What is your favorite Character out of any story?

Too many to name, but I also love Garek!

Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop, and Mugen from Samurai Champloo.

Can we include movies based on real people? If so, my choice is Johnny Depp as Ed Wood. What a character he was!

Elizabeth Bennett

I have alot of favorites.A few that come to mind are Huckleberry Finn and Puddin’head Wilson from Mark Twain’s books,Quint from the movie Jaws,Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird,Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and John Wayne in The Shootist,Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino and alot of other movies…and the cast of Seinfeld :)yes,I have alot of favorites :)

Tough to pick one, but the first to come to mind is Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly.

Alan Breck Stewart from my favourite book of all time (if I could only pick one it would be this one) Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. There have been so, so many BAD versions filmed but the very best was an episodic tv series starring David McCallum…... oooooooooooooo yum!!! I have read that book so many times and in my mind I get to run through the highlands at Alan’s side :-)

Dirty Harry, do ya feel lucky punk….well do ya!! Love to say that line to some unsuspecting person one day. Maybe the milkman, I dunno :¬)

Kate Daniels from the books by Ilona Andrews.
She’s bad@ss, magical, independent, self-sacrifing..everything one could dream of being..if I lived in a modern paranormal fictional world.

Toy Story. I mean, frankly speaking, what guy wouldn’t want a Woody standing up straight and tall?

Indiana Jones, Atticus Finch, and Alaska Young (from Looking for Alaska) come to mind.

Holden from The Catcher in the Rye

Boy, it’s hard to pick one but if I have to I’ll go with Ian Bedloe, the main character in Anne Tyler’s novel Saint Maybe. When I was reading the book he lived in my mind like a real person. If I put the book down for a day or so I would find myself thinking “I wonder how Ian’s doing?” He was that real to me.

Lazarus Long from Heinlein’s Time Enough for Love, and some other Heinlein characters, including ones that aren’t even human. (Mycroft Holmes, from The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, for example, called “Mike” for short, is a computer.)

There are so many, and at any given moment I’m sure my answer would change.

At this moment the two that come to mind are:

Bokonon – From “Cat’s Cradle”

Richard (The reluctant messiah in training) – From “Illusions”.

Babar, he is wise, patient, and rules his people well

Lisbeth Salander – I could fall in love with her.

Dr Stephen Maturin – a polymath with natural curiosity and wonder about the world, yet brave enough to voyage in a ship of the line.

Lt. Tyrone Slothrop from Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

Mary Poppins because she’s ”practically perfect in every way”

Robert B. Parker’s Spenser

Atticus Finch, Tyrion Lannister Game of Thrones, Raskolnikov Crime and Punishment

Idgy from Fried Green Tomatoes

Oh yeah, I like Yossarian too… from Catch-22

I think I would say Severus Snape. He’s completely tormented, but still has this deep burning passion and gentle love for Lilly. He has a brilliant mind for academics, but appears to have no compassion for school children. He seems to hate Harry Potter, but yet he saves Harry’s life numerous times. He kind of has this ying and yang thing going on.

Captain Picard from STTNG. He’s tough and brilliant and cool, but still has this super passionate romantic side to him (that he tries to keep hidden). Everything about him is about tolerance, justice and always doing the right thing, even when it means denying his own happiness and comfort.

Ducky (Dr. Mallard) from NCIS. He has, and shares, a wealth of information. He knows a lot of extremely important scientific information, but he also has some wonderful anecdotes and trivia that he shares. He’s calm and polite and sweet. The perfect gentleman.

Adrian Monk. Brilliant crimefighting private investigator, yet painfully awkward, shy and tormented. He’s sweet, but tends to be a bit on the arrogant side, although he never intends to be that way and sometimes doesn’t realize he’s even being that way until someone points it out to him. He always has some type of hilarious, child-like quip to explain his bouts of arrogant behavior. He has a whole host of phobias, outrageous demands and needs. But he’s so cute and funny and darling that nobody minds obliging him. And like him, I have become one with the hand sanitizer, so I can relate. LOL.

Literary: Remus Lupin, Atticus Finch, le petit prince.
Movies: Amelie Poulain, Jamie from Love Actually, Larry Talbot.
TV: Joan Holloway, Penelope Garcia, John Watson*.

*Yes, I know he was literary first. But the Granada and BBC television versions are my favorites.

Oh crikey, there are so many.

My favourite character from literature is Maedhros, an obscure character from Tolkien’s Silmarillion, which tells of the history of Middle Earth. There’s some not-so-subtle homosexual subtext associated with him and his cousin.
Also Sherlock Holmes (and the only reason I didn’t pick Watson as well is because @MacBean got there first). Hmm come to think of it, that’s the homoerotic subtext again…

From movies: Rick Deckard from Blade Runner (I didn’t like the book version of him so much). Wolverine from X-Men (though in this case I prefer the comic version.

From TV: Marcus Cole from Babylon 5. Ianto Jones from Torchwood (more gay!).

But I could write a list as long as my arm.

@nebule That line, “Practically perfect in every way.” always gets to me. Maybe it’s the accent. ;-)

OMG! @downtide How could I forget Sherlock Holmes! Ducky and Adrian Monk, from my list, kind of spring from his loins.

I’m afraid I’ve neglected the ladies here.

Nelly Dean, the housekeeper from Wuthering Heights is the only character that I actually liked or had any pleasant feelings toward. I like her because she reminds me of one of my best friends. She loves good gossip, but is true to a fault. She would never hurt you and will help you, even if she thinks what you’re doing is liable to get you into some type of heartbreak, but she thinks true love is worth it.

