday from ''[[Ace Attorney Investigations]]'' is any fangirl ([[Even the Guys Want Him|or boy]])'s wet dream. She's a perky, smart thief who gets to tag along with [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] Edgeworth, is Gumshoe's bestest friend ever, most everyone is at least nice to her (even [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] Lang), and {{spoiler|she even has a tragic past matching Edgeworth's so they have even more in common.}}
* Apparently, [[Tim Schafer]] designed Raz from ''[[Psychonauts]]'' to be this. This is why he's human; originally, the game was going to be about a psychic ostrich. ''Seriously.''
** Not to mention [[Brutal Legend|Eddie Riggs]], from the same creator: Riggs is a jaded roadie who feels his love for classic overdriven guitar riffs is underappreciated in an era of nu-metal emo teenage crap. He ends up in a world where his roadie skills allow him to create war machines and his guitar can make the emo kids' heads explode. This dude embodies every metalhead's secret fantasy.
* Shepard, the [[Player Character]] from ''[[Mass Effect]]'' is the most [[Badass]] and important person in the galaxy, and the game lets you know it and experience it.
{{quote|[[Ear Worm|You can fight like a krogan, run like a leopard, but you'll never be better than Commander Shepard.]]}}
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