Ian Lightfoot is the male protagonist of the movie “Onward”. He is a difficult character to label based upon feminine and masculine traits because Ian’s personality teeters between timid and bold throughout the film. Despite being soft-spoken in school, such as when Ian fails to speak up for himself against a fellow student, he becomes assertive with the manticore soon after and demands that she give him the map for his quest. Later on, the manticore goes on to describe Ian as one of the bravest people she had ever met. This goes completely against the alternate view of Ian: a meek, yielding person who is afraid of everything.
Ian’s most prominent trait is the sympathy he shows his older brother, Barley. For a majority of the film, they spend their time arguing about how to complete their quest in order to temporarily bring back their dead father. Despite their bickering, Barley’s tells Ian about his last memory of their father: not being brave enough to say goodbye before he died. Because he feels sorry for Barley, Ian sacrifices his only chance to meet his father so that Barley can finally say a real goodbye.
Though not a physically impressive character, Ian is emotionally complex and a very compassionate brother. He is shown to grow in strength throughout the film, while at the same time becoming more compassionate towards those around him. Ian is an example of a character who does not need to be entirely masculine or feminine, and he shows that too much of either trait types can potentially be a bad thing. Being too yielding led others to take advantage of Ian, while being overly assertive with Barley caused them to fight.
Shared by: Riley Schwahn
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