(credit: photobucket-click picture)
I’ve touched on Draco in fanfiction in one of my WoDM posts, but I haven’t talked about Draco’s fanfiction presence in-depth.
If you are familiar with Harry Potter fanfiction, especially fanfiction that deals with Draco, you’ll know all about the different types of Draco Malfoy. If you’re new to the world of HP fanfiction, let me introduce you to the different versions of Draco Malfoy:
Draco in Leather Pants
(credit: photobucket-click picture)
This is one of the most famous idealized Draco tropes. Most women do love the idea of the Bad Boy who falls in love with the Good Girl, and stories with Draco being the utmost Bad Boy are arguably some of the most popular fanfiction stories. The story behind this trope comes from the Draco Trilogy, written by Cassandra Claire. In the books, Draco only wore leather pants once, and even then, it was only out of necessity. But the imagery stuck, and people use this idea to remake Draco Malfoy’s personality for fiction.
Character traits:
- vain
- sympathetic background
- feeling misunderstood
- Harlequinn novel-level handsome
- snarky
- dangerous =sexy
Emo Draco
(credit: Draco Malfoy is an EMO!-link below)
Emo Draco is an exaggeration on the sympatheic Draco idea. Instead of being overtly masculine in with dangerous sex appeal, Emo Draco is more a wimp, being pushed around by the powers that be. While Draco does express uncertainty and fear about his actions later in the series and does brood quite a bit in Book Five, this trope pushes that booding up to 11. Basically, just think of your standard Emo kid and tack his traits onto Draco.
Character Traits:
- whining
- brooding associated with his life, parents, Voldemort, being a bully, etc.
- sulking
- crying
- depressed
Deadpan Snarky Draco
Click for video proof of Draco's snark (as well as his lesser moments)
This one is based in a little more canon than the other extreme fanon ones. I say this because one of the characteristics of Draco is to be a snarky smart-alec. An example can be seen from the third Harry Potter movie/book, when Draco’s main lines are snarky one-liners or looks(and possibly stuff that some members of the audience might actually be thinking. Wouldn’t you stare at Hagrid in disbelief if you had to open the Monster Book of Monsters without any help and then be expected to ride Buckbeak? I know I would). However, using only this characteristic in fanfiction makes him seem one-dimensionally mean, even if he’s really funny.
Character Traits:
- snarky one-liners and looks
- smirks, snarky grins
- a love for getting under people’s skin and bullying
Total OOC Draco
This Draco can either be totally hilarious in its genius or hilarious in its sheer stupidity. It’s really anyone’s game as far as this character’s personality goes. You can add or subtract anything you want, just as long as Draco’s out of character, or OOC.
Character Traits:
- Any combination of the above tropes, or add your own original characteristics.
Redeemed Draco
(credit: Warner Bros.)
Aruguably, this whole Draco series of mine could be seen as a defense of the Reedeemed Draco trope. I think it’s one of the few tropes that could actually be canon if the HP series continued, but that’s just me. In a nutshell, Reedeemed Draco stories involve Draco realizing through the story that he needs to change his ways. Either he becomes friends with Harry, Hermione, Ron, or all three of them (or even someone outside the Trio like Ginny, Neville, or Luna). He could also fall in love with Hermione, Ginny, Luna, or one of the other good girl characters in the series. He would have joined forces with Harry to fight evil, and could possibly become an Auror as an adult. Sometimes, these stories have too much of a happy ending, but still, if you’re looking for the closure you never really got in the books, these stories might be your best bet. I would say that these stories, when well-written, are the closest you’ll get to Draco completing the Hero’s Journey (even though some people don’t realize it, he did have a small Hero’s Journey, what with going through the turmoil with Voldemort and being confused about the state of his life and what his life really meant at the end of the final battle).
Character Traits:
- remorse
- fortitude
- guilt
- feeling misunderstood/like an outcast (at least for the first half of the story)
- regaining confidence (the second half of the story)
Canon Draco
(credit: Warner Bros.)
A ton of people write Draco fanfiction, but only a few find it satisfying enough to just write Draco as he is in the books. It could be argued that Canon Draco exhibits a lot of the traits the other Dracos have–dangerous appeal, wimpiness, a penchant for brooding (i.e. Book 5), and a heavy dose of snark, but this Canon Draco combines them all, hopefully to good effect.
Character Traits:
- snarkiness/dry humor
- brooding or a penchant for deep-thought
- smarts
- wimpiness
- dangerous appeal
- jerkiness
Basically, all of the things that make Draco Draco.
There’s an underlying message with all of the Draco versions in fanfiction, which can be summed up more eloquently in essays idol reflection: Draco Malfoy and Draco Malfoy is Ever So Lame. Both essays argue that so little is actually given about the true nature of Draco Malfoy. We can assume we know how bigoted and nasty and evil he is, but we really truly don’t know to what extent. The potential for him to be seen as a redeemable character is ripe throughout the series, yet he’s never given the chance to show the readership that he has redeemed himself. We never get the priviledge to see his actions in between the time he left Hogwarts to the time he was dropping Scorpius off for school, nodding indeterminatley to Harry. Fanon is allowing starved fans to fill in the gaps that were left in the canon text. Where J.K.R. quit, the fans stepped in.
Which Draco is the right one for you? Well, that’s for you to decide. Really, there’s no wrong answer. There is enough in the canon to suggest any one of these tropes. Sound off in the comments below about which one you like the best.
Other Useful Links:
[...] wrote something about Emo!Draco in the fanfiction article a few weeks (months?) ago. But it would seem that a lot of people do like thinking of Draco, [...]