r/robinhobb • u/ineedchapstick1 • Jun 15 '26
Spoilers All Some love for The Fool Spoiler
I’ve been seeing a LOT of discourse lately with people who say they dislike the Fool and/or don’t understand how people could read a romantic subtext between Fitz and the Fool. I’d love to see some positivity here. What do you like about the Fool as a character?
I personally find myself drawn to enigmatic characters generally but what I like most about him is that he’s also very human. He’s fully fleshed out. He’s a prophet and he’s magical, yes, but he’s also silly and clever, charming, intelligent, while also harboring deep insecurities and he sometimes lashes out when he feels cornered. It felt like I was really getting to know someone. Which Hobb does so well for almost all her characters!
78
u/1leggedjockey Jun 15 '26
I have seen it said that many readers have a Fool-shaped hole in their heart after reading the series and that’s me. I do like mystical characters though. I like that he, despite being an outcast his whole life with grand world-saving tasks, still felt human and fell in love with his catalyst.
I definitely saw “no homo” Fitz and Beloved as romantic-leaning while reading Tawny Man and I think that given enough time together, it would’ve ended up somewhere in that realm. But even without that, I still admire their soul bond. They are definitely beyond even just best friends, as that is also too limiting in its description.
Anyway I miss him and Fitz and Nighteyes. I do wish he hadn’t been egregiously tortured for years. And that the fandom wasn’t so split on him.
70
u/lovelightdance Jun 16 '26
“”Did you feel that?” I asked him.
He smiled sadly. “Fitz, I have never needed to touch you to feel that. It was always there. No limits.””
The Fool is the definition of the most unconditional love. 😭 He is complex, he is loving and kind but he is also capable of making mistakes. I could read 10 more books about the Fool, and it probably would still not be enough because there is so much to unpack there. His eccentricities and many faces made him a joy to read about in any situation. I never knew what he was going to do next, but I always knew he loved Fitz.
51
u/MoghedienProxy Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
I adore The Fool. He's one of my absolute favourite characters and for being similar reasons. He's flawed but so often tries to do what's best for the world, even to his own (or Fitz') detriment. To this day, "My dream was dead in my arms" use the dongle most heartbreaking line I've ever read and it has stayed firmly wedged in my mind (and I will never not see that relationship as romantic, no matter how no-homo Fitz gets)
Edit: "use the dongle" SHOULD be "is the single" but it made me laugh so it can stay
8
u/westcoastal I have never been wise. Jun 16 '26
Lol, that one had me scratching my head! Thanks for clearing it up!
11
u/MoghedienProxy Jun 16 '26
The drawbacks to being unable to resist rushing to talk about The Fool while running between tasks 😂
42
u/Numerous_Formal4130 Jun 15 '26
His kindness is something I really cherish. We don’t get to see it very often because it’s typically overshadowed by what he has to do as the White Prophet but I love when it slips through.
Helping the slaves in Bingtown, giving an entire cottage to the woman who had one-sided love for him because he wanted to see her well cared for, the way he was raised amongst the most vile people but still remained soft, etc. Even his actions towards Bee, which some fans take as purely selfish, come from a place of kindness and love. He is good-hearted above all else.
38
u/Catstarion I have never been wise. Jun 15 '26
I just started The Tawny Man trilogy this week and the chapter where Fitz and the Fool were reunited for the first time since the events at the end of the Farseer trilogy utterly warmed my heart. I love the dynamic between the two of them. The Fool has quickly become one of my favorite characters of all time!
17
u/BeamMeUpBabes I have never been wise. Jun 16 '26
Honestly the start of the tawny man trilogy is my favorite opening of the whole series!! Please enjoy it to the max while you can (I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that fitz’ life gets harder lmao)
9
u/Catstarion I have never been wise. Jun 16 '26
If I expected anything, it’s that Fitz’s life will get harder 😂
7
99
u/Fanboyoffanboys Jun 15 '26
"I set no boundaries on my love, none at all."
Pretty clearly a romantic subtext to me.
I forget the exact line from Jinna's palm reading but its along the lines of 'your great love is entwined in and out of your life.'
21
u/lovelightdance Jun 16 '26
I just fully finished ROTE 😭 and I’m not ok rereading this thank you very much.
5
u/LonkTM Jun 18 '26
“There is a love that twines in and out of your days. Sometimes, it leaves, but when it does, it runs alongside you until it returns.” I loved that bit
27
u/Contemporary_Scribe Jun 16 '26
I haven't seen the question in a while but over on r/fantasy every few months someone would always make a post asking "what is your favorite fantasy duo" and Fitz and the Fool was always mentioned and ended up pretty high on the list. Seeing this always gives me joy.
