Sir Chris' Top 50 fictional characters of all time.

The following are not in particular order.

Dr. Perry Cox (Scrubs)

I haven’t seen Scrubs for awhile, and so my memories of Dr. Cox a bit fuzzy, but what memories they are. What a total and complete hilarious bastard, seriously. He has a quick wit and is not afraid to abuse anyone who stands in his way, and I find it hilarious to seriously no end. I don’t know if they kept up the running gag, but the whole calling J.D. any variety of female names seriously did not get old once, ever. A lot of my favorites are pretty serious with just a dash of humor within them, Cox is a bit of an opposite here. I like it when he does get serious though, he really cares about people somewhere in that black heart of his, and he can be pretty awesome when he is serious. But it is still a downgrade from the regular smack talking Perry Cox that I have grown so fond of through the seasons. I need to watch the rest of Scrubs one of these days, left off at Season five, good stuff.
 * Scrubs Spoilers*

DQ5 Hero (Dragon Quest V)

Best to get this out of the way early, I think. Kind of breaks the whole “general line” thing, but he is nowhere near my top. With that said, the DQ5 Hero is in fact my favorite video game character of all time, despite being the first of four listed, and he is just incredibly amazing. The tragedies he has faced, the hells he has had to endure for his life and for his family speak of inner strength that most characters could never hope to muster. I fell in love with him because of how he never quit. He never gave up. He never needed that pep talk from random side character to get him back on track, he was always on track. At the age of six, he had to see his father die for him. His father, so strong that he effortlessly whooped the ass of three demons who would later become late game bosses, but he had to see his father make the sacrifice of choosing your life over his. It was unfair, it was wrong, and you know what? Those mother ****ers got theirs. We wrecked those bastards, we made them bleed and die before us. Do you know why we did it? It wasn’t for justice, or for mere plot progression. We did it for the father that DQ5 hero lost, the mother that had been trapped for over two decades. We did it because you don’t mess with a little boy’s family like that, and expect to live. That little boy, so kind and gentle, grew up into a young man. He found the love of his life and married her. He had two children with her. He endured eight years as stone to see his family again. He protected his children, reclaimed his kingdom, avenged his parent’s death, and everything was set right. He was no legendary hero, his blood was not that of a ordinary hero. He just had a father who happened to never back down from evil and who had honor. He wasn’t blessed n any way. He was just a boy, who in turn became a man, who then became a hero. He doesn’t need a canon name to be who he is, and that is a hero. He doesn’t need your validation to be an amazing character, and he doesn’t need to say a word. DQ5 Hero, ****ing grade A awesome.
 * DQ5 Spoilers*

Naruto (Naruto)


 * Naruto Manga Spoilers*

This is probably going to get me some crap, and Naruto is probably squarely 50th on this list if this was numbered, but I have always found Naruto extremely endearing. Despite the Manga sometimes jumping the shark, being about Sasuke way too much, and the battles having really crappy endings, Naruto himself has usually been fairly awesome. I was absolutely amazed by his background, how he was hated as a child, dismissed by the entire village as nothing more than a pest at best because of the demon he contains, yet enduring through it all to have the dream of Hokage, at first for the recognition, but later because he wants to protect everyone.

A very clear theme in this list is going to be huge strength of character, and Naruto despite a lot of growing pains, has that in spades. I still remember when I first really cheered for Naruto, it was in the Chuunin exams when he was facing off against Gaara, and Gaara was lying there, totally exhausted, and Naruto in the same state crawled to him, using only his chin, and told him that if he hurt any of his friends he would kill him. That just completely blew my mind, how could a guy make threats from his chin? He pulled it off though, and it was just brilliant. After that the Tsunade arc really did a good job of making Naruto badass as hell, and the scene where Kabuto took a lot more damage than he realized was fantastic. In the latest arc of the Manga Naruto that got Naruto on the list, being all badass dynamic entry like telling Tsunade “A Hokage shouldn’t have to deal with guys like this, go ahead and drink some tea or something granny.” He isn’t perfect, and neither is his source material, but Naruto has endeared himself to me over the years in a way that very few characters have. I just can’t help but to root for him, and everything he stands for.

