Character from The First Law by Joe Abercrombie
The Young Lion — a golden-haired war hero who starts as everything a fantasy protagonist should be and ends as proof that heroism and fascism are separated by nothing more than opportunity.
Leo starts the Age of Madness as the good guy — brave, loyal, handsome, fighting for the right cause. He's everything Jezal was supposed to be. And then Abercrombie does what Abercrombie does: he shows you what happens when a simple, brave man is given power in a complex, cruel world. Leo's crippling injury (paralleling Glokta's) strips away his identity as a warrior and replaces it with resentment. His marriage to Savine is a power play from both sides. His ascent to the throne is a descent into authoritarian violence — purges, show trials, and the comfortable certainty that he's doing the right thing even as he does terrible things. He's the series' most disturbing character because he never stops believing he's the hero. The First Law's thesis is that the most dangerous person in the world is a good man who's convinced he's right.
Tall, golden-haired, and classically heroic — the sword-swinging, charge-leading ideal of Union manhood. After his crippling injury, he walks with a brace and a cane, his golden exterior cracked to reveal the bitterness underneath.
Also known as: Leo, Leo dan Brock, The Young Lion, King Leo