Favorite and least favorite fictional characters?

Talk to me about book characters, move characters, podcast characters, etc. YWS novels and short stories count too! If you loved a character or hated them, then feel free to write up a few paragraphs explaining why. If your explanation of why you loved or hated a character contains spoilers, then I'd request that you put it in a spoiler tag!

You can talk about main characters, side characters, villains~ The only requirement is that they have to be a character and, uh, not like a chair or anything. But I guess a sentient chair would act as a character, so that's cool too.

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[spoiler]Like this![/spoiler]

My favorite fictional character is probably Taako from The Adventure Zone. He just strikes a chord with me, y'know? He's incredibly funny (I mean, his name is Taako), but he also isn't afraid to get serious and he isn't afraid to get dark. His moral compass iiisss a bit skewed, but he also exists in a D&D podcast, so that's a given. Like, he's fine with looting all the dead bodies that he wants, but you can't steal from a bank! Who cares that FDIC would cover it? You can't steal from a bank when you're trying to stop a bank robbery!

Spoiler

Seriously, this dude is a wizard chef and thought that he killed forty people with a meal that he made. That has to take a toll on anyone's psyche. Like, dang. He tends to play himself off as an idiot, but who would blame him? A toll of forty deaths resting on your shoulders is an incredibly heavy burden.

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Post away, my friends!

I love a lot of characters, but for now I'll just pick Skulduggery Pleasant. He's an elemental sorcerer who is also a dapper-dressing skeleton, but none of that would matter if he didn't have a great personality. He's got a wry wit, and he's always got some funny spin or other to put on events.
But he's got sensitivity where it matters, and he's certainly not a perfect role model.
I'd say some of his appeal is similar to 'the cool older sibling surrogate who is bigger than you and you can learn a lot of things from, who is just as immature as you and just as sarcastic.'

The only characters I have ever really honest to god hated are from Vampire Knight. It's a terrible anime I used to hate-watch for fun with my friends.
I could rag on Yuki for being the most useless protagonist ever (think Bella Swan with EVEN LESS self-preservation instincts) or Zero for being the sad angsty boy who is constantly forgiven and always gets off scot-free for loads of bad things just because he's hot and sad. I really do hate him, but the one I hate most is Kaname.

He's a fancy special aristocratic pureblood vampire, so all the other vampires drool over him and kiss his arse 24/7. Despite the fact that he has no personality and never does anything. I can only assume he's supposed to be the one with the 'hot guy with a bigger brother vibe who will protect you' appeal, but he really never does anything, except...say vaguely protective things sometimes. He's just so boring and I can't stand how he's constantly praised for nothing all the time.

Oh, and your Taako sounds like a fun guy

So.

Pokémon Black and White.

Good show/game, but there is one character that I despise and hate and want to have just mysteriously disappear- Burgundy.

She can’t speak French even if she tries, she’s uber annoying, and she’s the rival of a main character, so she won’t go awayyyyyyyyyy

I just hate her so much. Purple hair, purple eyes, purple everything. She thinks she’s above everything and everyone and that she’s entitled to anything she wants. She also judges people. A lot. I really hate her a lot.

Now, a favorite character? Probably the Eleventh Doctor from Doctor Who. He’s such a goofy guy but always gets serious and really cool when he needs to save the world. He and I would get along well, and I feel like I understood him a lot throughout the, what, five seasons he had to himself? He was just such a great guy, y’know??

Anyways, that’s it for me. What about you guys?

Oh, dear. I have too many favorite and non-favorite characters.

A Favorite Character:
But when I was a preteen, I had this series by Nancy Rue (I believe it was called "The Lucy Series") and to this day I still remember the Main Character fondly and love her. She wasn't dramatic or funny or witty. She was actually pretty quiet and reserved, very tomboyish, and downright blunt/rude at times.

She's honestly not the best at making friends, but those friends she does have, she will never ever betray or let down. She's fierce and strong BUT, at the same time, sensitive and emotional.

