What are some literary characters that you admire and what do you like about them? I love Frodo Baggins, Sam Gamgee, and Harry, Ron and Hermione of course. Their adventuring spirits, their loyalty and their goodness in the face of adversity always struck a chord with me.
I respect John Clark (or John Kelly) greatly from Without Remorse, Rainbow Six, and Debt of Honor (along with a few other works by Tom Clancy). If I could pick any one person in the world to be- I would pick him! I admire Scarlett O Hara's unbreakable spirit yet selfish demeanor in Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. I really enjoyed how the character Randle McMurphy was portrayed in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Kunta Kinte was a good central character in Roots by Alex Hayleigh and he handled his situation rather well considering his circumstances. Most of the main characters in Michael Crichton's books were always good, even if they were not the spotlight of his novels. Really- they all had what a main character needed the most- to be human. The main characters of Paranoia (Joseph Finder), Killer Instict (Finder) The Firm(Grisham) the Chamber(Grisham) (The old man in jail not the lawyer). Very intelligent characters who are all developed well. Those are just to name a few- I could go on all night.
Ooh, I loved Randle McMurphy. I love Atticus Finch for his calm demeanor and the desire to do the right thing. He's a steady rock in TKAMB and one of the best protagonists I've ever read about. I love Gandalf and Dumbledore for their trustworthiness and their endless wisdom.
Kvothe from The Name of the Wind, for the rare exception of taking his appeal from being a Mary Sue. He's also simply badass. Morpheus from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman; this being one of my favorite examples of character development. Daniel Sempere from the Shadow of the Wind. I can say with conviction that this character is the one I've felt most related to in my whole reading life. Also Fermin Romero de Torres from the same book; he's got to be the wittiest and most well-spoken character ever conceived.
Just watched the last of "Return of the King" (I've been having an LOTR marathon all week). In LoTR, my favorite characters are Sam and Aragorn because I feel like they're the real heroes. Frodo acts kind of angsty and sometimes I just want to throttle him lol (like when he kept trusting Gollum, and at the end, etc) but I have to love him for his "I will take the ring to Mordor, although I do not know the way" stand. I also like Dagny from "Atlas Shrugged," and Katniss from "The Hunger Games." I can root for anyone who's a fighter and survivor.
Francis Begbie in Trainspotting. Funniest and most insane character I've ever come across. Then you have Patrick Bateman, who, as a character, can't really be overlooked (Even though I hated the book)
Even though he's got mega-issues, lol, I do love the character of Dexter. (By Jeff Lindsay.) I always find him and his internal monologue interesting, even when I get to parts of the books where I'm a little dubious about the way the story's going. From the Harry Potter books my favourites are probably Fred and George. They just make me laugh.
Joscelin, Phedre, and Moirin all characters of Jacqueline Carey's. Phedre and Joscelin because they just have an epic love that spans years and years. Phedre is the ultimate heroine in my opinion. She accepts what needs to be done and does it without complaint or thinking twice, no matter how hard her journey is going to be. And Joscelin because he loved her so much that he would choose her over anything else in his life time and time again. Moirin is the main character from Carey's newest series and I love her because she is so different from Phedre! Her spirit-guide propels her on her journeys, even though she doesn't want to leave her homeland. She plays things safe and is kind of a skank, but Jacqueling Carey makes it a lovable trait in her and not really bad flaw.
I have so many that I like, but one seems to shine above all the others: Kip, from The Black Prism (by Brent Weeks) Probably because he's just an everyday, easy to relate to. Even when he's being all heroic, he manages to make a fool of himself. He's just an all-round fun character to read, basically.
Someone mentioned a badass above. When it comes to badasses, I like Ferro and Logen, from Abercrombie's First Law books.
Katniss Everdeen is one of my favorite characters too, Mal. I love those characters that can fight and hold their own.
Hey! Stop stealing my answers, muchacho! Anyways, my favorite characters are Greatjon Umber, Beric Dondarrion and Dolorous Edd Tollet from GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire. Logen Ninefingers, Curnden Craw and Sand dan Glokta from Joe Abercrombie's work, as well as Stranger-Comes-Knocking. Talos and Mercutian from Aaron Dembski-Bowden's 40k books. But most of all, Whirrun of Bligh from Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes. Not even a central character. But ye Gods, if there is a better "hero" in all of fantasy...well, Cracknut Whirrun would just smack his head off with the Father of Swords
Wanna know what sucks? What sucks is when you want to talk about your favorite characters but you know that everyone will jump on you saying that they're Mary Sues. My favorite characters include Samuel Hamilton in John Steinbeck's East of Eden, who, I'm sure, qualifies by some definitions as a Gary Stu. I also love Atreyu, in Michael Ende's The NeverEnding Story, who is probably also a Gary Stu (or a Gary Stu Jr., because he's very young). Another character I think is great is Hemingway's Pilar, in For Whom The Bell Tolls. She's not a Mary Sue, but she's a force of nature, and I think she's great. And Anselmo, from the same book. There are many others, of course, some who are Mary-Sueish (Atticus Finch! Luke Skywalker!) and some who aren't (Ebenezer Scrooge!), but those three come to mind.
Annie Wilkes from Misery and Jack Torrance from The Shining, both Stephen King books, because they're just great villains. Scary and crazy.
Elizabeth Benet - for her strong willed nature and finally her softer side. Alice (Alice's adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass) - for her curiosity and for her want to make her mistakes right. Everything can be fixed. Georgia Nicholson – reminds me of me as a teen. Scatter brains with the best intentions but things often go wrong. She’s so real. L x
Thanks, art, for reminding me of Ignatius Reilly! Definitely a great character! And thanks, Lemex, for mentioning Stephen Dedalus. He's a landmark. And what about Molly Bloom?
I felt a real connection with Stephen Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist because he wasn't supposed to be especially likable, he was who he was and I really respect Joyce for that. For me he is one of the most interesting characters in all fiction because of this. I must admit, I'm reading the 1922 text of Ulysses now and I weirdly look forward to when Stephen Dedalus makes an appearance.
Geez, where to even begin... Guess I'll just have to start somewhere. Indiana Jones. Need I say more? Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase, from the books by Andy McDermott. Think Indiana Jones and Lara Croft teaming up in modern day with less supernatural stuff and all-out action. Forget Dan Brown. Andy McDermott is the one who's books you should read. Stevie Rae and Aphrodite from House of Night. Stevie Rae was always the weird country-girl, and Aphrodite... she's just weird. I love how they have changed so much over the course of the series, and it will be sad to see them go. Forget Harry Potter, house of Night is the 'real' series you should read. Sure it's teenage vampires, but it's so much more than that. Tika Waylan from Dragonlance. There's just something about a young woman charging through enemy territory during war time armed with a frying pan.
If you couldn't guess, Holden Caulfield. He's representative of the adolescent spirit that develops in our current society. Apart from that, Atticus Finch comes to mind for his integrity.
