Last week as I was perusing Reddit, I noticed a post complaining that there were too many fantasy stories that focused on the outcast hero. They wanted to know what other books there were that didn’t feature an outcast, but their original complaint got me thinking: Is it bad that so many fantasy and sci-fi stories revolve around outcasts? Why do we love outcasts so much?

Outcast Archetypes

The outcast archetype comes in several sub-archetypal forms: the exile, the rebel, the cursed, the caught-between-two-worlds. The exiled outcast is a character like Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn, Kaladin Stormblessed of the Stormlight Archive, or my own Torin Keth, an outcast bounty hunter (read more about him in this free short story: Embers). We adore our rebel outcasts for defying authoritarian control: Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly, Han Solo of Star Wars, Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games. An example of the cursed outcast is Geralt of Rivia, from The Witcher, who has been fundamentally changed in order to become a Witcher, and in so doing is made into a feared and often hated character.

What do Han Solo, Kaladin Stormblessed, and Geralt all have in common that make them interesting to us? Is it because they’re just so cool? Or because of their attitudes, willing to shun the expectations and requirements so many of us feel bound by?

I think those elements definitely play a part, but I think there’s something more to it than just a cool character with cool powers or a flippant attitude we all wish we could have.

Universal Feeling of Alienation

Everyone knows what it feels like to be on the outside looking in. As humans, we are hardwired to want to be a part of the group because our survival depends upon it. Babies that don’t get the love and attention that they need fail to develop emotionally, psychologically, and socially. I read about a study where people played a simple game run by a computer. Even when the participants knew there was no one behind the game, they still felt spurned when they were not chosen.

When we read, watch, and play stories, we put ourselves into the shoes of the character and bring our own experiences with the color our perception of that character. The more we empathize with a character, the more we bond with them.

I think the reason this is such a common trope in sci-fi and fantasy circles is because many of us who love science fiction and fantasy have dealt with bullying. I believe this is why Brandon Sanderson’s essay “Outside” resonated so strongly with his audience. He spoke of being different from his friend group, of feeling differently from others around him and feeling alienated because of it, like he was looking in through a window but never actually inside. In Mistborn: The Final Empire, Vin starts out the story as an outsider looking in, and by the end has a found family that has finally accepted her. Sanderson continues to write and build worlds and experiences to bring people into a group where they can feel included.

Many flock to him because they see that warmth. It calls to them because he sees them while others haven’t.

The Underdog

Another reason we love outcast heroes in fantasy and sci-fi is that everyone loves an underdog. We love seeing a character or a real person or team rising from the ashes to dominate those who belittled and scorned them. This isn’t unique to sci-fi or fantasy—it’s impossible to count how many stories have been written about bullies and their targets, sports teams with less funding but a lot of heart, about bands of soldiers faced with impossible odds.

These kinds of stories force characters to face the fact that the odds are stacked against them and to decide to stand up and fight anyways. It exposes some of the greatest human traits: bravery, honor, brotherhood, tenacity, grit, and hope. We NEED these underdog characters to win because it’s a validation of what we all hope is true: that there are people who are greater than us out there, people we can look up to and aspire to be like.

Conclusion

So is it really so bad that so many fantasy and sci-fi stories feature outcasts? I’d say that it’s less a matter of being “bad” or “good” and more that the stories we love most are a reflection of us—our deepest fears of rejection and our greatest hopes of triumph and finding where we belong. We keep coming back to these stories because they remind us that even the smallest, most insignificant person in the world matters.

And if that is true, so do we.