#corum

The Chronicles of Corum #12, November 1988. Mike Mignola cover pencils, P. Craig Russell inks.

Elric is the most obvious example. It's precisely what makes him stand out among his people. He hurts so deeply because he feels just as deeply, and him having a conscience just amplifies it. He doesn't deny his actions, and yet he cannot reach full acceptance of his grief, because it just keeps resetting over and over again, making him stuck on depression. He shows acceptance by the end of his story, which is unfortunately cut short by Stormbringer's sudden last devious deed.

Corum's grief manifests as anger. His family dead before his eyes, his body defiled by humans whom he never even gave second thoughts about. The only way he can keep himself together is to focus all his pain into resolve to kill the man who ruined his life. Once he does, and when his wife dies, leaving him alone, he too gets stuck on depression, and it lasts quite long with him. I do believe he spent the Silver hand trilogy in denial, as he tries to convince himself that he belongs with Tuha-na-Cremm Croich, despite being shown otherwise, and knowing otherwise.

Oswald Bastable is the best example of denial. He spends the most of his first novel in it. Whether it's about his predicament of being displaced in a time he does not understand, or being shown glimpses of the true nature of the British empire he's so loyal to, or accidentally becoming an accomplice to a group that opposes his ideology, or the fact that he is once again displaced in a time that rejects him. He has a period of acceptance, and yet he's once again back to square one at the end of Warlord of the air, this time actively indulging in opium that he adamantly refused for the entirety of the novel, just to be able to keep himself together.

What sets each Eternal champion apart despite their experiences having an obvious pattern due to them being aspects of the same archetype, is how they deal with all of it, and they all do it in different ways that don't feel repetitive, and I think it's great.