What makes you like a character? Trends and Patterns amoung your favourites?

[bloppyblue]

So I was wondering what about a character makes you like them.

People have different reasons, be it subconscious or not. Are your favourite characters the more relateable ones? The type of person you'd like to become? The type of person you'd have a crush on? The character that makes you laugh/cry the most? How about patterns or traits that happen to be common amoung all your favourite characters?

I'm not wondering much on what you like about characters but rather why

Spoiler for Me, personally:

I've been thinking and it seems that most of my favourite characters are relateable to me. Not only that though, a lot of them exhibit a quality and charisma that I wish I had. They all also have a strong personality (not exactly energetic, just strong... Like, I really disliked Haruhi lol).

[Midonin]

This is actually a fairly interesting thread. My favorite types of characters are ones like Nodamiki from GA and Miyako from Hidamari. What those two have in common is a devil-may-care attitude toward life, an unorthodox outlook on the world and a wealth of imagination.

I don't really try to have favorites, since I believe that interplay among the personalities of a cast is one of the most interesting aspects of fiction (Who's a foil to who? Why are they a foil? etc.), but when I do, they tend to fit the mold mentioned above. Not exactly idiots, not exactly the brightest, but they're dreamers and doers.

Quick list of favorites: Miyako (Hidamari Sketch), Nodamiki (GA), Yume Kitaoka (Kanamemo). Mami Misato (B Gata H Kei), Agnes (Campanella)

[WBoon]

Originally Posted by bloppyblue

Spoiler for Me, personally:

a lot of them exhibit a quality and charisma that I wish I had.

Well, they are fictional characters, after all. And most fictional characters are made to inspire people. More often than not, they aren't like real people at all. In fact, I'd have more faith in a fictional character than a real person (*major pessimism towards humanity here*).

But why I like my characters is probably the same as most people, 'coz they relate to me and such. Rather than hoping to become like them, the major reason I like them is probably because I see them as really friendly people that I wish real people around me could become, or rather, adapt more of their decent traits from.

Basically, I see these characters as people I could hang out with and have a good time. I don't have lots of close friends in my life. Yeah, I'm a sad, sad little man who has no life.

[Master_Yoma]

I like Iria well she tough and strong and a rocking body with a skintight outfit. I like most girls who kick a lot of ass

[Kaijo]

I like intelligence in my characters. Wallowing in emoness, whiny, crying, or consisting of one or two personality traits makes me cringe. I like dimensions and strength. One of the reasons Nanoha is one of my favorites, is because she's highly mature, does whine about her powers, quickly adapts to the situation with the strength to follow through. She knows when to use diplomacy, and also knows when it's time to kick ass.

Think about that for a second.

Most characters have a philosophy of either "I don't want to fight, can't we talk this out?" OR "Talk is pointless so let's just kick the shit out of each other." Neither extreme is the right answer, so it's knowing when to use each and in what quantity, that I admire in a character. Even when forced to fight her own adopted daughter, she isn't afraid to pull punches. In short, she responds intelligently to each situation without going emo. She's not emotionless, even though she can sometimes seem that way.

Even among some of the other characters I tend to like, there is that annoying tendency to angst about stupid things. I like Arika in My Otome, but she was a bit too stupid about the whole "Are Otome good or bad!?" thing. The answer was obvious.

I'm just trying to think of other characters I really liked, and there isn't too many. Most are either unbelievable like harem lead Tenchi-types (seriously, any guy that wusses out with girls who want them and do NOTHING to help resolve the situation are dumb as hell), or too incredibly flawed. It's like an author can't keep the plot going unless they deliberately make the characters too stupid so that they get into these situations, and then too stupid to resolve them properly (have to draw it out!).

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

I like intelligence in my characters. Wallowing in emoness, whiny, crying, or consisting of one or two personality traits makes me cringe. I like dimensions and strength. One of the reasons Nanoha is one of my favorites, is because she's highly mature, does whine about her powers, quickly adapts to the situation with the strength to follow through. She knows when to use diplomacy, and also knows when it's time to kick ass.

Think about that for a second.

Most characters have a philosophy of either "I don't want to fight, can't we talk this out?" OR "Talk is pointless so let's just kick the shit out of each other." Neither extreme is the right answer, so it's knowing when to use each and in what quantity, that I admire in a character. Even when forced to fight her own adopted daughter, she isn't afraid to pull punches. In short, she responds intelligently to each situation without going emo. She's not emotionless, even though she can sometimes seem that way.

Bingo.

Very well said.

I especially like this in protagonists; outright heroes/heroines like Nanoha in particular.


With villains (or even mildly mischievous characters like Haruhi Suzumiya), I like somebody that's theatrical and is clearly enjoying what they're doing. A certain basic level of overall competence is desirable, but beyond that, it's mostly about charismatic personality for me.

[Hooves]

I just started watching Nanoha, but liking her character so far. Kinda reminds me of Sakura Kinomoto from "Cardcaptor Sakura" but Sakura is more of a "Cant we talk about this?" all the time, and does not know when its time to do some major beating. Of course I just started watching Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha, so I cannot really say what I think about her yet.