Charlie Crews (Life – TV)


 * LIFE SPOILERS, IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SHOW AND CARE TO, BEWARE*

I love Cloud and Squall right about now, he suggested the show, and this guy may be on the top fifty because he is so fresh in my mind, but I cannot help but put him here. Life is about Charlie Crews, a man who was falsely convicted for the murder of his friend and the man’s wife and son, and how after twelve years in prison he was released, got a crap ton of settlement cash, and returned to the LAPD. It is a premise which is totally unrealistic and could never happen, but shortly after I began watching I stopped giving a crap. I love Charlie’s obsessive nature, how in a dark room in his mansion he has an entire board full of pictures and notations about the murder, who pulled it off, and who framed him. He is obsessive, driven, and does not give a **** about rules if they get in his way. He will not be intimidated, and I don’t rightly believe he knows fears. At the same time though, he discovered zen teachings in prison and this makes him such an amazing ass that this adds another level to his character.

The dude will randomly spout on about crap that unless you know about zen, sounds like total gibberish. Even when he is getting the crap beat out of him, he’ll just smile and quote the teachings. When he is being investigated for another murder, he will quote it. The dude’s calm under pressure and stress are absolutely amazing. Also he absolutely loves fruit, which is a fun quirk. The single best thing about him though is the hidden fury. It lurks below the surface, waiting to lash out. You know it is there, you can feel it in every statement he makes, the intensity in his eyes. When it is unleashed, it is done so awesomely. This is a top notch acting job, and makes a character that could be terrible if done wrong absolutely brilliant because it is done to perfection. Also, him torturing Kyle Hollis through acting like he was going to bury him was brilliant.

Caitlin 'Kate' Todd (NCIS)


 * NCIS SPOILERS, IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SHOW AND DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED, DON’T READ AHEAD*

Kate is awesome. Was awesome. Whatever you want to use for it, Kate really made the most out of her two seasons on NCIS. She was charismatic, hilarious, and knew just how to push about everyone’s buttons. She wasn’t clear cut subordinate to Gibbs like the rest of the team, she challenged him, pushed his buttons and was very much an interesting dynamic to the team. I don’t know if I can put it properly in to word, but I loved Kate a lot. She was just so full of life, energy, she brought such a mixture of personality and lifestyle choices which was awesome. She was like a sister to some, a daughter to others, and a randomly hot dominatrix to one Tony Dinozzo.

Then she was killed. Murdered by a man by the name of Ari Haswari. He will not be making this list, and he put a bullet through her skull. I am a firm believer that a character’s story is not resolved after they die until the whole arc is resolved. So that means that Kate’s story could not be done until Ari had been made to pay.

He died. And I smiled. Kate’s death truly brought out the best in Gibbs, the main character of NCIS. All of his wit and cold blooded nature were on display, but that will be covered later. I had a hard time deciding what to say about her, she was a very sentimental pick for this list rather than a list of awesome feats. Years later, and as much as I love her replacement, she is just Kate’s Replacement to me. You died Kate, but so did Ari. Sometimes that’s just how it is.

Jean Luc Picard (Star Trek)


 * Star trek spoilers*

Although I have a great love of Denny Crane, and thus you may have suspected that my favorite star trek character would have been Captain Kirk, you would have been mistaken. While I was growing up I had a very strong love of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and thus I have a huge fondness of Jean Luc Picard. As this list goes on you are going to find that I really know what type of characters that I like, for the most part. I like logical, intelligent people who you would very deeply regret pissing off. Picard fits the bill pretty well! He doesn’t get too emotional often though, usually dealing with massively complicated situations with alien races and he did so with a practiced ease, and this is a guy who always stuck to his morals and beliefs, he never bent. It almost got him killed sometimes, it made him a very unpopular figure within Starfleet for a time, but he just straight up didn’t care for the most part, as a good character wouldn’t! I always liked how diverse Picard was, especially compared to Kirk. Kirk just seems so bland in comparison, to be honest, and I know this is a rather big “deal” to trekkies much more devoted than I am in general, but Picard was very much more worldly and experienced than any of the other captains could ever hope to me. He was civil, yet could be harsh and stand his ground, he was very much diplomatic, but he never allowed himself to be bowled over because of it. His many battles with Q over the year highlight well the caliber of man that Picard was, by the end even earning the respect of that egomaniac. Picard ages well, to be honest, having seen some star trek episodes not too long ago, he is still credibly awesome. Also you know the caliber of the captain by how honored the crew is when he gives them praise. They were always highly honored, and that is Picard is amazing. His accomplishments and feats of awesomeness are too many throughout the years to really give specific examples, but I will highlight his various mental and moral battles with Q throughout time and space as something that really stands out to me about him. Also, every time he was in the holodeck good times were usually about to be had.

