This month I’m participating in the Scifi Month challenge that was created by the bloggers at One More. Click on the link in that last sentence for more information or to sign up yourself. There is still time to pick a few of their prompts and join in if you’re interested.
The prompt for today was “aim to misbehave.” Science fiction is filled to the brim with characters who excel at getting into trouble, so I’m narrowing it down to protagonists (or people close to them) who were mischievous in a positive, humorous way. That is, they never got into the scrapes they do with the intention of harming anyone! It was all done in good fun.
Bender from Futurama
Bender was high-tech industrial metalworking robot. Specifically, he was created to bend structural steel without heating it up first.
Let’s just say that the plan for this robot’s life wasn’t necessarily all that related to who he turned out to be after he left the factory where he was assembled.
Yes, Bender was physically capable of bending just about any physical object you can imagine, but what he was really interested in was bending the rules. Often, he bent them until they broke not out of malice but because he enjoyed seeing how life played out when things don’t go according to schedule.
Humans fascinated and horrified him. He thought he hated them until he met a few special people who changed his mind. Even with his humans of choice, though, he always wanted to know just how far he could push the limits while still making his antics funny.
Luci from Disenchantment
Disenchantment is one of those shows that straddles the line between science fiction and fantasy, so I’m including it in this list. Luci is one of those demons that is far more good than he’d ever care to admit.
Like a cat, he has a strong desire for napping, independence, and not necessarily doing what the humans want him to. When push comes to shove, he’s going to land on the side of the good guys even if it means avoiding that sunbeam and not having that afternoon nap after all.
Just don’t expect him to avoid every mischievous temptation along the way. If there’s a way to get into the amusing kind of trouble while also helping his buddies, he’s going to find it.
Bart Simpson
The only reasonable conclusion I can make about The Simpsons is that it’s set in a science fiction or fantasy world. How else could you explain all of the impossible things that happen in it?
Bart is one of the most mischievous characters I’ve ever met. There barely seems to be a single second of the day that passes by without him plotting his next funny trick.
Fred and George Weasley
If I’d written the Harry Potter series, I would have made Fred and George the protagonists of at least one of the books! They deserved more attention than they got, and I think it would have been hilarious to see all of the hijinks these brothers got into that they maybe never got around to telling Harry about.
For example, I would have loved to see the moment when they first discovered how the Marauders Map works.
Who are your favourite mischievous protagonists or other good guys?
Today is Family Day for those of us who live in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, or Saskatchewan. Family Day was first observed in 2007 in New Brunswick, and it was created in order to give people a paid day off in February to rest and spend time with their families.
The Weasley Family from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. 
When I was a kid, my family wavered between having a TV and taking breaks from living with one. When we did have a TV, it was common for us to only be able to watch the channels that could be seen for free if you had an antenna and the wind was blowing the right way. (This is only a partial joke. The weather really could influence what channels we could get on stormy days from what I recall!)
Once my family got a television, (temporarily) signed up for cable service, and began watching more contemporary programs, I quickly learned which show I enjoyed the most: The Simpsons!