Her mother died when she was a child, and her dad is blind, and you see how that affects her throughout the story. Both in a good and bad way.

I loved her for all of it. She tried to have a tough facade at school, but at home only the reader saw her break down and cry because she missed her mother so much. That touched me and I would want to cry with her. Lucy was just so real.

A Character I Hate:
One character I remember that irritated me from the first sentence I read about her was Jennifer from "The List" by Siobhan Vivian. (I loved the book, anyhow, though).

Spoiler

Besides the fact she's strange (in a creepy way) and appears extremely selfish and whiny, something is plain wrong with the girl. This is apparent in the beginning, but only becomes obvious when she lists herself as the ugliest girl in school. After three consecutive years of being named so (and throwing up on herself the first time that happened), the list is given to her, and she has the power to put whoever she wants as ugliest, prettiest, and she puts herself as ugliest.

All the other girls she puts on the list, she does for revenge. Or to completely destroy their life. It made me. So. Mad. The fact she that she was successful and gloated in it only made me detest her more.
She was so annoying.

Favorite Characters
Hermione <3 She annoys me sometimes, but she was always who I identified with growing up and will always hold a special place on a list like this.

Iroh in A:TLA. Just for so many reasons. He's such a wise and genuinely good guy, and of course he's totally awesome on the battlefield to boot. He's learned from his experiences and now he wants to help others through theirs.

The Doctor from Doctor Who - he's such an interesting character in and of himself, but I love how he is fundamentally good (and tbh I hate it when they try to call that into question - he doesn't always do good/right things but he is a. good. person.) I like some incarnations more than others but overall I just love his kindness, all the stories he has to tell, and his fallibility.

Sam from LOTR - Just... what can I even say? He's wonderful. <3

I also love Wit from The Stormlight Archive. He's still such a mysterious character but he's hilarious and even though he has a ruthless streak, he goes out of his way to help people who are hurting and is trying his best to save an entire universe. (okay, maybe there's a theme here, I like really morally good characters )

Least Favorite:
Right now, everybody in The Inheritance of Loss. All the characters are super dysfunctional (partly for societal reasons, but some of it is 100% their own flipping fault) and it's frustrating and depressing to watch.

Going back to Doctor Who... my opinion of Bill Potts wildly veers between "don't really like" and "really don't like" depending on which episode I'm watching. She never clicked with me, her personality felt like she was trying too hard in a lot of different ways, and (except for the episode about her mother, which I wish had gone deeper) never felt like she had anything going for her except "black lesbian traveling with the Doctor." While there are other companions that don't have much of a personality either, she was the only one of those who just annoyed me. Maybe because she had a lot of potential, but it didn't gel.

...I'm having trouble thinking of other characters I hate. There are definitely a lot of characters I love to hate (Umbridge, Sadeas, generally really sadistic characters), but if the narrative wants you to hate them I tend to not really count that. I tend not to finish books if I find the characters too obnoxious. So I'll leave it there for now.

Gandalf and Sam and Eowyn from LOTR

Brienne of Tarth, Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark from GOT also I kinda liked Little Finger.

Hagrid and Dumbledore and Newt Scamander

Katniss Everdeen and Effie Trinket and Haymitch

Least favorite -

Ron Weasley

Frodo Baggins (at times)

Jon Snow but only in season 7, I liked him in the books and in prior seasons

Favorite Characters

This list tends to be a little bit longer than the characters I hate, mainly because I rarely feel that strongly about a character. Some of my current favorite characters would have to be Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), Greed the Avaricious (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), Death (Terry Pratchett's stuff), Ella Lopez (Lucifer) and Bartimaeus of Uruk (The Bartimaeus Trilogy).

Alphonse is just a really sweet character. He probably has one of the biggest hearts in the entire show, and it's never portrayed as a weakness. He provides a good, calm contrast to his reckless older brother. Also, he loves cats. If that's not a good reason to love someone I'm not sure what is.

