Talk:Christ figure

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[edit] Sources and Cleanup

This article could badly use sources and cleanup. For the relevant examples, it should be easy to find sources that refer to them as Christ figures. For others, which have few (if any) Christ-like attributes, they can be deleted. Thoughts?Sir Isaac Lime 22:34, 18 January 2007 (UTC)

That's a good idear - an endless list of characters could be conceivably referred to as "Christ figures," but only those with reliable sources are sufficiently agreed upon to have a listing here; I'll start on a few. V-Man737 01:09, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Removed Examples

Removed the following examples. There are still some that need sources, I just took out the ones that clearly do not come close to the archetype.

  • Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption.
  • Vash the Stampede in Trigun
  • Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion. While not as transparent, some interpretations of this character pointed out that the three Ayanami's "incarnations" correspond to the idea of Christian Trinity: Rei I is the Father (the progenitor and the base of all others), Rei II is the Son (who gave her life for the sake of humans), and Rei III is the Holy Spirit (who embraces the entire world). Since the incarnation primarily shown in the series is Rei II, she can be overall considered a Christ-figure.
  • Jack Bauer in 24. (A little note about Jack Bauer: "Lying, torture, theft, and even cold-blooded murder are all viable options to Jack, a stark contrast to the vast majority of fictional heroes.") From his wikipage.)
  • Gandalf, Frodo Baggins, and Aragorn, in the novel The Lord of the Rings, each figuring an office of Christ as prophet, priest, and king, respectively.
  • Arthur Dimmesdale from The Scarlet Letter. In the last scaffold scene when he acknowledges his sin of adultery, Dimmesdale becomes a Christ figure.
  • Yoh Asakura of Shaman King by Hiroyuki Takei, is a kind and wise person who rarely loses his temper and never hates. He is quite willing to forgive the misdeeds of others, and acts a saviour for a number of characters, including Tao Ren, who's upbringing had filled him with hatred and destruction, Bokuto no Ryu, who led a gang and was on his way to a life of crime, and Faust VIII from his own madness after the death of his wife. Throughout the amine & manga, Yoh is forced to fight against his brother, Hao, who is determined to cleanse the world and create a paradise for only the most worthy of shamans. During this struggle to protect those who Hao seeks to destroy (specifically humans and weak shamans,) Yoh dies, but later comes back to life and resumes his battle with Hao while the people of Patch Village, including his rivals and the sibblings of his rivals, pray for his success against Hao.
  • Fyodor Dostoevsky used characters who had Christlike love for their fellow man. Some examples include Prince Myshkin and Alyosha Karamazov.
  • Yugi Moto from Yu-Gi-Oh!
  • Jimmy Chitwood in Hoosiers.

I think much of the problem arises from the fact that the article dos not differentiate enough between a Christ figure, whose purpose in the plot is to allegorically evoke the New Testament, and a Jesus-like figure, which is simply a figure that in some way resembles Jesus. When I get a chance I'll try to update it. Sir Isaac Lime 10:28, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Edit summary

Heh. I accidentally hit enter before finishing my edit summary, which would have said "Restoring Spider-Man, no rationale given for deletion." Considering that it has a reference, it'll take some discussion to delete that entry. V-Man737 07:12, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Not sure why that was deleted...the only thing I did during that edit was add one footnote. Somehow, Spiderman got deleted as well.Sir Isaac Lime 17:52, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
Oh! All is well, then. ^_^ V-Man737 08:23, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hitman

The game 'Hitman; Blood Money' follows the Christ storyline (lives, dies for somebody else's sins, returns to life on the third day.)

But a lot of people probably wouldn't like this allusion, so I thought I'd just mention it instead of adding it to the article. JimmmyThePiep 15:04, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Find some sauce for it and no one will think twice about crying over it. V-Man737 00:26, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Could E.T. possibly be a Christ figure? He descencds from an unknown land, heals people, dies (is crucified), is resurected, and finnally, ascends to the sky.

[edit] Examples to add

I don't have a source so I won't add them, but maybe somebody else does. Luke Skywalker and Harry Potter definitely qualify as Christ figures. Both are reared in obscurity and end up fulfilling a destiny that only they can fulfill. Along the way, they both show mercy to the undeserving (Darth Vader, Peter Pettigrew), are betrayed/abandoned (Lando, Ron), struggle against personified evil (Emporer Palpatine, Lord Voldemort), have wise and skilled counselors (like God the Father for Jesus) who cannot directly help them (Obi Wan & Yoda / Dumbledore), and, without a conventional use of power and might, save everyone else through their own selflessness. --Trweiss 03:04, 27 July 2007 (UTC)

Why not Billy Budd? Besselfunctions (talk) 16:34, 3 June 2008 (UTC)