No one's perfect, especially in literature. Author Julie Wu's favorite protagonists are of sound mind and questionable morals. Do you have a favorite character who lacks, well, character? Tell us in the comments.

It feels so good to root for the golden-hearted guy. To imagine that in a crisis you'd be just like Harry Potter — noble, self-sacrificing, flaunting rules only in the service of Good. But most of us also harbor secret, selfish thoughts we're certain Mother Teresa never had. Those failings are what make the morally flawed heroes of these books ring uncomfortably true. And if we, the readers, refuse to empathize with these very human characters, does that make us nobler than they, or merely self-delusional?

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