Favorite fictional characters?

[AlydaB]

I love character-driven stories with nuanced characters and varied casts with a fun, interesting dynamic and well-written arcs. The presence (or lack of) a protagonist I can connect to and root for is often what makes or breaks a story for me.

So I'm curious: What about your favorite characters or casts is compelling to you? Is there a specific archetype or dynamic you tend to gravitate towards? What traits or features immediately grab your interest? c:

Personally, I've found I'm a sucker for virtuous, self-sacrificial protagonists with an unshakeable faith in something, heroes who have humanizing flaws and imperfections but bear the weight of the world in spite. They fall, but get up and continue to move forward, even knowing that the price might very well be their life or dreams.

My favorite examples of this kind of hero are Verity, Kettricken, and Fitzchivalry from Robin Hobb's Farseer books, Nausicaa and Ashitaka from their respective Studio Ghibli films, as well as Elend, Kelsier, Vin, and Sazed from the Mistborn Trilogy and Kaladin Stormblessed from the Stormlight Archive.

I also adore close sibling bonds in fiction. Edward and Alphonse Elric from the 2003 FMA show will forever be a favorite of mine :]

[igneriss]

Virtuos, self-sacrificial characters that get hurt (especially when it's because they cannot both escape and stay true to their believes) is my favourite characters trope

Also, characters that are unpredictable and chaotic and seem selfish, but do the right thing at the end.

Anddd also stalker-ish characters. I hate it in real life, but for some reason love in books, movies and tv series. I blame it on seeing The Watcher (from 2000) too many times when I was a kid cx

[BoomerZ]

I like characters that are self motivated and are not just being passive. They have to have their own lives, goals, and ambitions. The trend of protagonist (specially male protagonist) just being meek little mice that fumble over every situation grades on me. In slice of life I like normal people and personalities dealing with extraordinary situations. Making every character as a barely functioning human being gets old. Normal people have a hard enough time dealing with life, you don't need to handicap them.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Hm, I like my virtuous, self-sacrificing characters with more of a delusional bent. They have unshakable faith in their ideals to the point where they don't listen to reason, and they get hurt not because the situation forces them into choosing between escaping and staying true to their beliefs, but because they proactively do stuff that get themselves hurt so that others won't have to. Like the Flagellant from Darkest Dungeon XD

Misunderstood characters, whether by people in-universe or the fanbase. If lots of people say a character is selfish/power hungry/has bad intentions when their actions could even potentially be read otherwise, I tend to sympathise with them XD Ulfric Stormcloak from Skyrim and Jowan from Dragon Age: Origins come to mind

Eccentric intellectuals, though I'd really like to see more pure/theoretical fields in fiction. As a pure math major, I lowkey resent that most STEM specialists in fiction are actually trying to be useful to the plot

[Pony_wearing_a_hat]

A few archetypes I love:

Characters who act really tough and cool and above it all but are actually the team dads/softies (I don't like it so much with female characters since they are so often obligated towards maternal roles already) A great example of this is Raph from TMNT 2012

Snarky people-hating grumps. Bonus points if they have a big ego, bonus bonus points if they're a villain and that's their motivation.

Mentoring older sibling types determined to pass on the wisdom they have gained via experienced to the younger generation.

Comedic villain duos or teams who's only redeeming quality is their relationships with each other or just those on their side. A great example is James from Pokemon, who while actively trying to steal Pokemon away from their trainers, treats his own Pokemon like his children.

[powerplantanimations]

1) I gravitate towards flawed characters with skeletons in their closet that if you were to meet them in person you'd just back away slowly. You'd never think they'd end up saving the world or changing it for the better. I also like the idea of heroes who refuse/don't get the chance to challenge certain beliefs that comes across as old fashioned/bigoted.

2) I just like picturing the character in a museum with people discussing his accomplishments, but then someone in the crowd is like "Yeaaaaaah but he was still intolerant". I also like picturing how Twitter or Social Media would discuss that person. ESPECIALLY if that character was in the process of trying change and would've done it had they gotten the chance; but they just end up dying or something.

