This week, I’m highlighting our top ten rebels in literature. This one was pretty tough for me, and I’m sure I’ll think of brilliant examples tomorrow. Please weigh in below!

10. Tom Sawyer
Tom is the original bad boy who is still able to charm his way into old ladies’ hearts. His ability to persuade everyone to play along with his cockamamie schemes makes him an unforgettable rebel.

9. Joe Abercrombie
Abercrombie has written one fantasy trilogy and two similar stand-alone novels. His books often feature stock fantasy characters, but they are anything but ordinary; Abercrombie turns stereotypes on their heads to great effect. His stories are entertaining, suspenseful, and very accessible, especially to fantasy newbs.

8. Cormac McCarthy
McCarthy’s signature writing style is rebellious in an anti-punctuation kind of way. I mean, really, who needs quotation marks? I’m told it’s really just a James Joyce thing, but I haven’t read enough Joyce to call him a rebel.

7. Jack Kerouac
Who suddenly packs up everything he owns in a dilapidated old car to drive cross-country with a few druggie friends in the 1940s? Dean Moriarty, of course. And Jack Kerouac, who records the whole adventure in one long scroll while on a bender.

6. Emma Donoghue
With bright red hair and a perky Irish accent, Emma Donoghue may not seem like much of a rebel. But her feminist retellings of fairy tales–both in her collection of interlaced short stories and sprinkled more subtly throughout her other novels–have breathed spunky new life into the genre.

5. Holden Caulfield
Holden Caulfield is the classic American teen rebel in literature. He smokes, he curses, he even wanders around after curfew in search of girls. (In fact, he should probably be higher on this list, but I’m a rebel too.) I wonder if J.D. Salinger knew that he was forming a mold for the entire genre of American Bildungsroman when he created Holden.

4. Rorschach
Superheroes are usually very different from other characters, but rarely have they been rebellious. Often they just stop at saving the day and garnering fame. Rorschach is a bit different. His world is as black and white as his shifting mask; he rejects the rules of society and refuses to compromise on any issue–which sometimes makes him seems like kind of a jerk. Watchmen is a fascinating and groundbreaking novel, and Alan Moore is really just a genius.

3. Tyrion Lannister
Tyrion is arguably the main character of famed fantasy author George R.R. Martin’s series, A Song of Ice and Fire, recently made more popular by the HBO adaptation “Game of Thrones.” Tyrion is wily, smart, endearing, off-putting, and deeply human. His penchant for witty comments and a surprising self-sufficiency are overshadowed only by his love for wine and women, but a more nuanced literary character I have yet to find.

2. Lisbeth Salander
Lisbeth Salander is kickass. She’s a phenomenal heroine who could care less about societal conventions, which means she breaks literary conventions as well. She is intriguing and sharp, in both mind and speech; in creating Salander, Stieg Larsson single-handedly revolutionized female protagonists.

1. Jesus
He ran away from home at the age of 12 to tell the smartest rabbis he could find how wrong they are. He was known to go on a rampage at the sight of a temple-marketplace, he walked on water when everyone else rowed around like idiots, and he turned water into wine at all of his parties. I mean, this dude didn’t even bother to be born like anyone else! If only Jesus hadn’t listened to his dad about that whole crucifixion thing.

What about you–who are your favorite literary rebels?

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature created by The Broke and the Bookish. Each Tuesday, bloggers create top ten lists about reading, writing, blogging, and more!