Top Five Tuesday – Characters Who Sort Into Gryffindor

This month, Bionic Book Worm’s Top Five Tuesday is all about the Harry Potter Houses!  Each week celebrates characters from a different house.  First up is Gryffindor!  Bionic Book Worm has defined Gryffindor as the following:

They are experience oriented, honest, practical, blunt, passionate, playful, funny, trusting, idealistic, stubborn and procrastinators. They live in the moment, don’t take themselves seriously, are wary of manipulators and liars, have a strong moral centre, and are unafraid to seize opportunities and make changes.

I quibble slightly that Gryffindors don’t take themselves seriously (Harry certainly did) but otherwise an excellent description!  So who are my favorite characters I would sort into Gryffindor?

Spensa – SKYWARD by Brandon Sanderson
If there was ever a character who was stubborn, idealistic, and wary of liars, it’s Spensa. Her whole life since the age of seven has  been about proving that the governing body of her colony lied about her father’s death, claiming he was a cowardly traitor who tried to flee the battlefield.  She’s determined to be the best starfighter pilot in town and to clear his name, no matter what obstacles are thrown in her way.

Harry Dresden – THE DRESDEN FILES by Jim Butcher
Harry Dresden is one of those characters that constantly gets bad situations, mostly because he can’t leave things alone.  If there’s a bad guy out there, he’s going to get involved, whether it’s the local crimelord dabbling in magic or a fae queen organizing a deadly magic spell.  Sure, you can tell him it isn’t his problem and to walk away, but if he does leave, it’s only to grab some more spells (and possibly a few friends) so he can blast the Big Bad into the next dimension.

Rowan – SCYTHE by Neal Schusterman
In all honesty, both Citra and Rowan deserve to be on this list, but I picked Rowan for being the slightly darker side of Gryffindor.  Rowan certainly has the “strong moral center” and suspicion of manipulators and liars that’s are key components of being Gryffindor.  After he’s put through the wringer by Scythe Goddard, a man Rowan believes vastly abuses his power as a Scythe, Rowan takes it upon himself to hold the entire Scythedom accountable for abuses.  He has the idealism of believe the order of Scythes should behave a certain way, but the cynicism to see that some individuals won’t unless someone makes them.

Teyr Amondsen- THE WINTER ROAD by Adrian Selby
The entire point of THE WINTER ROAD is that Teyr believes the world could be made better if a road connected all the clans, and nothing, not even a deadly warlord, is going to stop her.  If that isn’t ultimate Gryffindor, I don’t know what is!  Teyr also gets drawn into protecting others, even when it isn’t the most convenient timing for herself.  She also prefers to get things done herself rather than lettings others handle the situation.

Emika Chen – WARCROSS by Marie Lu
Emika is tenacious and a hands-on kind of girl, willing to hunt down a mysterious hacker who is threatening the upcoming Warcross games. She initially makes her living hunting down people playing Warcross illegally, and when asked to join a team as part of her undercover assignment, she trains hard.  And when she meets the ultimate villain who would love to have her at their side, there’s no question what her next move is going to be.