Proprietary.

I’ve noticed that my feelings for fictional characters, especially ones that feature in series (what is the plural of series?), is distinctly proprietary. As if, because I like them, they in some way belong to me. Only to discover that some thousand or tens of thousands have previously “discovered” and grown enamored with them. Not to mention the realistically proprietary feelings of the author him/herself.
It sparks a bit of jealousy: these people are MINE. I have traveled through any number of stories with them. At the same time, you feel like showing them off as if to prove your good taste and worth: look at the wonderful character I’ve discovered!
At any rate, LOOK AT just a few of THE WONDERFUL CHARACTERS I’ve discovered—

• Richard Jury
• Mary Russell
• Julian Kestrel
• Amelia Peabody
• William Monk
• Tobias Walton

There are so many others. I’ll have to start a recurring thread.

As info, this was prompted by my recent reading of a Richard Jury mystery that I had missed (The library is not the best at keeping up on these things, but seeing as it’s free, I don’t complain.) and was reminded --as I am each time I read one-- how wonderfully complex and fascinating Superintendent Jury is.