The Romantic Appeal of the Warrior Hero

What I like best about the Warrior-type character in Romance is their selflessness, their willingness to put their life on the line in order to help other people. They’re also usually highly trained and competent people, exactly the kind of partner you want to have by your side in a dangerous situation. And since those dangerous situations crop up so often in paranormal and fantasy romance, the warrior hero or heroine is a frequent fixture.

In contemporary romance, the warrior role is usually filled by a soldier, but in paranormal romance it’s often less formal than that. Warriors can be enforcers, knights in shining armor, angels, or demigods. Or they can be characters like warlocks whose fighting ability is primarily craft and mental, not raw physical strength.

But the most important quality of the warrior character is selflessness, and that’s also what makes him so appealing as a romantic partner.

In my newest book, Dragonslayer, my hero is a warrior. Christian rides with the wild hunt twice a month to keep the jötnar who destroyed his home world from invading earth too. He’s been raised to serve and he accepts that burden willingly, but it complicates his life. I found that the biggest strength of the warrior hero—his selflessness—also caused the biggest conflict for the hero and heroine.

Christian had a big responsibility to his clan, and he regularly risked his life to protect them. He wasn’t conflicted about that at all, but as the heroine, Jacey began to fall in love with him, she had a problem with him risking his life so readily. And as she stepped up to try to help, and also watch his back, it made Christian unhappy because then she was placing herself at risk when all he wanted to do was protect her.  Of course, that kind of selflessness caused all sorts of sparks in the bedroom. And they do get their happily-ever-after. But it’s hard won. Good thing they’re both fighters.

My favorite conflict with the warrior hero is when he tries to protect a heroine who either doesn’t need protecting or balances his brawn with her wits. Do you have any favorite warrior stories?

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Eleri Stone is a RITA-nominated author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Born and raised in New Jersey, she now lives in Iowa with her husband and their three children. All of her stories have some element of speculative fiction, and they all end with a happily-ever-after.
www.eleristone.com

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One year after his bride left him at the altar for his best man, Christian Jager is stuck in a rut. Working at the local co-op, dating the same handful of women he’s known since childhood, riding with the wild hunt twice a month to keep the jötnar who destroyed Asgard from invading earth.

He wants something more, but he’s not quite sure what it is until Jacey Morgan blows into his life like a breath of fresh air. A wildlife biologist who’s come to Ragnarok to investigate rumors of a strange predator in the area, she’s also a native Midgardian who can’t ever learn the truth about Christian or his clan. His job is to distract her and get her the Hel out of town as quickly as possible so the Æsir can take care of the problem themselves.

Jacey wants the case wrapped up quickly too, and she’s not about to get distracted by the sinfully sexy man who’s so unexpectedly determined to help. With a new degree and a plan to get out of Iowa, she’s ready to move on to bigger and better things… A dragon isn’t quite what she had in mind.

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This week is Warrior Week on Here Be Magic where we'll share what we love best about warrior heroes and heroines. If you missed it, be sure to check out Shona Husk's kick-off post: Paranormal Warriors.

Paranormal Warriors

hmmm hero with a sword

There is something very attractive about a man who knows how to use a sword ;)

The warrior is a type of hero who often graces the pages of paranormal romances, and with good reason. Aside from being fit, he is willing to do anything to get the job done (be it saving the world or defeating evil)—as long as it fits within his code of honor. 

He has duty and honor—what’s not to love about him?
In paranormal romances he is usually the paranormal part of the romance. Vampire, shapeshifter, goblin…not exactly the kind of guy that the heroine would take home to meet the family (assuming her family haven’t all somehow been killed, but the orphaned heroine is a whole other blog post). 

The paranormal is attractive because of its otherness as well as the sense of danger. The hero is often in need of taming and his moral code doesn’t always align with a humans.

My fairies in The Court of Annwyn series are very different to humans in what they think is acceptable behaviour, but they will never lie as that is seen as weak and showing a distinct lack of skill. They also avoid falling in love because it is seen as risk and their lover could be used against them (this of course means that when they do fall in love everything gets 10x worse).

There is something to else to think about when writing the warrior hero and that is the need to heal. At some point the warrior has to lay down his sword and say enough. 

Roan in The Goblin King did just that. The curse was taking over and he was done. Sometimes the biggest battle is not with an outside enemy but within and if he’d kept fighting he would’ve become 100% goblin.

For the Love of a Goblin Warrior touched on one final important issue when thinking about warrior heroes, something that after decades of conflict in the real world is becoming a very real challenge for many soldiers: post-traumatic stress disorder.

After fighting and witnessing countless horrors (and in paranormal romance this can literally be hell) there needs to be a recognition that this leaves a mark. For Meryn in For the Love of a Goblin Warrior that meant facing up to the death of his family and the destruction of his tribe at the hands of the Romans and trying to work through it so that he could live again. He’s had a couple of thousand years as a goblin to really let it sink in, but being goblin has also changed him and left a wound. 

While a warrior hero might be great in a fight, and he will achieve his goal or quest, it is important to remember that beneath the armor and the fierce expression there is a heart. If he’s too broken inside he won’t be able to fall in love (and love really can't fix everything). 

However he has to be a little bit broken otherwise he’d too boringly perfect. 

As with any romance hero, beauty is in the eye of the heroine (or the other hero). As long as they see the hero as worthy of love the reader will too no matter what creature he is or what he has done or the scars he bears (visible or not).