Jake Chambers is a badass

[mae]

http://litreactor.com/columns/the-10...erary-children

Kids can be pretty annoying. They generally require a lot of patience, energy, and time, and who has any to spare? Yet some children rise above their youthful station to achieve great heights of badassery—although mostly only in books. Read on for the raddest fictional children ever.

Jake Chambers

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series pits an unlikely crew, with ancient gunslinger Roland Deschain at the helm, on a mission to save the universe. Jake is eleven at the beginning of the series, and while he may be the most unlikely gunslinger of the group (save Oy), he is no less brave and heroic for it. Jake begins the series as a surrogate son and ends it as a legend of his own making.

What makes him a badass:

Jake suffers the indignities of indifferent parents, death, betrayal, time travel paradoxes, and unparalleled terrors, yet he never loses his courage or his faith in his mission. His frank, incorruptible perspective often uplifts the ka-tet on even the worst days, and yet he always maintains a childlike sense of fun.

[Merlin1958]

Yep. Jake is one Motherfucking Bad-ass 11 year old!!!!!

[EvaH]

I would rather see Mark Petrie on the list over the kid from UTD.

[Merlin1958]

I would rather see Mark Petrie on the list over the kid from UTD.

Ummm, UTD? you got your books straight? Petrie was indeed a bad-ass, but not from UTD. No offense!!

[EvaH]

I never said he was, I know he's from Salem's Lot. I meant I would rather see Mark Petrie on that list rather than Scarecrow Joe McClatchey. Mark is much more badass than Scarecrow.

[DoctorDodge]

Good list, but one question: where's Neville Longbottom?

Really though, so glad to see Jake make this list. To say he went through a lot of shit is an understatement, yet somehow he held onto his sanity throughout the whole thing (although, admittedly, that did become much more difficult in book 3). Also, he's not just good with a gun, he's awesome with a gun. That demonstration with the plates in book 5 still puts a big grin on my face because of its awesomeness!

[Jean]

where is Huckleberry Finn?

[Silenoz]

Cool idea for a list, but no Ender Wiggin?

[Merlin1958]

I never said he was, I know he's from Salem's Lot. I meant I would rather see Mark Petrie on that list rather than Scarecrow Joe McClatchey. Mark is much more badass than Scarecrow.

Sorry, don't know what I was thinking. Senior moment, there!! LOL

Danny Torrance and Charlie McGee need mentioning as well before Scarecrow Joe IMHO

[Storyslinger]

Really, no Mike Sweeney?

[Patrick]

I agree with Jake Chambers' appearance on the list, but I would put Ray Garraty from THE LONG WALK, for his tenacity and perservance, over Scarecrow Joe from UTD without question. Actually I'd put Garraty over any of the Harry Potter characters too (but I only know the outline, not the details, of those books).

[Brice]

You haven't read the HP books, Patrick?

[Jean]

[Patrick]

I read the first two a few years ago, then I stopped.

It was probably just bad timing. I had just finished a re-read of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and it bugged me that Rowling was using some of Tolkien's terms, but differently. Also, the first couple HP books seemed very simple after Tolkien.

I know I should give the HP books another chance, but I haven't quite gotten around to it.

[Jean]

it was the wrong place to stop, rather than bad timing. The real stuff starts at Book 3. If you had made it to that point, you would have never stopped.

[Patrick]

See, no one has ever told me that. I knew it got better sometime, but I didn't know that it was just around the next bend.

By the way, I still think Ray Garraty was badass.

[Jean]

well, yes, but to me a 16-year-old lad just doesn't qualify as a "kid"

[Patrick]

well, yes, but to me a 16-year-old lad just doesn't qualify as a "kid"

I see your point. I wasn't thinking too hard about the cut-off in the author's blog, so I figured teenagers counted. I guess some of the others, like HP, were teenagers, but their stories start when the characters are younger.

[Brainslinger]

Harry Potter.

That's one popular series I never got round to reading, although I've seen 2-3 of the films. (They're not bad, but I'd imagine the books are much better.) I sort of wish they'd come out when I was a kid, but then again I had plenty of other good books at the time to read. It's still not too late though so maybe I'll still give HP a go.

[Brice]

DO read the HP books.