As the title says, not any names in particular but just what kind of character, class, personality and why. Of course you may use examples.

Mine may be a cliche but I love chars who are evil but still have that little hint of goodness in them.

I don't like perfect good people who do nothing wrong and are respected for it. Everyone is still human/elven/halfling/gnome and they still do stuff wrong once in a while.

Basically any character that is interesting...it's too hard for me to specify what qualities he/she must have...

Michael Moorcock's Elric has been one of my greatest idols for years, yet I still find entertainment in the exploits of Drizzt Do'urden, goody two shoes he might be. :cool:

As for how I would deem a character 'interesting'... well, that is yet another difficult question to answer. I find a character full of doubt and self conflict as interesting as one who is impervious in his/her self-conviction. Of course, even an individual that lies in the middle can be interesting as well. I suppose it depends on the writer portraying the character.


But there are a few aspects I've had enough of:

Wimpy boy heroes that whine and are filled with angst. ( Angst is ok, in moderation. Couple that with wimpiness and I get the urge to hurl the entire story out of the window. Shinji from Evangelion, Raiden from Metal Gear Solid2. Yes, it's a video game but I'm just quoting an example.) :rolleyes:

Wise, cantankerous wizards. (Except Gandalf). Argh, die Elminster and Dumbledore! :mad:

In introspective, talented persona. Someone who's experienced a lot of unjustified suffering and has a lot to pay back for. And I like them in a story that is dark and sad, but not overly melodramatic.

The characters I *most* enjoy reading are modern guys usually, slackers, etc. ;)

Nick Hornby writes these kind of guys well.

War of the Spider Queen protagonists rule!
I love reading Drizzt's type too, i recently read The Silent Blade and the parts i most enjoyed were Entreri and Jarlaxle's type, i guess i love reading about dark type.
Yup can't wait to read Servant of the Shard and War of the Spider Queen serie (i've just sneak-peeked them)

[Did I mentioned that Valas Hune rules?]

I like characters that are REAL! As opposed to cookie-cutter slobs. Sometimes, if the book's thrust isn't really characterization, I can handle it, but I need realism. Take George Martin's characters. Tyrion does some pretty horrible things, yet he is moral. Catelyn is a good woman overall, but her weak spot is her irrational hatred of Jon Snow. Even Jaime Lannister is somewhat redeemed despite his involvement in activities repudiated by almost every philosophical and moral system either in this world or Martin's. These people are REAL!

I prefer people that aren't too über, and aren't fully good nor completly and utterly evil. Such characters get annoying after a while.

I like tragic heroes, persons who know that they are fighting for a lost cause or who know that their actions will lead them to death, but they don't give up because their moral values and their code of honor tell them or oblige them to do so. Hector in Iliad is a perfect example of this kind of character.

E BOG, epitelous brisko kai enan Ellina se auto to site. :)
Apo to stoma mou to pires. Auto akribos pisteuo ki ego.

I agree with BOG. I like characters with morality. Other than that, a dwarf is my best choice (eg Thibbledorf Pwent, Bruenor Battlehammer, Gimli, Thorin, Balin etc.)

The language of communication here is English, please stick to using that.

Flawed characters. Depaara nailed it with George RR Martin's characters. I also have to admit liking the bastards, abused, downtrodden etc -- Jon Snow and Tyrion from Martin (actually pretty much every character from Martin, waiting to see what happens with Snow's little sister now), Fitz from Robin Hobb etc.

A human character.

No, not by race, you silly person. By character.

I like to read about mages,really bad ones.They should be very sarcastic and go with a group of some good guys :evil: (I really love it,when he does his small comments that are really bad :D )

Does anyone still remember "Dirty Harry?" Or "Unforgiven?" Those are personalities I like to read of; they can show empathy and/or mercilessness when required, but not going overboard in neither of these. Heh, incidentally, Garret also represents a personality I would like to read/watch more (he is the protagonist of "Thief", a game).

Any character that gets to say "Told you so," usually. But enjoy all kinds of characters.

I like characters who have a chip on their shoulder... I like charatcters who have attitude. I like charcters who are not perfect. I can like a "good" character, even if my preference is evil (I am a Hannibal Lecter fan... I think that is all I need to say...) if said good guy has enough flaws to make him/(her imperfect.

I like characters such as Raistlin majere of Dragonlance, Zaknafein, Entreri and Jarlaxle of the Drizzt books, aforementioned Hannibal Lecter and don't tell me I have to tell you where he's from, Elrond of the LotR fame...

Babbled enough, I have

(*hugs her Elrond*)

Anti-heros like Raistlin or Steel Brightblade.

Disgruntled cops like Harry Bosch (Michael Connely), Joe Pike (Robert Crais) and Elvis Cole (also Crais).

Aragorn style charecters. Destined for greatness but are worried that human flaws might bugger them up.

I like all sorts of characters, but my favorite must be any assassin(SP). They just have such gret personalities. Especially in books like The Spine Of The World where it shows Entreri's character, especially his views on life.

