How Many Orphaned Protagonists?

Ever thought how many orphaned protagonists there are in fiction? Why are there so many? Is it a staple, a trope or even a cliche? Why does the orphan feature time and again in the novel? Did somebody whisper ‘coming of age story?’

Writing a post on character traits, I realised my fantasy series is filled – perhaps over-filled – with orphans, or those abandoned by family. Just how many orphaned protagonists are there in fiction? Writing coach Joe Bunting just produced his own extensive list.

Generations

The orphan protagonist runs right through literature from the ancient Greeks to present day. Summarising Bunting’s list you can see just how prevalent it is.

• 19th Century: Cosette, Tom Sawyer, David Copperfield, Pip, Oliver Twist, Peter Pan, Mowgli, Jane Eyre
• 20th Century: Harry Potter, Ram Mohammed Thomas, Ann of Green Gables, Tarzan, Pippi Longstocking, Sophie (The BFG), James (of the Giant Peach), Matilda, Luke Skywalker, Uhtred
• 21st Century: Alexander Hamilton, Theodore Decker, Werner Pfennig, Pi Patel, Liesel Meminger, Alex Rider, Cercei (The Witcher)
• Superhero Orphans: Superman, Batman, Spiderman, The Flash, Black Widow, Iron Man, Star-Lord, Scarlett Witch, Captain America, Killmonger, Professor X, Magneto, Daredevil, Blade
• Disney orphans: Cinderella, Snow White, Simba, Anna and Elsa, Mowgli (again), Aladdin, Peter Pan, Lilo, Rapunzel, Anastasia, Tarzan, Annie, Arthur
• Fantasy Genre: Frodo, Richard Cypher, Lyra Belacqua, Eragon, Garion, Kvothe, Vin

As Bunting notes, orphans are such a character trope in fantasy adventure novels that it’s hard to find one without an orphaned protagonist.

The Child Unbound

The orphan supplies an instantly sympathetic character, all alone without family. Most of them come with a rebellious, independent spirit and strong character arc. The orphans are the seekers, the adventurers, the outsiders, the underdogs.

Orphan protagonists come in two sizes:

The Child Protagonist. Without parents to constrain and limit them, the scope for adventure and misadventure abound. The orphan walks into huge risks, dangers and threats. All that extra trauma just becomes ‘character-building.’ The orphan has the scope to make terrible decisions and mistakes. They run headlong into dire peril that supervised kids don’t get near.

The Adult protagonist comes with layers and layers of childhood trauma and baggage to deal with. In fiction, all orphans grow up as isolated outsiders; rebels, rejects and non-conformists. If not outright basket cases. The orphan seems to suffer a mental condition that makes them a violent vigilante more than any other member of society. We’re looking at you, Batman.

What’s my motivation?

The circumstance of growing up an orphan:

• Challenges their sense of self-worth (cue Abandonment Issues).
• Provides the kind of drive to succeed (or survive) that ‘regular family’ somehow doesn’t. This is fiction; all drama, all the time.
• Triggers a search for belonging.

Both child and adult orphans naturally lean into the found family trope and the search for a place or community to call home. It’s an easy (some say lazy) way to complete a character arc.

Beware the Orphan Fake-out

There’s a much despised device in adventure fiction of the fake-out death. A beloved character dies and a few chapters later miraculously reappears by dint of resurrection or miraculous escape. On the flip side is what I’ll call the orphan fake-out where our orphan protagonist suddenly discovers parents they didn’t know about or were hiding in plain sight all along. Lyra in Northern Lights. Just saying.

Execution is everything, the difference between hideous cliché and welcome trope. Either it’s a crass plot twist or a cozy hug of satisfaction. Writer beware.

Parentis Absentia

We can extend a lot of these character traits to the pseudo-orphan. This is a character with absent parents, to the extent they drop out of the character’s life and give them free rein for orphan mischief. Think Home Alone, Bella in Twilight and many others where the absence of parental figures allows for adventure. Swallows and Amazons, The Railway Children, The Famous Five, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys; all escape the parental clutches to indulge in wild adventures. Take it to the extreme, you get Lord of the Flies.

Supposedly ‘safe’ institutions allow just that freedom for adventure; all those magic schools, boarding schools, space academies and the like. No matter how absurdly dangerous – Hogwarts. And don’t get me started on Fourth Wing.

In Loco Parentis

Where institutions typically provide supervision in loco parentis, so does the Wise Mentor. It almost goes without saying that the orphan will find a wise mentor in the shape of a wizard, shaman, loyal retainer or other interested party. Mostly with ulterior motives. Cue Gandalf, Dumbledore, Merlin, Brom, Alfred Pennyworth, John ‘Captain my Captain’ Keating.

Note the high mortality rate in the mentor profession. Some of our orphans get through several; Obi Wan and Yoda, for example. Because the whole point of the orphan is they have to grow up on their own. That means you take out the parents, foster parents, surrogate parents, pseudo parents and anyone who looks like a candidate parent. Writers are mean to their orphans. It’s a tear-jerker thing. I’ve done it.

Isolation Games

The primary attraction of the orphan protagonist is isolation from the warm bosom of family. Thrust into the dangerous clutches of strangers, they must learn who to trust and who to oppose, build a found-family, take on society and build their own identity through adversity. Even better if you can do it around the holiday season. Any holiday season.

And as hinted in the opening, orphans are a staple of the Coming of Age story type. It’s far more challenging to come of age when you have to do it on your own without guidance.