Allergies, Asthma, & Ailments in Fantasy

Posted on by Chris The Story Reading Ape

We often read about heroes who have emotional issues from their past, or even certain fears, like Indiana Jones and snakes – but apart from Superman and his Kryptonite weakness, I can’t recall any who had allergies.
Care to take up Charles’ challenge?

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While filling out all the school forms for my son, I began wondering about allergies and asthma.  You don’t really see these in fantasy settings.  I’ve yet to read about an orc that is terrified of bees because of an allergy.  Any character that is gasping for air is usually doing so because they are out of shape or been running for a very long time.  It never seems to be asthma.  Many people live with these problems, which makes it weird that they never show up in fantasy worlds.

Maybe I’m overthinking this and these are quirks that don’t really come into play or simply can’t exist.  I mean, you have magic that could cure it and when was the last time an elf chowed down on PB&J.  There may be a character who sneezes, says they have hay fever, and that’s all you hear about…

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7 thoughts on “Allergies, Asthma, & Ailments in Fantasy”

  1. This is a belated comment, but the main character in Mister Monday had severe asthma! From what I remember he had a bad attack in the first scene of the book. But you’re right, there are very few heroes with allergies that I can think of, and it’s never something that pops up in my mind when I write. Thanks for making me think about this 🙂

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  2. In The Perihelix, which I’m currently revising, the protag’s mother has allergies. I tend to put these things in when it’s amusing with a background character or plot-required for a major one. 🙂

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