I might have been using the term hero's journey a little too loosely - although maybe not, given that I think that the kinds of protagonists I like may be more prevalent in non-speculative fic.
In the cases where my favourite characters are allowed starring or strong secondary roles, there are usually circumstances put in place to keep them from ruining the narrative despite being the kinds of people who would, in real life, ruin narrative by being too smart or too lazy or too contrary. Jeeves is a servant, Nero Wolfe is an agoraphobe with a more traditionally heroic legman, Enola Holmes is an underage girl in 19th century England, Spider Jerusalem cannot let things lie, and Moist von Lipwig has his circumstances controlled by an even smarter and more powerful supporting character.
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In the cases where my favourite characters are allowed starring or strong secondary roles, there are usually circumstances put in place to keep them from ruining the narrative despite being the kinds of people who would, in real life, ruin narrative by being too smart or too lazy or too contrary. Jeeves is a servant, Nero Wolfe is an agoraphobe with a more traditionally heroic legman, Enola Holmes is an underage girl in 19th century England, Spider Jerusalem cannot let things lie, and Moist von Lipwig has his circumstances controlled by an even smarter and more powerful supporting character.