Greed is a bit more complicated, so I'll put that bit down in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

Greed was an entertaining character when the anime started, but it wasn't until it finished that I really liked him. He's essentially the physical embodiment of a sin, and he wants everything - or, at least, that's what we're led to believe. It's only when he sacrifices himself that the viewer learns that the only thing he's truly wanted all along was a group of people to support him. Though I liked how he switched to the good side episodes before, it was that moment that I really fell in love with his character.

I admit I haven't actually read any of Terry Pratchett's books yet, but I've watched some episodes of The Hogfather and Colours of Magic miniseries on Amazon. And Death is my favorite character in both; he's hilarious every time he shows up, though I think the best part about his character is that he doesn't realize it. I just love when creators take common interpretations of characters and do something completely different instead.

I've only watched up to the middle of season two of Lucifer, but Ella's won my heart in the few episodes she's in. She hasn't had any major character development or episodes as of yet. But she provides such a nice breath of fresh air to the increasingly dark show. She's awkward, enthusiastic and has a big heart. (At the time that I post this, she's actually my avatar!) I hope she shows up more in future episodes, and I hope she doesn't change in the near future.

Bartimaeus is a long time favorite of mine. His humor was what originally made me like him, but the analyses I've seen of him since I've gotten into the online fandom have made me love him even more. He tries to pretend that he's alright, but he's been through some tough stuff and it shows with his cynical view of the world. I also discovered his series (which is told from his perspective) when I was going through a rough time in my life, so he'll always hold a special place in my heart.

There are so many fictional characters that I love that it would take forever to list them all, but I'll work on it.

In Doctor Who, I love basically all of the regenerations of the Doctor that I've seen, so I'm going to focus on one that doesn't see as much love. I'm focusing on Me. For some background, Me became immortal and lived longer than any human really should live, forgetting most of her past and her original name, preferring to call herself simply Me.

Spoiler

Each time we encounter Me she's different. When we first meet her, she's a brash but intelligent young girl in a tiny viking village. By the second time, she's a completely different person, having forgotten almost everything about the village. She's kind of heartless, becoming a robber just for the thrill of it and no longer valuing the lives of other humans because they live for such a short time compared with her nearly endless lifespan. By the second time we encounter her, she's matured and become sort of a protector of aliens on earth, but still she makes mistakes and lives are lost. She's grown to be more involved in the affairs of the universe, but she still has a lot to learn. The final time we come into contact with Me, she may very well be the oldest being to ever exist. She's the last living thing at the end of the universe. She never gains special powers beyond her extended lifespan, but she's outlived everything in the universe.

Me is so much fun to watch. She's an aloof and unpredictable morally grey character, and it's so much fun to see.

Favorite character has to be Pi from Life of Pi. I don't know any book where the main character carries the story as well as Pi does--charming, awe inspiring, painfully human and thought provoking (if you're not the religious type, of course.)

Least favorite, unfortunately, has to be almost all of the cast in Pillars of the Earth. I don't even know any of their names but the rage that swells in me whenever I think of any of them gives me a migraine. The bad guys were terrible and the good guys were terribly written, and with the exception of Wideacre by Phillipa Gregory I have yet to be graced with a literature romance that made me wince in so much disdain. Prior Phillip is the only exceptional character to this book, and that's because his detachment from the gratuitous and meaningless content made him a breath of fresh air. And I'm saying that as a person who finds Chuck Palahniuk at his most gratuitous somewhat charming.

how dare you make me choose

There are so many.

It's interesting, a lot of my favorite characters are the ones who aren't necessarily the most good or the most strong, but feel the most like real people. Betty Draper from Mad Men immediately comes to mind. Or Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind.

I also love Spider-Man, Captain America, and many, many others.

Sansa Stark from A Song of Ice & Fire and Game of Thrones, particularly Game of Thrones now it's overtaken the books.