I like characters like Shana, extremely cold, yet amazingly powerful (Tsundere-love much?) I defiantly love her in the novels so far, going to kick so much with what is going on there. But she is mostly like "It's time to beat someone up" but never negotiable, but that is what we have Yuuji there for. But still love characters like Shana.

[Reckoner]

Well some of my favorite female characters are Real (Ergo Proxy), Haruhi (MoHS), Shiki (Kara no Kyoukai), the Evangelion cast (Neon Genesis Evangelion).
..
What do they all have in common? None of them are overloaded with moe (Save Haruhi a little bit maybe), all have a legitimate internal conflicts, are not girls that are not overly good or naive, etc.

The antithesis of a female character I like is Nagisa from Clannad.

As for some male characters, I've loved Shinji (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Kou (Cross Game), Ginko (Mushishi), Vincent (Ergo Proxy)...

The antithesis of a character I like is Luffy from One Piece.

What they have in common are usually compelling motives and internal conflicts, are not overly good or naive, are not focused on being GAR or having uncharacteristic moments of personality difference.

~~~~~~~~~~~``

I guess overall, to me the character needs to be relateable or at least compelling. However, the female characters don't need to be as as much as the male characters, as i am a male, so they are allowed a little more leeway I suppose in being different when I am watching an anime series.

[Archon_Wing]

It seems that I'd like a character more if I were to be like "hey! I want to know someone like that!"

Though it does seem like I have a huge weakness towards the "troubled past, occasionaly brooding, and eventually turns out to be an extremely loyal friend" type of character. It usually amuses me or interests me on how the main character (typically) reaches out to them. Most prominent examples off the top my head is probably Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Mai Kawasumi from Kanon. May or may not contain the entire main cast of Higurashi. You get zero points for figuring who I'd like in Umineko.

Someone related, is just the simply detatched and mysterious type that proves to have a lot more to them, such as Yuki Nagato.

Another favorite character type of mine are characters that are extremely confident in their abilities and always manage to do things with some kind of class, whether it be general behavior or simply pwning whoever asks for it. Some of these people include Tomoyo from Clannad, Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho, and Shigeru Motherfucking Akagi from Akagi. The battle is won before it began. Well, I suppose Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star belongs here too, huh?

I also like characters that have very strong ideals and goals and the determination to uphold these values; the opposite would be a self righteous hypocrite. Celty from Durarara!!or Yuri from Angel Beats! are very admirable characters to me because they are so level headed about it as well. Nanoha, is a great example, simply because she is also so practical and balances it out very well.

And of course, Tomoyo can fit here too, which is probably why I have an avatar of her.

And since I'm a huge fan of sarcasm, I like those characters much-- Kyon is the man for that, of course.

For villains, I like those that take pride in their role- trolls. Izaya from Durarara!! or Beatrice from Umineko amuse me greatly.

In general, the ones I like the most will overlap a lot in these categories. Characters I hate are usually hypocrites, preachy, annoying, inconsistent, or display a general lack of empathy of others (especially if they are supposed to be a protagonist).


I have no problems with a character being weak or doing stupid shit , but I do when they are supposed to know better.

[Falkor]

characters that smile and can make me smile in return.

I like intelligent females who can speak sincerely from their heart, who can sincerely show a different gamut of thoughts and emotions, and can sincerely interact with others in amusing ways. yes, I truly like/love females who can think and act sincerely. and this in part describes my favorite female character: Shirayuki, who in addition to being smart and honest, is also a very strong, determined and hard-working girl, who faces her problems with great enthusiasm and optimism---someone who doesn't shy away from a situation, but think and act with confidence and resolve. yep, that's Shirayuki.

Most recently, I came to really like one particular character of a light novel: HakoMari's Iroha. it took her one action to become my object of admiration, in which she performed an unexpected and somewhat disturbing act to win the trust and will of her companions. oh and I also liked/loved Maria Otonashi, an outspoken, strong, kind and selfless female of the same novel. In contrast to Iroha, she may not have the same amount of determination, but is someone whose words confuse me and mere presence one can't help but find enjoyable and interesting. both are also my favorite female characters.

In addition, I have a soft spot for cunning/scheming females, who posses a charming wit and a nice smile. Horo may come to mind, Yozora of the Neighbor's Club as well. The latter may be a little too mean, but the way she speaks her mind and finds pleasure in someone's else misfortune is something enjoyable and yet amusing to see. The two also fit in what I said at the beginning about sincere characters, and the two are also favorite characters of mine.

[Nadeko_Sengoku]

Call me a freak, but any character that shows a "yandere" (Lovey-dovey at first, but then reveals they are completely insane) personalty automatically makes me like them. But I also like a lot of other personalities. I like the intelligent girls, or the airheaded klutz. I like a lot of different kinds of characters, so It's hard to pick out specific things I like about all of them.

[bloppyblue]

Haha, interesting replies. I noticed that it's a lot easier for people to have favourite female than male characters

Although not everybody is answering my original question Some did though I was wondering exactly /why/ you liked them. Why exactly are you drawn towards the smart badass or tsundere-type? Like some people mentioned, they seem like people that'd be really cool to be friends with. Some people said it's because of relateability (although it could be mixed up with idolizing).