Chuck Bartowski (Chuck)


 * Chuck Spoilers*

OK so Chuck is just made of an amazingly amount of win here, seriously. He is what I would call “the man” exhibiting signs of “God Mode” every few episodes, which is quite a high rate for any lead on a TV show to have, and thus why he made my top fifty list quite comfortably. To describe to you in mere words what the phrase God Mode means is undercutting the awesome power behind it for me. But to sum it up for the viewing audience, it is when a character does something so supremely awesome and excellent that those words are far too great of a disservice for the act at hand, and thus I needed a phrase with no specific measurement behind it. Considering God is supposed to be infinite in all of his actions, I figured entering the “mode” would service my needs quite well.

Oh, and it has.

For those unaware, Chuck Bartowski is a somewhat normal mid twenties geek living in L.A., with the most important thing about him being that he was kicked out of Stanford for cheating which he never did which he was set up for by his former best friend at the time. Of course, it turns out the reason this happened is because his friend wanted to protect him from having to become a spy, and given how intelligent Chuck was, he would have been recruited with ease, but it was never to be. Except when Bryce Larkin (the aforementioned best friend) steals the intersect, a huge government database of government secrets encoded into pictures, he needs a reliable person to give it to, and thus he chooses the best man he knows: Chuck. From there Chuck is brought into the world of spies and secrets and a whole lot of hilarious and mostly dangerous situations. The reason why Chuck made this list is because he fits the role so amazingly. Sure, he doesn’t really know how to use guns and he is quite terrible with his hand to hand skills, however I’d say he is quite a brilliant spy. Many times has he bluffed an enemy down with the mere threat of backup, which often was never going to come, and he is absolutely amazing with his calm under pressure, and he is a very quick thinker on his feet. He has people, pointing guns at him, and he is just casually telling them what the **** is up. He has no training, no experience at this, and he is just telling these terrorists to do what he says or there is going to be hell to pay. That is amazingly cool. But I admit, I lied a bit there, that is not the whole reason why he is on this list. He comes off as a very well rounded person, and although he freaks out at times, I really like the softer side of Chuck too, and his very obvious feelings towards the hot super model-like CIA agent Sarah Walker, who seemingly has been dealing with a growing crush of her own. Can’t say I blame her, Chuck has seriously done some pretty awesome stuff, and I was inspired to do this write up because I just got done watching an episode of Chuck where at the end Sarah apologizes for not understanding his feelings and strong desire (read: He marched into a triad base because they had his friend and he was getting his friend back, god damnit) to get his friend back because she didn’t have anyone in her life that cared about her that much, and he responded with “Yeah, you do” and giving her a meaningful look. See, I am not too much of a romantic but come on, that really just enhances a character. Chuck is a sweet guy, a badass guy, and fully capable of ascending into the realm of “God Mode” if you piss him off. Holy crap I would not want Chuck pissed off at me, because while he is nowhere near the top of this list in terms of “Hot Blooded God Mode of Infinite Destruction” (HBGMID) he is still very dynamic. If you do not watch this show, you should, because it has a lot of really cool characters, not just Chuck. Sarah Walker, for an example, is a very well played bombshell model and she is a cool character. Also Adam Baldwin reprises his role as Jayne Cobb, except a bit nicer. ONLY A TINY BIT THOUGH.

Black Mage (8bit Theatre) An admittedly dirty pleasure for this list, I had wrestled with if I should actually put this character on the list, for all intents and purposes the character is very one dimensional and very flat in comparison to the usual characters that I very much enjoy, on the other hand he is a mass murdering agent of evil who hides iunder the guise of a light warrior only to gain power, score with a white mage, gain power, lure more victims into his knife, gain power, to brutalize his so called companions, and gain power. The dude seriously cracks me up, and that has to be worth something, and it is. He is not as, say, “awesome” as the rest of the list, or even people that I left off, however the dude cracks me up in almost every comic. From his dealings with Magus, to his dealings with the so called villains, to his constant death wishes for Fighter, Black Mage rarely has a dull moment. I feel bad for putting him on this list when I left so many awesome characters out, until I read the comic again and crack up yet again. Purely on this list to satisfiy my sadistic side, seriously.

