What kind of characters do you gravitate towards?

[darthmongoose]

I have a real soft spot for "big sister" or "lady knight" characters. Female characters who have shouldered a lot of responsibility, both in terms of career/duty and being an emotional anchor/rock and people depend on them, so they desperately try to maintain the facade of being in control, but in actuality, they're really flawed people and terrified of failing to live up to the standards they've set for themselves. Oh and at some point they will SNAP and it'll turn out they're an absolute badass when they go off the rails, they just prefer not to. They're often Lawful Good aligned. I'd consider characters like:

Leslie Knope (Parks & Rec), Amy Santiago (Brooklyn 99), Pearl (Steven Universe), Makoto Nijima (Persona 5), Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII), Kanaya Maryam (Homestuck)

They're my faves and I'll probably try to put at least one character like this into anything I make. Errant has two because Rekki and Sarin are both sort of this archetype interpreted differently (but Sarin definitely more).

[Puck]

I only like antiheroes with good or bad intentions.
Heroes are the most boring characters I can imagine.
I tried to write and draw a comic with a herohero, I read the story
to some of my friends and they later asked me why I never drew the
comic and my answer was that I couldn´t picture the main character,
because he was too nice, clean and herolike

[BreakingChalk]

Underdogs, or characters that end up having conflicts with who they are and have to find it themselves.

[AmandaJ-art]

The shy or really nice ones, the heroes, the ones who have been through a lot.
Like Italy:

Or:

Or Red hood:

Or Danny (Blue bloods):

[LadyN]

I gravitate toward male characters. Usually it’s because the main character is a boring unoriginal female and I need something interesting. I want the guy to not be an oblivious love interest or boring side character but a diverse character with realistic traits (not super hot or strong, but with a good personality and attractive looks {kind of})

Aka don’t be a Edward. That’s the only thing I’m saying here. #teamneither

[disqette]

I realize I'm in a minority here, but I really love cute & sweet characters.

When it comes to anime, I actually really dislike the girls who are tsundere, "cold and calculating", and aloof, even though they're the most popular lol I really really hate aloof characters. I've never gotten along with aloof people IRL, so naturally I can't stand them in fiction. Just be honest with your feelings for fucks sake!!!!! I'm traumatized AF and still don't understand why "traumatized" aloof characters gotta be so damn secretive about everything. You can be damaged without being an asshole to everyone!!!! lmaooo sorry for the rant I have a lot of unpacked baggage with people like this

It's always gonna be the cute innocent girls for me especially if they have big boobs.

I just relate to those characters the most. We tend to gravitate to character types that remind us most of ourselves... I think, anyways lol

some of my faves:

Vanille (Final Fantasy 13)
Traumatized as fuck. But she doesn't trust people any less for it. She doesn't take her past out on people. She lies, yeah, but only because she gives a damn about the people around her.

Futaba Sakura (Persona 5)
hella mommy issues and poor self esteem. BUT, she's still kind and upbeat despite her upbringing. I fucking live for that, man. 100% relate to this girl.

Junko Enoshima (Dangan Ronpa)
I just like her because she's the opposite of Kyoko. Fucking hate Kyoko. Even though Junko is the literal villain of the series, she's still cute and peppy. I cannot help but stan.

[AmeGINGA]

Personally, I'm more attracted by characters with depth. The character doesn't need to be a hero, but has to be realistic, to have lived experience. So I'm also attracted by the bad guys who are sometimes much more "worked" than the protagonists. The bruised wicked ones who react to their pain.

[Prometheus]

The characters that catch my attention are the ones that always have inner struggles to deal with, and it usually ends up being their biggest roadblock to becoming victorious in the end. If we don’t believe in ourselves, how can we have the willpower to fight evil? You know?

[Rhonder]

Hard to boil down into just one type, but some common ones:

• Characters that are a little over the top or have some chaotic-good energy to them. I don't often gravitate towards villains in general but something about a good character that blows stuff up or leaves a little collateral damage in their wake appeals to me.
• Reserved characters with a heroic flair. I dunno really how to describe this, but I think of characters like Mikado from Durarara, Joe from Digimon, Mishima from Persona 5, etc. Something about them resonates and is relatable to me.
• Characters that are aligned to the ice element. It's my favorite element in most games/series so I find myself more often than not liking those characters unless they're particularly unpleasant for some reason.

[frgmnt]

• ...Characters that remind me of myself
  Well, maybe not quite, to be more specific and accurate - angsty pieces of shit that have tons of issues, eg. with human relationships, mental health, their families, tragic pasts etc. (Bonus points if they're gay. Doesn't even need to be canon, I can do with just subtext. Double bonus points if they have a cool aloof facade to hide their issues.)
  One of my all time favourite characters is Homura Akemi from PMMM who's pretty much the embodiment of this point lol.
• I'm also very weak to the cliche anime archetype of a shady/villain character with white/silver hair. (Bonus points if they're gay, again...) If they're not shady or evil, but end up being tragic, that's fine too
• Creepy+cute characters. Preferably if the creepy side takes the lead.

Also most of my favourite characters are female, because I am a simple person and like girls lol. And because I'm such a simple person, most of my own characters, particularly main ones, fit into my favourite types in one way or another.

[fishpro]

Villains! I definitely have a thing for the kind of self-motivated characters that villains tend to be. Griffith from Berserk, Dio from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the list goes on. I love it when characters will stop at nothing to get just what they want. Villains have such intense confidence and self-assuredness, that really appeals to me.

[TOTO]

Simply put, the Ara Ara is strong with her [cough]

[Kann]

[Unavoidable joke about using headphones when Lisa climbs and you have Japanese dub.]

[Legendofgenii]

Yep! Same as what you said pretty much.

[TOTO]

Even her own Voice Actress went...

"Oh my...sh-she's too lewd"

[WoollyPAR]

Assholes, jerks, bastards, knobheads, bitches, real get-on-your-nerves dicks, guys you just wanna punch in the face. I love them when they're done well in stories. Bonus points if they make me laugh. Even better when they're a protagonist.

[Puck]

Confident female characters and my male characters are antiheroes.
Everyone is the opposite of a marvel/dc like hero

[hannahlaine]

I end up gravitating towards main characters that are female, bad ass and strong. They usually have a significant other that is stronger (just by a little bit) or their equal.
They usually are a bit dark, but are a good person.
Bonus points if the story has anything to do with Fae or magic of any kind haha.

But I hate it when one of the couple is a magical being and the other is not, and never becomes one.
I also can't stand helpless female characters. I understand if they are temporarily in need, like injured or sick, but if their whole character's personality is the helpless girl who does not have sense enough to get out of the rain, I just want to shake her and yell at her to get a grip..... I may or may not feel this way about people in real life too. (But just the ones who are purposely over dramatic, not people in actual need)...

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I like ultra charismatic characters that draw attention or others to themselves/cause. Note they don't have to be super likeable, or even good, they just need to have that bombastic spark that draws you in.
This can either come through in big showy personalities, or exceedingly calm and cool behavior. The thing that truly matters is how confident they are that whatever they'll endeavor to do will succeed.

Like:
Monkey D Luffy (One Piece)
Hans Grüber (Die Hard)
Sakata Gintoki (Gintama)
Dr Doom ( Marvel Comics)
Captain Nemo (20,000 Leagues under the sea)

[Stargazer31]

Intelligent, sensible women who don't take crap from anyone.
Example:
Ripley (Alien)
Sarah Connor (Terminator)
Lex Woods (AvP)
Imperator Furiosa (Mad Max Fury Road)
Clarice Starling (Silence of The Lambs)