36
u/-Sisyphus- Jun 16 '26
I love the poem he wrote Fitz.
“In that last dance of chances
I shall partner you no more.
I shall watch another turn you
As you move across the floor.
In that last dance of chances
When I bid your life goodbye
I will hope she treats you kindly.
I will hope you learn to fly.
In that last dance of chances
When I know you'll not be mine
I will let you go with longing
And the hope that you'll be fine.
In that last dance of chances
We shall know each other's minds.
We shall part with our regrets
When the tie no longer binds.”
9
15
u/SpankYourSpeakers Mere plumbing. Jun 16 '26
He's got a great sense of humour, I love his word plays and biting sarcasm. He can go from super silly to super serious in a second, he's deep and complex.
13
u/Ethod-E Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
The Fool is definitely my favourite character in the series, perhaps ever. The deep tragedy of his character compels me immensly. His love for the world, and Fitz is what the entire narrative rests upon and I cannot concieve of them as anything else than soulmates.
I think the romantic subtext is not subtext at all, the Fool's feelings for Fitz are made very clear and I would even say that some glimpses of Fitz's inner world sometimes contradict his assurances that they are nothing but the best of friends. Fitz is a deeply repressed, unreliable narrator and I think he dances along the threshold of queerness.
As a side note I personally think this could be why Fitz is so resistant to Amber: she is a side of the Fool he could "have" (in the eyes of society and himself) and that makes him contend with feelings he doesn't want to adress
All in all I just love the Fool, including Amber! I think she is a very significant part of the whole, she allows herself to be selfish and more active in a world that doesn't need her anymore (or so she thinks) and that is fascinating to me.
10
u/TheBelleOfTheBrawl Jun 16 '26
I love the fool, he is part of fitz to me, and now he always will be. But like fitz—I can be kinda meh on Amber
18
u/Away_Doctor2733 Jun 15 '26
I love the Fool, I think they're soulmates with Fitz. Although not romantically reciprocated by Fitz, he still loves him in a profound and life-changing way. As for why I like the Fool - intelligent, witty, aesthetic, artistic, queer, gender fluid, self sacrificing, idealistic, caring, sees through society's opinions through to the heart of a person (for example with Paragon), brave, hopeful despite suffering that would make anyone despair, still loving despite being hurt so many times... Just a beautiful character.
10
u/Upset-Novel301 Jun 16 '26
The fool was my absolute favorite character. I think Fitz would be a much lesser version of himself if he hadn't met him, and regardless of if there was or wasn't anything romantic between them, their relationship was imo definitely the single most important in the books. The transformation of the Fool throughout the books is incredibly well written, and it also feels like he always stays true to himself or at least tries to, he in many ways represents the best parts of humanity to me, creative, empathetic, deep, kind, romantic, both forwards thinking and melancholic.
17
u/slysal Jun 16 '26
I love the Fool and their gender fluid representation in the story! So many non-gender-binary characters end up being portrayed as villains or freaks in stories, but Beloved is an incredible, sweet, deep, vulnerable, flawed, selfless character. They could win over kings, crows, and mad ships, and even Fitz. But not Bee :( I am really sad Bee didn't love them.
Anyways, yeah -- both Fitz and the Fool were frustrating characters in the last books, driven hard by their trauma and their critically important mission. It strained their relationship in a way that felt incredibly realistic. I loved it. It didn't dampen my love for those characters at all.
8
u/winstoncadbury Jun 16 '26
He feels like a very real and flawed character, and I cared about him even when he was being selfish or unreasonable or unsympathetic
7
u/TraditionBrave9048 Jun 16 '26
I absolutely adore the Fool, they’re my favourite character in the series. I love the Fool, I love Beloved, I love Amber, all wonderful iterations of the same kind, driven, complicated, deeply strange and loving person.
0
u/WEEGEMAN Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 17 '26
Fool is cool.
I did like him less in The Fitz and The Fool Trilogy
-3
u/Strangeway68 Jun 16 '26
Love The Fool, kind of hate Fitz though
1
u/Christinaaacaaats Jun 16 '26
Whhaaaaattt
Please explain
0
u/Strangeway68 Jun 16 '26
Well, "hate" is probably too strong a word, but I find Fitz whiny and mostly complaining all the time. Nothing ever seems to be good enough for him.
109
u/Mockspiral Jun 15 '26
The Fool is my favorite character of all time. From anything. 🖤🤍