Classic Literary Himbos

The poster boy for Regency sweethearts, Bingley’s got it all: -He is silly and knows how to have fun at country balls and other social gatherings -He is handsome enough that you will never tire of looking into his soulful eyes whilst dancing together -And, more importantly, he is the kindest character in Pride and Prejudice after Jane. As Darcy’s BFF, he would have to be. To paraphrase Austen, a young hunk in possession of a gentle heart must be a perfect himbo — and Mr. Bingley certainly takes the prize.
Proving that the himbo tradition spans centuries, Rosencrantz is an early example but no less identifiable because of his Elizabethan origins. Like many a himbo in the years that followed, he has a Smarter Partner in the form of Guildenstern, who often confuses Rosencrantz with his Schemes and coin tricks (especially in the Stoppard play and its film adaptation). Kind enough to want to help Hamlet, but not smart enough to pull it off without dying.
Too gentle for a Victor Hugo novel, too pure, Marius Goes Through It as the Brick moves along, growing from wide-eyed baby thrust into a revolution to kind man burdened by unspeakable grief. He has all three himbo traits in perfect balance: as Eponine could probably confirm, Marius is handsome, kind and pretty oblivious, all at once. A handsome hunk who will help you build a barricade to fight the government.
Can a smart person be a himbo? Wizard Howl is the living proof that, yes. Definitely handsome (he is most famous around Ingary for eating people’s hearts, after all) and unfortunately very aware of that fact, it’s easy to see that Howl passes the attractive hunk test with flying colours. Kindness and dumb-of-assness is where it gets tricky with him. Howl is both dumb accidentally AND on purpose, and though he goes through great lengths to hide that fact, he is also capable of great kindness. Verdict: Gemini. Chaos himbo Gemini. A mess.
Is there a bigger hunk, of heart or of thigh, in all of Tolkien? Gimli is the golden child of himbos: kind but snarky, he can throw you over his shoulder as you shoot arrows at the enemy and keep you entertained through battle with cute headcount games. He will also hold you tenderly as he tends to your injuries afterwards. As to being a dummie, Legolas, son of Thranduil would probably agree that a lot goes over Prince Gimli’s head, including elven jokes and flirting, probably.
Kind, naive, sweet Captain Hastings. For a man who fought wars, he certainly is slow on the uptake at crime scenes, something that Detective Poirot remarks about time and time again in the Christie books. Hastings is yet another example in the long tradition of tender-hearted himbos who are partnered with a more caustic best friend. Their willingness to go along with their bitchy counterparts only further proves the inherent kindness of those sweet dummies.
Although they come from all over the book bin spectrum, the himbos listed here are admittedly Way Too European and thus do not, by any means, make up an exhaustive list. There are many, many more examples of himbos spread throughout world literature (Chicó from A Dog’s Will is a personal favourite of yours truly) - and the variety of settings and languages they come from will certainly keep Himbo Sciences scholars occupied for a long time.
Maria Carvalho

Maria Carvalho

Illustrator and desert wizard. When not drawing, Maria can be found crying over laser sword duels.
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