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Originally Posted by fjtorres
Which reminds me: could a comedy be a true epic? Or do epics have to be dead serious somber overall? Is there room for whimsy in "epic"?
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No, no whimsy. Epic stories and fantasy need to be dead-serious and utterly grim. Any sort of intentional comic relief ruins it, except if it fits the story perfectly.
In my mind, most instances of comic relief between Legolas and Gimli in the Lord of the Rings movies worked very well (except for Gimli falling off a horse and burping in an important meeting).
My absolute favorite:
Legolas: "What about dying beside a friend?"
Gimli: "Aye... I can live with that."
The comic relief in The Hobbit (Alfried) was just ridiculous and not funny. I hate that kind of characters. They add nothing except ridiculousness.