Who would be in your ultimate fantasy fellowship?

[Boaz]

I've seen threads for the discussion of favorite fantasy author, book, character, and sidekick, but I've not seen a discussion on what constitutes a perfect fellowship and which characters would be in it. What roles do you believe need to be filled in a party with a mission? Wizard, warrior, guide, elf, dwarf, centaur, giant, comic relief, moral compass, traitor, kinsman, friend, femme fatale, zealot, prophet, saint, chosen one, burglar, bodyguard, treasurer, leader, visionary.... What are the necessary ingredients and which literary characters fill these roles in your opinion? And how many should be in the group? Tolkien, Carey, Eddings, Feist, Alexander, Kurtz, Gemmell, Abercrombie, Erikson, Jordan, Cook, Sanderson, and many more all use (what is now a trope... and may have been since literature began e.g. Arthur's knights, David's mighty men, Chinese swamp bandits, Robin Hood's merry men, Jason and the Argonauts, Seven Against Thebes, the forty-seven ronin, the Journey to the West, et al...) a fellowship/party/alliance/society/club/troop to advance the story towards it's conclusion.... yet, their numbers vary. Three? Four? Seven? Nine? A dozen? Forty-seven?

At this point in my life, certain themes ring true... justice, forgiveness, and purpose... and certain group roles seem neccessary... inspiration, decisiveness, and temptation... and some characters are very desirable... Samwise Gamgee, Brienne of Tarth, and the Dogman.

Leader: Druss. He's the man people will follow to the gates of hell. Aragorn is my alternate.
Inspirer: Gandalf. An angel in the party won't hurt, but his greatest power is inspire others to greater deeds than they ever knew.
Shield: Boromir. If you need the enemy held back, call Boromir, unless it's a Balrog. I also like Brienne the Beauty.
Sword: Logen Nine-fingers. You need the enemy dead now? Call the Bloody Nine. I also like Kalam of the Bridgeburners.
Teenager: I need a teen as the chosen one, sidekick or to show a coming of age story... and I choose.... Qvothe over Vin, Taran, Aravis, Shasta, and Garion.
Loyal friend: Samwise Gamgee. Optimistic, realistic, and grounded personality. I also like Trumpkin, the DLF himself.
Non-human: I know Gandalf is already on the list, but I'm going with Tasslehof Burrfoot. It's been thirty-five years, but I liked him. Alternate: Tars Tarkas.
Animal companion: Pullman and Martin fans won't agree, but I like Thlayli, aka Bigwig. I'd have put him as my Shield, but he's a rabbit. Alt: Jewel the Unicorn.
Traitor: Jorah Mormont. By the time he's discovered, he's already switched sides.... but he's exiled anyways. Black Dow is my second choice.
Guide: The Dogman. Although Gollum could do it and be the traitor as well.

I'll leave it up to you to figure out the roles, the number, and purpose of your greatest fantasy fellowship. I will not demand an all time starting five as in basketball or rock and roll. It's up to you.

 

[Rodders]

I think Ben, Luke, Han and Chewie is my favourite fellowship. Has been since 1977 when i saw Star Wars for my Birthday.

 

[paranoid marvin]

A great idea, Boaz. I think my fellowship would be few in number, but capable of 'doing the job'. Most important would be loyalty and bravery. If they aren't prepared to die for each other, then they aren't a 'true' fellowship. Also people who can get on with each other, or at least can put up with each other.

In all honesty, I would say that Tolkien's Fellowship was pretty much spot on, with diverse skillsets, races and mindsets. I suppose they only thing that it really lacks are females.

One of my favourite 'fellowships' is Kirk, Spock and Bones. Really great chemistry and mutual respect between them.

The 'fellowship from hell' is that Blake's 7. You would never know when Avon would run out on you, or Avon stab you in the back. They - somehow - worked well as a team, but I suspect this was more through mutual distrust than respect.

 

[Vince W]

A great idea, Boaz. I think my fellowship would be few in number, but capable of 'doing the job'. Most important would be loyalty and bravery. If they aren't prepared to die for each other, then they aren't a 'true' fellowship. Also people who can get on with each other, or at least can put up with each other.

In all honesty, I would say that Tolkien's Fellowship was pretty much spot on, with diverse skillsets, races and mindsets. I suppose they only thing that it really lacks are females.

