Who's your favorite fictional main character, and why?

[rinari]

This has always been an interesting question for me. I find that a lot of people can name their favorite book, favorite movie, favorite TV show, etc., but many have to think about their favorite protagonists. Who's yours, and what do you like about them?

Mine might be Lyra from the book series "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman - she's brave, fierce, tenacious, and everything I like in a heroine! Or Carol from the Walking Dead. She's a savage, beautiful "Queen Bitch." Feel free to share yours!

[J.Z.Castillo]

"Have a biscuit, Potter." - Minerva McGonagall, circa September 1st, 1995.

I think Professor McGonagall is the most BADASS female character to have grazed the world in a long time. Sometimes I sit down on the commute to work and get kind of sad that I could never learn from her. I would have loved her Transfiguration class so much, but not only that, she is just so strong and composed, and INSANELY intelligent! A true Gryffindor! I would love to sit down with her and just talk and learn. She really is amazing, I can't begin to tell you how much respect I have for her.

ALSO! She's so witty and sassy, like me, hahaha.

[rinari]

Love this answer! Professor McGonagall was by far the coolest teacher at Hogwarts, and her composure during the last book/film was insane. She rocked the shit out of that role and led Hogwarts with the steely grace it needed. I'd vote for her for President!

[J.Z.Castillo]

Oh woops! She's not a main character! But she is in my heart, so it counts!

[shaneoid77]

A noble brow... clear gaze... a firm mouth... a face beaming with a vast intelligence!

[shatterjure]

Either;
Pearl from Steven Universe because of how elegant, intelligent and skilled at swordfighting she is,
Or;
Finn from Adventure Time because... well, he's Finn xD

[MissMagicGirl]

Oh there is way to many.... The doctor from doctor who, Ran from Tsukikage Ran, Ivy Pocket from the Ivy Pocket books, Shehulk from pretty much all her comics.... Harley quinn..... OMG I can't choose!!!!!

(Head explodes)

[zetina]

I love protagonists.
So much.
Tsuna from Hitman Reborn is my son. My one and only son.
However, I'm actually not entirely clear on a fave protag at this time... I hesitate to say Kaneki from TG for some reason. Luffy of One Piece fame always warms my heart and HeroAca's Deku is just A++++. Haruhi of Ouran Host Club is the best female protag.

Generally, I really like zero-to-hero type protags because aaaa I love the contrast and nnnn... there tends to be all that underestimating of them and then BOOM they go over their expectations. Very Exciting Stuff.

[respheal]

Sam Vimes from Discworld. I'm not nearly as knurd as he is, but damn if he isn't relatable sometimes.

[russell_m_ols]

Oooh, great choice! I love Lyra. Excellent character in a fantastic series.

[russell_m_ols]

My favorite has to be the Continental Op from Dashiell Hammet's many C.O. novels and stories. While Hammett is best remembered for Sam Spade, the Continental Op was a far superior character. Really engaging; you can feel the weight in his steps. He's a flawed individual but damned good at his job and doesn't let his cynicism keep him from doing good things. Red Harvest is such a fantastic book. I can't imagine any other character taking on an entire town, winning and believing it. Sure, lots of fictional characters come across as being infinitely capable, but the Op never seems superhuman, never appears bullet-proof, just a great judge of character and an expert tactician. Man, I wanna go read now!

[Kayke]

I usually bond with secondary characters more than main characters... but two main characters I really like recently is Marinette/Ladybug from Miraculous Ladybug.

When I first started watching the show I was really impressed with how expressive she is for a female character. She's always pulling goofy faces that I feel like a lot of animation studios would have avoided in an effort to keep the girl main character "pretty" at all times. She also has a lot of depth to her personality since she spends half her time as this goofy teen and half of her time as this very serious hero. It's cool to see her balance her social life with her world-saving responsibilities (kind of Buffy the Vampire Slayer lite)

I wish this cartoon would have been around when I was younger because I feel like I would have liked it even more as a kid the same age as the character. But oh well, I still appreciate it now.

[Thesleepypencil]

This one is a hard one because there are so many characters i like :(. But i geuss out of all of them goes to the sweetheart in the middle of my doodle

Finn from starwars
Honestly i didn't expect to love him as much as i do. I expected to love rey more. (Note:i still LOVE rey alot)

But there was such a complexity to his character for me. He was funny and kind and badass. This mixed with the death of my childhood love. I just really ended up loving him.

I also really like katsa from the book graceling, Kel from the series protector of the small, and elizabeth bennet from every adaption of pride and Prejudice ever!

[JessJackdaw]

Oh gosh if we're talking main characters I gotta go with Chihiro from Spirited Away. When I first watched this movie, I was the same age as her, and I connected with a lot of her mannerisms in so many ways. The fact that she pouted, clinged to her parents, was genuinely clumsy and scared just resonated with me. It was the first time I had felt that an animated character was truly real and behaved like I would in that situation.

;u; So she's my favorite!

[rinari]

@zetina Omg, I forgot about Hitman Reborn! I have to go look up how it ended... (Did it end?) Also, Haruhi is the best female protagonist! Since you brought up anime, I might add Chidori from Full Metal Panic! to my list!

[rinari]

@russell_m_ols You know, I've never read Dashiell Hammett, but your description of his character has convinced me to add him to my reading list! I've read (and taught) a lot of Raymond Chandler and his Philip Marlowe, so I'm curious to see how the characters compare!

[rinari]

@Thesleepypencil Those are all great choices! I didn't expect to love any of the characters in the Force Awakens as I did, they did a fantastic job with writing them! Also... AM I DETECTING A FELLOW TAMORA PIERCE FAN? I just looked up The Protector of the Small series and was shocked to find that it was set in Tortall! My favorite heroine from Pierce was always Daine from the Wild Magic series so I have to go read this now! heavy breathing

@JessJackdaw I love Spirited Away! My second favorite Miyazaki film When I was a kid and Chihiro was crying while eating a rice ball, I also started to cry! Now that you've brought Ghibli into the mix, I might change my favorite character to Sen from Princess Mononoke.

[Thesleepypencil]

Yes Tamora Pierce was the first author i fell in love with. Protector of the small was the first series i read. (i'm behind on her newer works) I also love Daine because she has the most intresting story and powers. But i think my second favourite character in tortall is either Nawat from Trikster's choice or Beka from terrier

[joannekwan]

I LOVE His Dark Materials! It was my Harry Potter before Harry Potter! I spent a considerable amount of time thinking what my own daemon would be. Actually, I still like it better than HP. Though I really should reread it now that I'm older and can understand it better. I have no excuse, I have a single volume with all three books on my shelf right now.

Anyway, I too usually prefer secondary characters, but I have a few protagonists that I actually love.
The main one is Ginko from Mushishi. Of all the anime/manga I've consumed, he's the one protagonist I can relate to most.

He goes around providing people solutions to their pest problems, but he can also get annoyed with the people he helps. He's usually mild-mannered, like me, but when shit hits the fan, he's like "really?" which is also me.

[russell_m_ols]

Just thought of someone else who always makes me smile: Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate. I feel like I grew up with him!