Jack Mannion (The District)


 * The District spoilers*

YOU DO NOT **** WITH JACK MANNION. Period. That is all I have to say, seriously. Okay maybe not seriously, but I absolutely love Jack Mannion and he was one of the last people to be cut from my “numbered” section and it was absolutely gut wrenching to do it. Didn’t want to really, but I looked at the people above him and each one I like better than Jack, and that is no insult to Mannion. Seriously, I have such a love of the District (and wept when it was cancelled) and this character that I just want to let you know that he is a walking, talking God Mode. He does not turn off God Mode. Ever. It simply does not happen. I want to give examples, but Youtube has failed miserably for having clips. As has dailymotion. What a bunch of failures these sites are.

Anyway Jack Mannion, if you could not guess, is the star of the show “The District”, he is hired to be the commish in DC because of the insane crime rate of the city and because he has proven that he could get the job done by slashing crime rates rapidly at his last job. Jack doesn’t play by the rules a lot though, and doesn’t give a crap about politics, and he rubs a lot of the higher ups the wrong way. He quotes movies, he doesn’t take anyone’s bull**** and he is truly a man of the people. He fights for them with an unending resolve, and after he is fired he helps clean up a neighborhood just because he can. The man does not need a badge. He is deeply passionate about his work and the goods he does, and I’ve got to tell you, I would not want to mess with this guy. The CIA, FBI, Russian mobsters, and just about everyone else has tried to take this guy out.

AND THEY COULDN’T GET THE JOB DONE. Jack Mannion is my type of man, and I could seriously stand to watch another 10 seasons of the District if he was at the helm, an amazing acting performance by Craig T Nelson and a wonderfully written character. Mannion makes this show what it is, and that is a very good show indeed.

Michael Westen (Burn Notice)


 * BURN NOTICE SPOILERS*

So, I was reading on a board, maybe this board, the other week (or maybe month) about Burn Notice and people were calling it a bad show, and this made me RAGE so hard, because I love Burn Notice, and I have great taste in TV, so these people clearly suck. Anyway I absolutely love Michael Westen, he is awesome. I like the narrative of Burn Notice that he provides in every episode, kind of explaining the tricks or the reasoning behind his action as he goes along, and it is never the same thing twice. One thing that kind of irks me about him is for being such a tough spy he has a bit too much of a bleeding heart, and isn’t as cold blooded as I would like, but he more than makes up for it by being such a smartassed bastard about everything, seriously. I really have learned to enjoy the actor, who I don’t even know the name of, and am admittedly not going to bother to learn the name of for the purpose of this write up.

I think the thing that sets Westen apart from me is just the casualness in the way he does everything. We, as the viewers, don’t really know the whole score as of yet as to what he has tactical knowledge of, as he tends to get new abilities revealed over time, but he falls under “God Mode” once he gets going, and it is a pretty awesome god mode. Like I said previously, I think his character is held back a bit by being a bit too nice of a guy, even though I am a huge fan of the hero archetype, I’d like to see a bit more jack bauer inside of him.

Oh, and he has good taste in shades., and his fake smile is so hilarious, it is great. Seriously, on this list for intangibles, and his wise range of ability in the different personas he assumes for jobs, really just fun 99% of the time.

Hartigan (Sin City)

Sin City spoilers

I didn’t see Sin City until earlier this year, or maybe it was late last year, my mind is fuzzy on the details I am ashamed to admit, but I was a pretty big fan of the movie in general. It was highly stylized and had much more spirit than the movie “The Spirit” could ever dream to have, and I enjoyed each of the sub arcs if I was going to be honest, but there was something special about Bruce Willis’ portrayal of Hartigan, and in some ways it reminded me of his role from Armageddon, the similarities being readily apparent if you’ve seen both films, but I thought Hartigan was much more of a badass and frank character than the aforementioned character. It should come to no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am fond of the noble hero, and I’d be quick to characterize Hartigan as just that, his relationship with Nancy in the movie was very touching, and it quickly portrayed the type of man Hartigan was.