One of my favourite 'fellowships' is Kirk, Spock and Bones. Really great chemistry and mutual respect between them.

The 'fellowship from hell' is that Blake's 7. You would never know when Avon would run out on you, or Avon stab you in the back. They - somehow - worked well as a team, but I suspect this was more through mutual distrust than respect.

I would add that the Blake's 7 crew was only a fellowship as long as their mutual venn goals overlapped sufficiently.

The crew of Serenity would be a good example of a fellowship.

My ideal fellowship would require some thought.

 

[Margaret Note Spelling]

I guess for me it would kinda depend on what they were trying to get done. Toss a ring in a volcano? Rescue a princess? Heist a treasure map? Start up a restaurant chain? Pull off special ops? I'd want different people for all of those, I think.

That being said, I'd be looking for emotional stability and good moral resilience in my crew first and foremost...unless we're going for the most drama, of course, in which case we actually want to give the job to the most unstable, unpredictable, untrustworthy people we can muster.

So I dunno. The question is pretty context-dependent for me.

 

[Boaz]

@Margaret Note Spelling I did not put in a quest for my fellowship... I guess it's just an all around group. But the context for your fellowship may be putting the One Ring in Mount Doom, destroying Voldemort's horcruxes, Conan's capture and release of Devi Yasmina, or merely getting home like Bree, Shasta, Hwin and Aravis in The Horse and His Boy.

 

[Ensign Shah]

Me and Captain Pike

 

[Venusian Broon]

So here's the thing. We need the ultimate team.

We need:

1. Bob. Every team needs a Bob. Dependable, reliable and able to quietly get on with tasks and do them well. He will also be very dull with no imagination, so we will probably ignore him and leave him behind after many encounters - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
2. Wise wizard/professor. Every team needs a wise wizard/professor. Let's assume that his name is "Derek"* (in whatever language you are using.) They know everything, albeit in a universe that is not the one we are in. So he is wrong constantly - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
3. Gurning Annoying Person. Every team needs a Gurning Annoying Person (AGP). Let's assume they are called 'Colin'. When we meet very big things like angry dragons, AGP is the person we sacrifice to slow it down because we're just so irritated by them - Ensuring that our story is made interesting and heroic as we try and fix our mistakes.
4. Over-complex assassin with some sort of non-western ethnic background. Every team needs a over-complex assassin with some sort of non-western ethnic background (OCANWEB?). They will spend most of the time communing with their tea as they rest at the camp fire and have a non-western ethnic name - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.**
5. Competent and Sensible Female. Every team needs a competent and sensible female. Everyone will ignore her - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
6. Dave. Every team needs a Dave*** - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as he does lots of mistakes.
7. Violent Warrior. Every team needs a violent warrior. Needed to blindly kill everything in front of them, because they have no brains, just trigger fingers/loose sword arm. Also their name will have too many consonants - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
8. Loyal sycophant. Every team needs a loyal sycophant. Charming, handsome and always backing up leader no matter what. Utterly useless at everything else - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
9. Person who is constantly lost. Every team needs someone who is constantly lost. Ensuring that our story has a sub-plot and our main team has a goal to aim for, no matter what - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we try and find this person. (Or they try and find us.)
10. Embittered Leader and Protagonist. Every team needs an embittered leader and protagonist (ELaP). Because we need gravitas. They will also be so moody teenager that no one will really like them and they will take big risks because of their mental fragility - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes, but....
11. Love interest for ELaP. Every team needs a love interest of the leader, who will generally be ignored/put down by protagonist until the very end, when they will, no matter what, fall in love with ElaP - Ensuring that our story has some sort of closure.
12. Cute animal pet. Every team needs a cute animal pet. They will be both adorable then become ferocious when provoked/used in battle. Under no circumstances will this member of the team die. They might 'fake death', but will always come back at the end - Ensuring that our story gets lots of 'awwws'

=======

* Derica for a female?
** However they save the day with some kick-ass manoeuvre that was probably not signposted earlier.
*** Before you scream at me Dave, my name is Dave too.

 

[Boaz]

I knew someone had some put some thought into this before I did. I don't know how I forgot Bob. Every group needs a Bob. But Derica? No, sensible women are usually named Mildred, Martha, or Mabel.

