My Name is Inigo Montoya

Have you ever met a character in a book or a movie that is just so unforgettable?

This past weekend I enjoyed watching the the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie: On Stranger Tides. The movie came out in 2011, it was the first time I’ve seen it. ( I know, I’m catching up, but the point is….)

I love pirate moves, and one of my favorite movies is Princess Bride.

Have you seen it?

Do you know this character?

Inigo’s Montoya is on a mission. He wants to avenge his father’s death. Along the way he is side tracked and needs his friends to help lift him up and get him on his feet. In doing so, it puts him back on his path – avenge his father.

I love his character.

He’s flawed, but he’s loyal. He has heart, and we see his heart at the end. That battle where he kills the six fingered man who killed his father.

Yet, in doing so, he lets his father’s murder know who he is and his intention. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Famous words right? A memorable line that is hard to forgot.

He says it over and over again. Why? Not for himself, but because he doesn’t want you to forgot who he is and what he is going to do.

Sometimes I think characters have the ability to become mentors to us in real life. I would hope that none of us are on the path that Inigo takes in this movie, but rather than avenge perhaps there is something else you are set out to do. What is motivating you to drive forward with you accomplishments?

We are not unlike many characters in books and movies. It’s why we love characters so much, we relate with them. They have hopes and dreams and motivations and their own problems just like we do.

At the end of the Princess Bride, Wesley (also known as the Dread Pirate Roberts) asked Inigo Montoya what he was going to do now that he’d accomplished his goal of avenging his father’s death.

To paraphrase, Inigo replies, “I hadn’t much thought about it.”

and Wesley says something like, “You know, you’d make a great Dread Pirate Roberts.”

And so, Inigo is given a new motivation and the story comes to an end.

Not every story ends, Our lives don’t end when one accomplishment is achieved, like Inigo a new opportunity comes along.

Until then we savior the scenes of good movies with irresistible characters and their words and actions that live long in our memories. And we go on to watch and wait for the next good book or movie to come along.

Which character do you relate to most and what is their motivation?