Basically good ones (which doesn't necessarily mean goodies), preferrably with strong brains. Actually most of my favourites fall under paladinic or mercenary cathegory. Rangers are also nice and sometimes clerical characters. Not really druids, but apart from true historic ones I've not read much about them. I also believe there could be more elves as main characters instead of just teaching rangers (male) or being the hero's final reward (female).

I somehow like characters on their way towards good or on their way *back* towards good. I don't really enjoy easy, uneventful life and that's also what I don't really expect from my favourite characters. Probably all of them have very strong personality and will, but have some mild to severe problems with the world or with themselves. Some have attitude problems. Similarly I appreciate 'leaning' alignments and 'streaks' if we already use d&d terminology.

What's also important is psychological likelihood and various bits of information sticking well together unless the character is intentionally created misty.

Any, as long as the writer knows what he is doing

What characters do I like reading about?
Hard question. The best answer I could probably give would be "any characters". As long as they are well developed and a lot of thought put into them while they were been written.
I dislike extreme characters (ie. extremely evil or good) and characters who think a lot of them selves (although these can be funny sometimes).

[ May 24, 2003, 10:28: Message edited by: RotKU ]

I enjoy reading about characters with cold calculating minds, like Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo. The way he plans the downfalls of all the people who betrayed him.

Mind you I do enjoy reading about characters whos only thought is to fight. Jaime Lannister from Geore RR Martin's books for instance, but that may only because I love this comment

"Kingslayer, what happened to your hair?"

"I cut it off hoping the glint from the sun reflecting off of it would blind my opponents. It worked for you!

The best characters are original, fresh ones. Sarcastic ones are good, and they don't have to be a 'Knight in Shining Armor' 'Warrior of the Light' goodguy. I myself like wrting with characters who don't want to be involved with saving the world because they'd rather live to be a ripe old age. Mercenaries are wonderful main characters, because they just want their pay. "Approve? My lord, I approve when I am paid."

I have a weakness for rogue/outlaw types who seem to be all about money but have much more depth and reason to them. And they have a constant witty remarks demeanor about them that almost verges on the point of annoying but not quite. Like Silk from the Belgariad -- he's always making wisecracks that would probaby be annoying after a while in person but in the books, crack you up. And like it when the characters are so outrageous that you never really know what they're going to do and so it makes it completely hilarious -- Jarlaxle in Servant of the Shard is a definite example of this.

On a more classical note, Robin Hood and Zorro always struck a chord with me. I love that type of hero. The selective highwayman who robs only the evil and enemies -- another type of rogue. Oliver DeBurrows of the Crimson Shadow Trilogy is also a lot like that. He constantly goes and robs all the rich merchants who are all supporters of the evil king and then uses the money to buy coats to give away to street urchins.

Oh and in typical rogue fashion, they have to be able to pick locks and set up traps! That's a majorly fun part of it!

Ohhh! Another example is Han Solo -- he seems to be all about the money but winds up helping the rebellion anyway. And he's definitely rogue-ish and constantly making side-long remarks and quips. Mad fun

For me it really depends on how developed the character is, but i lean towards rougish characters like Gord ,Entreri and Silk. The alignment doesnt matter as long as they are developed.

I like people that are evil, but are struggling to become good. I also like people who are very good. ala Stirm Brightblade.

I like reading about everyone in The Forgotten Realms :D (I only have Drizzt books right now, though)

hmmm My favourite characters to read about? Would have to say evil, though not 100%. Evil characters are usually sarcastic, which is funny and the have attitude. Some of my favourites are;
Kitiara, Raistlin and Entreri. I love reading about magic and thieves to. Much fun

Chaotic good charecter using both brains and brawn. I would have said CN but most authors prefer their protagonists to be shown in the white light. However it is important that the charecter have use of his free will and purpose.

Loners for sure. Characters in the vein of The Gunslinger - Roland of Gilead who are faced with some form of tragedy and must struggle on their own to overcome said tragedy. Also characters who have responsibility thrust on them, slowly come to terms with it and succeed without an overblown ego. I guess that describes average people hey?

Characters who are competent, I'm talking about both brains and skill with the ability to keep a cool head in a crisis. Like Sherlock Holmes or Raistlin.

[ September 05, 2003, 15:33: Message edited by: rastilin ]

Hmm, people who slip into evil are good, not just people who were always evil and always will be because the story needs a bad guy. A well developed bad guy who isn't just evil. Was once a normal(ish) person, yet has for some reason gone evil.

I enjoy reading about a character who is forced to discover depths of strength within him/herself that were never dreamed possible. Particularly, I like characters who discover some unusual or heretofor unknown ability within themselves. Examples include Andre Norton's Simon Tregarth of the Witch World, Christopher Stasheff's Rodney "Gallowglass" D'Armand of Gramarye, and many of the protagonists of Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series.

I guess that deep down, I wish that I could discover some such hidden power within myself. :D

A reluctant hero/hroine. It's not about whether he/she have the skill or talent to be one. But rather the conflict of "to be or not to be" a hero, that he/she is undergoing.