Do people hate the dense protagonist archetype? Or am I looking in the wrong places

I'm with you, Fitz's psychology is really far from a normal person, it's hard to make any statement about how he should be acting, so I dislike the arguments that he's stupid, or especially that he's "unrealistic."

The amount of trauma he suffered, many of it fantastical and impossible to go through IRL, like (Assassin's Apprentice spoilers) being ripped away from companions he shared his mind with, having negative thoughts forcefully implanted into his brain by magic, etc., makes any "realistic" take on writing his character impossible, it's all speculative fiction. I personally think Hobb did a great job and took a whole lot of cues from the behavior and thought processes of real abuse victims, but even if someone disagrees -- it's not like anyone knows what a person like Fitz should be acting like, so I just don't understand the criticism.

/r/Fantasy Thread Parent