Elinor, the character played by Emma Thompson, in Sense and Sensibility. She is completely down to earth and grounded. She always makes the wise and correct (sensible) decisions and she would never hurt anyone or embarrass anyone. Deep down she has a great passion and love for a particular man, but she keeps it a secret until the very end, when she is allowed to let it be known. The scene from that movie, in which she lets it be known, is one of the greatest moments in movie history. For me at least.

Julie Andrews’ Maria from The Sound of Music. She is torn, passionate, compassionate, strong and always gives people exactly what they deserve. She, in turn, get exactly what she deserves: love and respect.

Just about any character played by Shirley Temple, but my favorites are “The Little Princess” “Heidi” “The Littlest Rebel” and “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” In each one of these movies, she plays a similar character, a young lady with pluck, gumption and the biggest heart in the world, coupled with bravery.

Renee Zelwegger’s Bridget Jones. Who amongst us has never felt un-requited passion and love for someone who ultimately gave us grief and humiliation? She dealt with all of it in a very funny, un-mean way. I can totally relate to a lot of the crap that she was put through.

And Sofia, Oprah Winfrey’s character in “The Color Purple.” This is probably one of the most moving performances that I have ever seen by an actress, ever. She is the embodiment of strength and dignity while facing constant, mind-numbing brutality, racism and mysogyny.

There are too many to say I have a favorite. However, I did love Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame

@Kardamom I love it that you love Nelly Dean! She must be the most overlooked character in fiction.

Molly Bolt from “Rubyfruit Jungle”
I used her influence to justify so much rebellious behavior in high school.

Any protagonist from a Kurt Vonnegut novel.

Rincewind (Discworld): Sure, he’s a coward but he always ends up doing right in the long run. While everyone considers him the world’s worst wizard, I have to wonder if he’s not the most powerful one.

Death (Discworld): He is essentially a nice guy, but totally disconnected from everything. In spite of that he still has a soft spot for the living, even if they hate and fear him, and he’s always for Justice.

Paladin (Have Gun Will Travel): An intelligent bad ass. He won’t shoot you if he doesn’t have to, but if you insist on it he’ll do it with a vengeance. Expensive tastes, an eye for the ladies, and over flowing with charm. He can quote Greek literature while poking holes in people who think they can use him.

Beowulf….. :-/

Several immediately spring to mind: Morgana from The Mists of Avalon, Sandra Bullock’s character in the movie “Crash” (even though she was terribly mean at the beginning), as well as her character in “The Blind Side” (who was a real person), Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Denny Crane from Boston Legal, Tommy Jefferson from Harry’s Law, Jax & Gemma from Sons of Anarchy. Rhett Butler from GWTW, Kathy Bates character in Fried Green Tomatos.

@mrentropy Mort is one the funniest books I’ve ever read. It’s actually pulled me into reading the rest of the series.

Dandelion from Watership Down.

King Arthur.

@Kardamom You really think Nelly Dean is true to a fault? I don’t think she’s quite so saintly myself. She’s such an ambivalent character
Elizabeth Bennett
Jean-Dominique Bauby

Leonard Shelby from Memento. Such a tragically flawed character, it was impossible not to root for him or sympathize with him.
Jack Bauer from the show 24. ‘Nuff said.
And Tom Joad from The Grapes of Wrath. I had to read that book over the summer, and I fell head-over-heals in love with it. I loved Joad because he’d done terrible things, but still some how was moral than a lot of other characters.

@downtide Maedhros for the win, especially since I’ve been rereading The Silmarillion and listening to Blind Guardian’s Nightfall in Middle Earth. It’s all fresh in my mind right now. I’d go with Sauron as my favorite Silmarillion character. Much better as a villain than in LOTR.

A couple of my favorite characters are Death from Pratchett’s Discworld, and Data from Star Trek: TNG. They both have the same quest to become human, or at least understand humanity better. Usually with hilarious results.

Most of the characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender are favorites, because the show is so well-done. But especially Sokka.

Also, Humbert Humbert from Lolita. I don’t exactly like him, but every time I read the book I can’t help but be impressed with how Nabokov manages to make him a sympathetic character, despite also being a huge perv.

Hamlet
Ulysses
Pinocchio
Scrooge
Harry Potter
Gaius Baltar
Indiana Jones
Gregory House
Nora Charles
Alan Shore
Casey McCall

@hobbitsubculture Good call on Avatar, I am Jack’s overwhelming regret for not thinking of it first :[

@Joker94 You’re right as well. Tyler Durden deserves to be on the list.

@filmfann I’m half-way through reading Fight Club, and I’m in love with it!

Ramona Quimby

I learned how to not put a book down until it’s done thanks to her character.

@Joker94 Brace yourself. Different ending than the movie.

@filmfann I’ll let you know what I think when I get there, haha!

@filmfann If I’d done lists of five instead of lists of three, Nick & Nora would’ve been on mine. ♥

Steerpike from Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast series is one of the most unusual characters in fiction.

“Out of the kitchen a revolutionary force emerges – the youth Steerpike who, on his own admission, has a ‘disrespectful nature’. He calls the Countess of Groan, that great lady who lives in a sea of white cats, ‘the old Bunch of Rags’; he even calls the sun ‘the old treacle bun’. Pulling the legs off a stag-beetle, slowly, one by one, he says: ‘Equality is the great thing, equality is everything.’

Severus Snape from Harry Potter, Fang from Maximum Ride, and Nobody Owens from one of my all time favorite books, The Graveyard Book.