If you're not familiar with the series, she's a member of the Stark family who are as close to heroes as the world gets. She and her sister Arya are presented as polar opposites. Sansa - thirteen at the start of the season - is girly and feminine, skilled at needlework, and taught by her mother that "courtesy is a woman's armour" whereas Arya is a tomboy who loves swords and fighting. Usually in fantasy I think we'd be taught to hate Sansa but thankfully that cheap shot isn't taken. She's terribly naive and believes in fairytales at the start of the season - that all changes as the series goes on.

Spoiler

Sansa is held captive, beaten and stripped in public and emotionally abused by her betrothed, then eventually married off to Tyrion Lannister and after escaping there and putting her trust in the wrong person she is sold again to a very awfully abusive husband. She goes through so many traumas but they make her so so strong. She changes rapidly from a naive child to a very powerful, very strong woman. Her femininity is never sold as a weakness. She is physically weak but has others to protect her, and she easily inspires loyalty. When under siege, the Queen is frustrated to see how easily Sansa is able to calm all the other ladies at court and have them singing and praying. She uses her own cunning and powers of persuasion to win The Battle of the Bastards when her brother's brute force methods have failed. My favourite moment is when she uses her own dressmakinf skills to make herself an embroidered dress and her and Jon fur cloaks to reaffirm their position as Starks.
And when Jon encounters Tyrion, her ex husband, Tyrion states, "she's smarter than she lets on," and Jon just replies, " She's starting to let on."

Sansa as the Lady of Winterfell is smart, competent and just. And it's just so satisfying to see a female character written as classically feminine without apology, and still being a force to be reckoned with.

Oh, boy.
Favorite Characters:

Spoiler

One of my absolute favorites is Rhysand, from Sarah J. Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses series. He goes through decades of emotional and sometimes physical torture by an evil Fae queen and even sleeps with her just so he can protect his court and city from harm. When he finds out his mate loves another male, he allows her to do so, even if it kills him inside to see her with someone else. And when he does get his mate, he cares for her and supports her, instead of forcing her to stay at home away from all the action. He's just so precious and ahhhh. <3

Another one of my favorites is Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, from Sarah's Throne of Glass series. She's so fiery and intelligent--she often makes plans in secrecy that gain her allies, money, or resources she needs to win the war. And she's fiercely loyal--if someone even looks at her friends the wrong way, she'll have a knife at their throat. Not to mention that she's incredibly skilled in combat, both weapon-wise and magical-wise.

Least Favorite

Spoiler

The one that comes to mind first is Tamlin. He's in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series, and he's the guy who Rhysand's mate falls in love with at the beginning of the series. He forces her to stay at home, try on dresses, and plan events, instead of doing what she loves to do--be in on the action. He doesn't even notice that she's becoming physically ill from being trapped inside for so long--she's thin, and pale, and still suffering from the torture she experienced under the evil queen's command. He pretends not to hear her vomit at night, and he even locks her inside his palace one time, to the point where she's hyperventilating and really angry.

And--there's more--when she goes to Rhysand and becomes his mate, he refuses to let her be happy and does whatever he can to humiliate her, her mate, and all of their court members in front of other people. He's just an all-around idiot.

As you can see, I'm pretty opinionated. XD

One of my favorite characters is Razo from River Secrets by Shannon Hale. He's funny and quirky and loves to eat. He's the smallest and the youngest boy in the family (not counting his younger sister). But it doesn't mean that he's useless, even though he's close to believing that in the beginning. He's good with a sling. And there's more, though I won't reveal it here

Another is Maia Fieldings from Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson. She's absolutely sweet and she's one of my most favorite female characters <3 She's got spunk and a sense of adventure and she also has a talented voice and can play piano well. She eventually manages to "seize the day" even if her situation isn't favorable. If she really existed, I'd love to be her friend.

What's a move character?

One of my favourite characters has got to be Goku when he grows up in Dragon Ball Z. He's just so muscley, like, wow... what a man. He can spirit bomb my *** any day.