3) Speaking of which! Despite me liking the characters do the impossible, I do like the idea of characters that could die at any moment. Either by something very simple or a gruesome fate. It makes it interesting that you read everything these characters do and then they get wiped out by something you'd never expect.

4) Finally I love it where everyone's a main character. The story can revolve around anyone in the universe. After all, everyone is their own little universe in real life, it should make sense that everybody in a fictional story should be the same.

I can't think of character examples, but I can give examples of movies/TV shows that do what I like above.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure does all 4. Probably my biggest inspiration in writing. Golden Wind and Diamond is Unbreakable are great. Giorno is such a great character. I love his whole "force of nature" motif. I also love how Diamond just focuses on the side characters more than the main Jojo. Also Polneraff, Jotaro, and Risotto are three biggest examples of 3.

[Kittyfox]

I'm a simple creature. I just like (possibly emo) cinnamon rolls

Stealing this explanation from Urban Dictionary cause I'm lazy

[Sethstiel]

Mines are these two assholes since I was a kid

[Chaz]

For me, it's both motive and relatability.
I like characters like Spider-Man and Deku because of their undying determination to help others and do the right thing.

I relate to characters like Miles Morales and Craig Williams because of their talents and personality.

[NickRowler]

For some reason I like characters who are super nice dads. Ex. Babar, Barbapapa, Moominpapa. I think this is why I sort of like Long John Silver as a character because he sort of becomes a dad to Jim in Treasure Island. I also like Grunkle Stan, tho not a dad but is an older family member taking care of kids.

I also like awkward dorks, sometimes a little dumb but not always. Not really mean, just trying their best. Like Jackson Jekyll from Monster High.

I also like rich/entitled people who are just awful. Ex. Mr. Burns from the Simpsons, Gideon from Gravity Falls, Father from Kids Next Door. But I guess this will sometimes include meangirl/meanboy types. Like in Turning Red, I liked the mean kid Tyler more than the main girls who they were trying to make likable.

I also like strong female characters, like physically strong and they can easily break your back in half. Ex. Sakura from Danganrompa, Leela from Futurama, Luisa from Encanto.

[UrMom]

Honestly that's a tough question, I don't normally think about it.

Let's see... I like the silent, big, beefy, tough guy types who end up being softies with a pet or taking care of a small child. In the same vein I like the dangerous person who is now retired and doing normal shit, or turns into a grill dad or doting grandparent. (Like Tatsu from Gokushufudou: The Way of the House Husband)

Himbos and bimbos. Also valley girl and Californian surfer bros.

Angsty, sad, gothy, emo types that romanticize depression. Yeah, it's bad, but as someone whose been struggling with that garbage for ages those kind of characters are hilarious. Similarly I also like characters with anxiety for relatability reasons, and ones odd interests that most people wouldn't be into, like studying bugs or collecting bones. Maybe they're a hermit who hates people, but loves animals.

Not so much a single character, but a romantic couple that is super healthy, really into eachother, and can turn anything into foreplay. (Like Morticia and Gomez Addams)

Messed up, sort of anti-hero types. I love a protag who looks like a homeless druggy whose a total douche, that goes to whatever means to get what they want, but luckily wants what the audience does most of the time. There are a lot of characters like this but right now Nick Sax from Happy! and Randle McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest come to mind.

The character who plays dumb, but is actually really smart, and has been putting the pieces together the entire time behind the scenes. Or they somehow knew everything the whole time, and just waited till they get the smoking gun to show off. Imo Detective Benoit Blanc from Knives Out falls in this category, he seemed kinda incompetent at first, but pretty much knew everything from practically the beginning.

Unfortunately I don't have any deep reasons for liking characters, nor do I notice nuance enough to tell a complex character from a simple one... unless it's really obvious. I just like fiction. xP

[system]

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