I think the reason he sneaked on this list is his best quote, which is the few times he makes the ‘fair trade” quote, self sacrificing and not trying to be the hero, just knowing what is fair and what isn’t.

I love TV characters overwhelmingly because of the nature of the character, you really get to know them, and therefore it is very hard for me to compare movie characters to them, however Hartigan struck a chord from the start, and while I made this list his name kept coming back to me. He was a great man, and he earned my respect in about thirty minutes of screen time, which is impressive, and is a credit to Willis’ acting. The reason he made the list: Fair ****ing Trade.

King Arthur – King Arthur lore and the like.


 * Spoilers*

This was one of the last minute cuts from my numbered list, and I was tempted to number him again but I figured that I’ve been lacking on the updates, so I thought I’d give you a good write up, which I’ll probably fail at, but yeah.

King Arthur is one of the fictional characters that I can truly say influenced my way of thinking as I was growing up, as a child. I remember reading the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley as a young buy and falling deeply in love. Life is fleeting, and I don’t like saying that, because as a young man I am not ready to die, but it is the truth of things, and I have come to realize that there are just certain things that define you very early that are going to stick with you, for better or worse. As a child I was bullied and I struggled very mightily to deal with the bullying, but I found my retreat in the world of reading, of fiction. It was truly my only safehaven in my world during some of my teenage years when my mind was being ravaged by demons that can only be known as repressed rage and other terrible emotions. Forgive my preamble, but I am a bit tired and I think I must provide the proper context of this write up, King Arthur was my original hero. A knight, a king, a great and wise ruler who ruled justly and from his heart. Who battled against odds too numerous to repeat to you, who dealt with the lost of friends, of loved ones, of betrayals of some of the most epic scope told to this day even perhaps if it wasn’t the greatest fiction ever written. Arthur was my hero, he has stayed with me through my young life so far as a shining example of what I think about when I think of fictional justice, of triumph, of goodness. Of course, there are many books about King Arthur with many different backstories and sagas of his life, some painting him in different lights and I can’t speak for all of them when I think about my vision of King Arthur, because there really is not just one “King Arthur”, some paint him as almost cruel, and that’s fine. I am not some raving fanboy of a certain light of the character, I’ve read some and enjoyed them, but they aren’t my King Arthur. Arthur in many stories, and some of my favorites regarding him, is one of the best underdog stories in all of literature in its timelessness. A young boy, sometimes a prince, sometimes a peasant, destined to become a great king, and a leader of men, must rise up and shoulder responsibility. Sometimes he has to deal with death, sometimes he has to betray those who had trusted him for the good of all, and it rips him to shreds. His own son usually kills him after a fierce battle, and I love it all. One of the only things that can make me cry almost on command is any movie or scene that involves King Arthur dying. I know it isn’t big to admit stuff like that, but the character of King Arthur is firmly ingrained into my personality from a very young age. Some days, I must admit, the only thing that got me through the day was reading the stories and surrounding myself within them, ignoring the outside world. I just finished taking a psychology intro class and I can’t even tell you if that was healthy or not, but I guess I don’t much care

I am a firm believer that having an ideal to aspire to is important, even if it is unobtainable or childish, sometimes it is OK to let pretense drop, and King Arthur was my ideal. I mean it isn’t hard to see the comparison in some regards, my friends around here know how much I put into loyalty and honesty, and trying to do right. My AIM name, TheCrownedKnight, is a direct reference to Arthur, I call myself Sir Chris, knighted and all. There is a part of me who can say without a doubt that it loves the character, and always will. I am grateful that I found him when I did, I needed an ideal, a direction in my life as a kid. It is weird to say it, being an adult now, barely sometimes it may be, but I was a very weak person at one time. I find it amazing the power of books. My love of reading started with King Arthur, my love of life started with King Arthur, and my ability to cope with problems that may not have been extraordinary, but were still dragging me down to the pits of hell, started with this character.

A Knight just isn’t some guy with a sword, and a King isn’t just a man with a crown. I have rambled, and went entirely off point here, but I needed to, I wanted to talk about it, and why he was here. Amazing character, very important in my childhood, and an ideal in many ways I still keep within me to keep me strong to this day.

