Top Ten Tuesday: Five Characters who Have Made Great Leaders and Five Characters who Wouldn’t Make Great Leaders

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Each week there is a new topic for bloggers to choose and list their top ten. This week’s theme is Top Ten Characters who Would Make Great Leaders.

I put a little twist on this week’s theme and instead I’m going to focus on five characters who’ve made great leaders, and five characters who wouldn’t make great leaders and should in no way be put in a leadership position. I read a lot of fantasy, and if there’s one thing there’s plenty of in the fantasy genre it’s leaders, be they lost princesses fighting for their throne or rebels fighting for a cause.

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Top Five Character’s who Have Made Great Leaders

Rhy
A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

It’s in this book, with Red London threatened, that Rhy becomes a figure his people can rely on. He uses the advantages he has to help his people however he can, even if it’s just in a small way, being visible and present to ensure them that their royal family haven’t been broken.

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Paige Mahoney
The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

After seeing what she did in Sheol I and knowing what the Scion plans for them Paige can’t keep silent. She is put in so many tough positions in The Song Rising but she’s aware that the Mime Order have the power to fight back, and that she needs to utilise that power for all their sakes.

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Xifeng
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

This may seem like a strange pick for this topic, especially this half of my Top Ten Tuesday list, but Xifeng has grown up knowing it is her destiny to be the empress. She is confident in her intelligence and her ability to be a fair ruler, kind to the people she loves and firm with those who cross her.

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Cinder
Winter by Marissa Meyer

When it comes to lost princesses there’s none that can top Cinder in my mind. In Winter Cinder takes her revolution to Lunar and it’s here where she finally becomes a real figure for her people to rally behind rather than just a dream or a rumour.

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Charlotte Branwell
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Charlotte has worked hard to prove herself as head of the London Institute, succeeding in the face of everyone who thought she was too weak or who tried to take her position away from her. She is a great leader, which she proves constantly with the help of Will, Jem, Tessa and Henry.

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Top Five Characters who Wouldn’t Make Great Leaders

Ali
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

Despite being his brother’s advisor, who will one day help him rule over Daevabad, Ali can be somewhat naive. He has no idea how to navigate the court his brother had grown up in, and he can be very stubborn when it comes to his ideals and beliefs especially those surrounding the Daeva people.

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Monty
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

I shouldn’t even need to explain this pick in depth. Monty has a tendency to act first and thing later, which puts him, Percy and Felicity in some very tight spots throughout the story. Although he’s quick on his feet when it comes to getting himself out of the scraps he all too often finds himself in.

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Mia
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

It’s not just the fact that Mia is an assassin that made me add her to my list this week but the fact that she is very brash. Mia wants to prove herself and doesn’t seem too concerned about playing by the rules. That changes a little in the second book but Mia is always going to be a go-it-alone character.

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Ethan “Scam”
Zeroes by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti

Ethan has a very interesting power, although it’s not one he can control, but it’s a power that only works to get him what he wants and it’s not good at thinking of future consequences. Basically Ethan could never be a leader, but it’s doubtful that’s something he even wants.

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Silyen Jardine
Gilded Cage by Vic James

Silyen is a character I hope never becomes a leader. I want to see the Equals lose their power and I really hope that’s where the third book takes the series. Silyen is a character I still don’t understand, but I know whatever it is he’s doing it’s his own well-being he has in mind, no one else’s.

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So what do you think? Did you take part in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, if so let me know what character you think would make great leaders, or what characters you think would make bad leaders.