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(AfroGamers.com) Fantasy romance manhwas, as popular as they are, aren’t always safe from criticism – especially from their own fanbases. The biggest one that goes around in the Rofan (standing for romance fantasy) fandoms is how the genre a lot of times overuses tropes, plot lines, and magic systems. As this post discusses, another thing that the genre overuses are character archetypes – like the infamous ‘Duke of the North’ archetype. These archetypes come in different shapes and forms but there are specific characteristics that they always share. And sometimes those characteristics reveal to the readers in the fandom that they are the ‘Duke of the North’ before the manhwa’s story itself explicitly says so.
Who is the ‘Duke of the North’?
In the words of Rinha Seol from the rofan manhwa, Charming the Duke of the North, the ‘Duke of the North’ or the ‘Northern Duke’, is “A cold-hearted man with looks that kill! Powerful enough to kill any monsters! Cynical to everyone regardless of their age, gender and race!”
Inwardly, this man can be described in many different ways, and its honestly up to the reader to decide what they think of him. But most would argue that he is aloof, emotionless, and quiet. Outwardly, he is a man (or, rarely, a boy) who occupies the position of a duke in some kingdom or country. His dukedom is more often than not situated in a cold wasteland that only thrives due to its military prowess and mineral-rich lands. What defines the ‘Duke of the North’ from other nobles and royalty is how he does his best to keep away from them. He steers clear of interacting with others of high status and only does if he is ordered by the King and/or Crown Prince themselves to do so.
What likens all these manhwas’ versions of the duke is their outward appearance. In a lot of cases, the ‘Duke of the North’ has dark, black hair, red eyes and a figure worthy of being called an undefeated warlord. Speaking of “undefeated warlord”, the duke a lot of times has a nickname that vilifies him as some monstrous person meant to be feared by all – just because he is always the first at the frontlines during wartime. Nicknames like, ‘monster Duke’, ‘northern beast’, and ‘bloodthirsty beast’ are commonly used across these rofan manhwas.
The Ones Who are the Same
The ones who are the same are those duke characters who maintain the stereotype in fantasy romance stories. They are the ones who either started the craze or became known for it due to their respective manhwas’ popularity. It is honestly because of them that the ‘Duke of the North’ has elevated from being an actual noble title a character has, to one of many manhwa tropes contributing to reader’s disdain of overused tropes and character archetypes. The biggest thing, as already mentioned, is the appearance. Most of these dukes share the same face, same body, same colour palate. They are always dukes (obviously), always have black hair and red eyes, are always warlords and always reside in the north. The one question that has plagued the fantasy romance fandom in the manhwa reader community is how there is no ‘Duke of the South’, or maybe, a ‘Duke of the East’ – and what about the ‘Duke of West’? These manhwa authors keep repeating the same pattern over and over whether or not considering how much they are exhausting the readership and it is honestly concerning, because… Where is the creativity?!
This is not to say that there are no readers who do not love this archetype, because to be honest, there are a good number of readers who eat these characters up and never stop loving it. And that’s okay. But it wouldn’t hurt if the readers who aren’t as into this type of duke character are accommodated a little by manhwa authors. Looking at some good examples of ‘Dukes of the North’ (exclusively from fantasy romance manhwas), there are Pellus Termaine from Another Typical Romance Story, Baras Valias from The Grand of the North, Hades Louvremont from I Became the Hero’s Mom and Hugo Taran from Lucia.
The One Unlike Others
The good part about this stereotypical character is that there are manhwa authors and mangakas (manga artists) who end up inspired to do something different with their characters. These differences can be something big or something relatively small. At times that difference would be so small that it is practically non-existent. Some big changes when it comes to appearance with the dukes of the north is changing the hair and eye colours to white hair and blue eyes instead of the typical black and red. Unfortunately, in typical manhwa fashion, these ‘new’ colours quickly became another recurring descriptor for the ‘Duke of the North’ character image. Although seeing a duke with white hair and blue eyes still feels like a refreshing sight for most readers, the colour palate is already making a name for itself as an ‘alternative version’ of the same thing.
Even so, there are still dukes who have been able to successfully earn the title of ‘creatively different’ without the risk of being likened to any other variety of their archetype. The most notable mention which some fantasy romance readers can agree with is, Grand Duke Raegrane Vlenn from The Villainess Captured the Grand Duke and Duke Hades Louvremont from I Became the Hero’s Mom.
What makes Raegrane such a unique (grand) duke is the fact that the cold-hearted characteristic given to every duke character across manhwa is actually a trait necessary to his character’s personhood and the plot of the story. It is not merely there because every other manhwa author is adding it for their own character but because it plays an important role in character motivations as well as a plot device to assist in advancing the relationship between him and his love interest. He isn’t the way he is, cold and emotionless, because he chose to be but because the story’s plot involves him being forced to be (like a curse).
And then we have Hades who is portrayed as a cold duke only due to his traumatic past and unorthodox religious beliefs. Other than that, Hades is more times than not made to be a comedic character who isn’t as strict and bound by the laws and rules his country desperately tries to impose on him. He strives to live a happy and fulfilling life with his wife and son whilst devilish antagonists force their way into making sure that doesn’t happen. I Became the Hero’s Mom is also one of those manhwas that put their faith in the plot and writing to attract the readers’ attention and so, the whole ‘Duke of the North’ archetype that has been added through Hades, doesn’t seem forced or overused and instead buried under how important he is as a character to the story.
To sum it all up, the ‘Duke of the North’ is a character archetype in fantasy romance manhwa that really needs to be put to rest. If not, manhwa authors need to make an effort to create a version of the archetype that does not make the reader feel like they are immediately drowning in cliches and stereotypes the second the duke character is introduced to them.
Staff Writer; Fadzai Nyamande
A South African who brings her love for fiction, manga, and storytelling into every piece she creates. Her writing is shaped by imagination, curiosity, and a true appreciation for the worlds stories can build.
Feel free to drop a note at; [email protected].