Seeley Booth – Bones (TV)


 * Bones Spoilers*

Seeley Booth is a true man’s man, and he is a big reason why I make it a point to watch Bones every single week. Certain characters make everything around them better, they aren’t just about stealing the spotlight for themselves. You look at them and you can honestly say that if they were not there, if an average character was there, the show would suffer greatly not just for the loss of the awesomeness that the character brought to the table, but also the interaction with the whole cast. I don’t want to touch on his partner in the show, the show’s namesake, “Bones” too much as she too is going to be on this list a bit later, but I find it incredibly needed to say that the dynamic between her and Booth is the best dynamic between a male and a female lead in any series ever. Bar none, not even close, there are absolutely zero contenders. The mutual respect and genuine love they have for one another, although the romantic nature of that has not been explored at all yet, is truly amazing. It is great television.

Booth is my type of guy though, what Bones would call a “true Alpha male of his tribe”, Booth is a man of action and he is not afraid to put himself at stake to protect the people he cares about. He is a man of deep faith, and oddly enough his way of explaining his faith and his deep trust in religion is less annoying than anyone I have ever met in actual life, because it comes off as so genuine and non self-righteous. Booth is pretty far into my top fifty, if I was going to be honest. He, oddly like a previous character by the same actor, Angel, comes off as very pure at times and innocent. But he isn’t, really. Booth is a former Sniper for the military and he was good at his job. I just feel a very strong connection with Booth, it is hard to explain. You just sometimes know that you love a character, even if the words are hard to come by. Booth is funny, intelligent, and constantly allows himself to be underestimated by almost everyone. One of the best portrayals of an FBI agent ever, and that’s some good company to be a part of if I do say so myself.

I remember the moment where I knew Seeley Booth was a man I could refer to as “the man.” I believe it was during the first season, Bones and him were investigating a murder and everything wrapped up, but it had pissed off a local leader of a gang in the process because Bones, being Bones, cut him down to size using her wit, so he put out a hit on her. While Bones was attending the funeral of the victim out of respect with the family, Booth marches into this gang leader’s turf, having just found out that he had put out a hit on her, and slams him against the wall and shoves a gun into his neck, and I think I got this quote right. “If even a hair is misplaced from her head I am going to kill you, got that, esse?” and this big, arrogant, murdering son of a ***** just nodded his head. When Bones chastises him for missing the funeral, for she has no idea what he just did for her, all he says is “I am sorry Bones, I had something that had to be done.” She then asks him if it was more important than the funeral, and he just whispers yeah, it was. Seeley Booth is THE ****ING MAN END OF STORY.

Roland – Dark Tower


 * Dark Tower spoilers*

Wow, I um, decided to random.org this and I did not expect Roland to come up. You know, after the Wizard and Glass Roland would probably have easily been in my top ten without a question, but I’ve met a lot of great characters since then and Dark Tower’s ending really turned me off, King ruined it for me if I have to be honest, I can see why he did it, but it angered me very much, which goes to show how much I cared for the series that I actually got angry over it. I even stopped suggesting the series to other people because of the ending. It has been a very long time since I have “caught up” with Roland, perhaps too long, but the lasting impression I will always have of Roland is of the most tragic yet most dedicated hero in perhaps all of fiction. The hells of the mind and the body this man had to endure were so extreme… it was beautiful, really. Roland, when we are introduced to him, is the last of the gunslingers, back when men were men and that was all they needed to be, really. I said spoilers above but I can’t bring myself to really spoil anything for anyone, Roland was a very profound character, who is only this low because of how pissed off I am at the series. I said I wouldn’t assign numbers, but let’s call Roland 15 or so in my top 50. Roland didn’t take **** from anyone, that’s one of my favorite things about him. He always got the job done, no matter how high the price. And that price was usually high, so sickeningly high. He lost everyone he ever cared for, ever. All in pursuit of that damned tower. I guess that was what made me angriest, all his suffering in the end was for nothing, part of a stupid cycle. I don’t care how King tries to justify it, Roland deserved more. He deserved better.

…

I should have never opened that last door, it was a fool’s mistake, looking back. I should have left well enough alone. Roland is on this list because he embodies what heroes are, in all of their flaws. Despite my anger, the Dark Tower remains an excellent series, if only to be cruel to us, the readers, in the end. Roland is awesome, no doubt. I didn’t really do justice to him in this write up, if I am going to be honest, but that’s because it still hurts too much.