 

[The Big Peat]

So here's the thing. We need the ultimate team.

We need:

1. Bob. Every team needs a Bob. Dependable, reliable and able to quietly get on with tasks and do them well. He will also be very dull with no imagination, so we will probably ignore him and leave him behind after many encounters - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
2. Wise wizard/professor. Every team needs a wise wizard/professor. Let's assume that his name is "Derek"* (in whatever language you are using.) They know everything, albeit in a universe that is not the one we are in. So he is wrong constantly - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
3. Gurning Annoying Person. Every team needs a Gurning Annoying Person (AGP). Let's assume they are called 'Colin'. When we meet very big things like angry dragons, AGP is the person we sacrifice to slow it down because we're just so irritated by them - Ensuring that our story is made interesting and heroic as we try and fix our mistakes.
4. Over-complex assassin with some sort of non-western ethnic background. Every team needs a over-complex assassin with some sort of non-western ethnic background (OCANWEB?). They will spend most of the time communing with their tea as they rest at the camp fire and have a non-western ethnic name - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.**
5. Competent and Sensible Female. Every team needs a competent and sensible female. Everyone will ignore her - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
6. Dave. Every team needs a Dave*** - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as he does lots of mistakes.
7. Violent Warrior. Every team needs a violent warrior. Needed to blindly kill everything in front of them, because they have no brains, just trigger fingers/loose sword arm. Also their name will have too many consonants - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
8. Loyal sycophant. Every team needs a loyal sycophant. Charming, handsome and always backing up leader no matter what. Utterly useless at everything else - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes.
9. Person who is constantly lost. Every team needs someone who is constantly lost. Ensuring that our story has a sub-plot and our main team has a goal to aim for, no matter what - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we try and find this person. (Or they try and find us.)
10. Embittered Leader and Protagonist. Every team needs an embittered leader and protagonist (ELaP). Because we need gravitas. They will also be so moody teenager that no one will really like them and they will take big risks because of their mental fragility - Ensuring that our story is interesting and heroic as we do lots of mistakes, but....
11. Love interest for ELaP. Every team needs a love interest of the leader, who will generally be ignored/put down by protagonist until the very end, when they will, no matter what, fall in love with ElaP - Ensuring that our story has some sort of closure.
12. Cute animal pet. Every team needs a cute animal pet. They will be both adorable then become ferocious when provoked/used in battle. Under no circumstances will this member of the team die. They might 'fake death', but will always come back at the end - Ensuring that our story gets lots of 'awwws'

=======

* Derica for a female?
** However they save the day with some kick-ass manoeuvre that was probably not signposted earlier.
*** Before you scream at me Dave, my name is Dave too.

Gonna try and give this a go...

1. Bob - Someone who actually gets things done who they leave at home... I'm going with Glorfindel from LotR, who probably isn't quite dull enough to be a Bob, but is awfully effective before it's decided the Fellowship should have multiple hobbits.

2. Wise Wizard - I think this has to be Dumbledore from Harry Potter, whose questionable decisions do clash rather mightily with his reputation.

3. GAP - In contrast to Boaz' post, I have to say Tasslehof from Dragonlance annoys me no end and I look forwards to their consumption by dragon.

4. Overly Complex Assassin - I can't prove VB was thinking of River from Serenity when he came up with this, but it wouldn't surprise me.

5. Competent and Sensible Female - This one screams out for Susan Sto Helit from Discworld, who is so sensible she annoys herself

6. Dave - Our master of disaster shall be James Pooley from the Brentford Trilogy, a source of endless mistakes

7. Overly Violent Warrior - Hmm, consonants consonants... Sandor Clegane from Game of Thrones is the best I can think of at short notice

8. Loyal Sycophant - This is a nigh perfect description of the nice but dim bard Elan from Order of the Stick

9. Constantly Lost - If I had a pound for every time they're looking for Macros the Black from the Riftwar Cycle then I could buy a cup of coffee

10. Embittered Leader and Protagonist - And our survey said Rand al'Thor from Wheel of Time

11. Love Interest - I just finished rereading Mort and Ysabell from Discworld is so much this it hurts. Plus our party has a mother-daughter combo!

12. Cute Animal Pet - The cat Faithful from the Alanna series will fit well enough.