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Fiction books with "alpha male" main characters? (self.becomeaman)

submitted by itmcb

I'm looking for fiction books that have "alpha" men as the main characters. I use alpha to represent the strongest version of a man. Couldn't think of another term to use.

I noticed there was another thread asking about movies, so it's pretty much the same question except it's for fiction books.

characters like tyler durden, eddie morra (from limitless), etc.

on a side note. I haven't read it but I heard the male character from 50 shades of grey is strong depiction of a man who knows what he wants?


[–]_Brimstone 8 points9 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

The Fountainhead. Howard Roark is written to be "man as he should be."

Really, writing this character archetype was what Ayn Rand was all about. This incredibly powerful book will fully satisfy.

[–]Vashtu 5 points6 points  (1 child) | Copy Link

Forget fiction. Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko fits the bill perfectly.

[–]imeasureutils 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Lol I remember that book

[–]Pomnom 2 points3 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

Mist born series. The first 2 are excellent, the third is too much fantasies for my taste, still an excellent ending for the trilogy.

[–]Travis_McGee 2 points3 points  (1 child) | Copy Link

I'm not entirely sure he fits as a "Main Character" but McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is my depiction of a great Alpha.

[–]autowikibot 1 point2 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel):

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) is a novel written by Ken Kesey. Set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional processes and the human mind as well as a critique of behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles. Published in 1962, the novel was adapted into a Broadway play by Dale Wasserman in 1963. Bo Goldman adapted the novel for the 1975 film directed by Miloš Forman, which won five Academy Awards.

Time Magazine included the novel in its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005" list.

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Interesting: Bureaucrat | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play) | List of books and publications related to the hippie subculture

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[–]maxwellhouseeyes 2 points3 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

I like Philip Marlowe in Raymond Chandler's series of detective novels. He's got a clever mind, is confident in his decisions and isn't afraid to resolve things physically.

[–]MMQ42 2 points3 points  (1 child) | Copy Link

Roland of Gilead

[–]saddestgiraffe 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Ya

[–]thejamabides 2 points3 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

Jack Reacher

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children) | Copy Link

Read history. Plutarch, Livy, Thucydides.

[–]caliboo 4 points4 points [recovered] | Copy Link

Don't get your alpha male ideas from fiction, get them from real life?

Am I saying this just to be an asshole? No.

Fiction never has the responsibility to depict life as it is and is not governed by the laws of the world like day to day life really is.

Your main hero or antihero always has a primary love interest who he's guaranteed to score with, and falls into an "asshole who gets redeemed into a white knight" or a "white night that questions convictions yet decides to remain a white night" role.

Neither of these are beneficial examples, and don't match reality. They make good fantasy material though.

Let's take your question: 50 shades of gray. The story of a lonely virgin girl who has a super wealthy billionaire at her beck and call like a needy puppy.

You really think that's a good example of an "alpha male" or matches reality in the slightest?

The reason it's a hugely popular novel is it fits a fantasy dream narrative that on the surface, sounds plausible.

Don't base your role models on fantasy, man. If anything look for bios of real people, or even better, look at the aspects of people you meet who you think are alpha and emulate them.

[–]itmcb[S] 1 point2 points  (2 children) | Copy Link

I have bios for Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Branson etc. I wanted to expand from just non-fiction. I find that thinking about characters like Tony Stark, James Bond, etc helps me.

Do you disagree with people that look up to Tyler Durden then?

[–]caliboo 2 points2 points [recovered] | Copy Link

Right, so you're correct- Tony Stark shows us the alpha feature of saying what he wants and not giving a fuck.

Tyler Durden shows us that even psychopathy can be relaxing and freeing.

James Bond shows us that you can be a badass while still having Martinis "shaken not stirred"

There's aspects that are good to glean off of, things that expand the mind; but they still fall into the same camp (every one of them):

  • One major love interest.
  • Girl is the "anti-princess", having bigger "balls" than the guy in most cases
  • The badass "alpha" otherwise has one-itis and it all ends with a "happily ever after" prince and princess ride off into the sunset together

Again, these stories are great, and really entertaining, but be careful man, the majority of the meat in these stories is really just sawdust and invented social norms.

[–]BrothaTom 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

The badass alpha are those people you don't even see in your circles, and I am not being an asshole.

[–]esoplamoc 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Hands down, tai-pan. Dirk Straun resonates the term of man. Good read of the opium/tea trade in 1800's China.

[–]tmbata 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

I believe the best example are several of the characters in Sometimes a Great Notion. The main character (Hank Stamper) is "alpha" as well as several other characters in the book. To make things even better, a central theme of the book is that his younger brother was raised to be a beta by his mother and how he begins to overcome that. Not to mention it is one of the most beautifully written books of all time. Every man should read it.

[–]FRSFxHkkXX 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Any TRP field report.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Gor. On the cover it says, 'the controversial Gor series', and you will soon see why it is controversial in today's gynocentric world. The second book, Outlaw of Gor, especially, I think.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

I'm not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but I'm going to go ahead and recommend The Lord of the Rings. It's a classic, and there's a million reasons why you should read it, not even including its masculine instruction. I wouldn't call any of the characters "alpha" necessarily, but there are plenty in there that are both good men and good at being men. Tolkien was inspired to write it by his experiences in WW1, and nothing makes you a man quite like a war.

[–]MagicJuggler 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Read "The Godfather", by Mario Puzo. Understand that respect and being able to call in favors at the right time carry you further than the comforts that come with being a law-abiding citizen.

[–]jabberwockysuperfly -1 points0 points  (1 child) | Copy Link

The Altered Carbon trilogy by Richard K. Morgan. SciFi/cyberpunk genre.

[–]autowikibot 0 points1 point  (0 children) | Copy Link

Altered Carbon:

Altered Carbon (2002) is a hardboiled cyberpunk science fiction novel by Richard K. Morgan. Set some five hundred years in the future in a universe in which the United Nations Protectorate oversees a number of extrasolar planets settled by human beings, it features protagonist Takeshi Kovacs. Kovacs is a former United Nations Envoy and a native of Harlan's World, a planet settled by a Japanese keiretsu with Eastern European labour.

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Interesting: Richard K. Morgan | Broken Angels (novel) | Black Man | Takeshi Kovacs

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