Monkey D. Luffy – One Piece – Anime/Manga


 * One Piece Spoilers*

I am pretty sure I didn’t originally have Luffy on this list, and if I took the time to really think about my top fifty characters he may not make it, and I have probably omitted some characters who shame Luffy in terms of how much I love them, but that doesn’t really take too much away from Luffy, who is just a straight up baller who kicks ass. Luffy fits the prototype of one of my favorite heroes: Stupid, yet you don’t mess with the dude without being brain damaged. Seriously, unless you are an Admiral or have some nuts plot power behind you, it is just plain stupid to screw with Luffy at all.

I really like the whole theme of One Piece, which is why it is one of my favorite Manga out there right now, which is friendship and everything that goes with it. It isn’t the most fantastic story, but it has a lot of heart, which since I was a kid is something I have always been fond of to a great degree. I really love people who are willing to fight and to die and to give every ounce of themselves to another person, I find it so powerful even when the art style doesn’t match the emotion. Luffy may be stupid, but his heart is always in the right place and nothing short of death will ever stop him from protecting his so called “Nakama”, for those not inclined to like the word, it basically means his homies.

Luffy has a lot of kick ass moments in the series, and he gets things done based off nothing but will power and rage. I think one of my favorite moments in the series was very early in the series, when Nami (a female pirate/map maker) betrayed the crew early and took Luffy’s straw hat, which is his prized possession because his mentor and good friend Shanks, another pirate, gave it to him when he was a little boy and told him when he was a great pirate he could take it back from him. Well, Luffy got the hat back and told her she wasn’t worthy of touching it, and like, totally freaking out on her. Well, a few chapters later it is revealed that Nami is being used and abused by a pirate/shark dude named Arlong, and Nami breaks down crying and and stabs herself over and over on the tattoo that symbolizes her slavery to him. Well, about the third time down Luffy catches her arm and tells her not to cry anymore, and then he places the mother ****ing hat on Nami’s head and walks to beat the holy **** out of Arlong, which he ends up doing in grand, epic,and emotional fashion. The climax being Luffy destroying the room that Arlong made for Nami and when he claimed that Nami was his “friend”, as long as she did what he told her to. The amount of pure awesome and rage that Luffy displayed in that moment was truly a Crowning Moment of Awesome (tvtropes.com if you want to look it up) that is almost unrivaled to this day. Luffy is a stupid bastard sometimes, but when he is focused and mad, god help the poor idiotic dumbass who tramples on the ideal of friendship as recklessly as Arlong did. Luffy is awesome, and while I may debate myself if he is worthy of top fifty status, I can’t debate how much I love seeing him go when he goes.

Hiruma – Eyeshield 21 (Anime/Manga)


 * Eyeshield 21 Spoilers*

This is another very borderline new addition that I almost didn’t put, but hey who cares if I go over 50 characters, you guys like write ups, right? Sure you do. This one is pretty simple, Hiruma is hilarious, evil, and very intelligent. Hiruma is the Quarterback and driving force behind the Devilbats, the team we follow in Eyeshield 21. Although it is often Eyeshield showing off, Hiruma is the genius behind the team and he does just about everything within his power to obtain victory, and usually it involves being a totally evil bastard while doing it. Hiruma is often seen prodding people or shooting up into the sky with a random automated gun, and it is quite hilarious. I think the reason why I allowed myself to write about Hirurma among all of these great characters is the recent development of the character. Although he is reckless, said to be pure evil, and is a total bastard, Hiruma has a sort of softer side to him, where he explains that winning the Christmas bowl is everything, and doing your best is very important, no matter what. He has constantly shown up so called world class geniuses on the football field, and even outwitting the very hyped up character in the most recent arc in a game of Poker, which actually shocked quite a few readers who were expecting him to be some kind of underdog.

Finally, something I actually do when I am alone because of this character is shout “YA HA”, his signature laugh, when something just went very well for me. Hiruma isn’t the most deep character ever, but he makes me laugh a lot and is by far my favorite character from this Manga, very awesomely done.
 * End Spoilers*

Takamura (Hajime no Ippo) (Anime/Manga)


 * Hajime no Ippo Spoilers*

Takamura is a boxer, and he is made of a substance that could probably be best described as pure awesome. Without a doubt, he is the most well rounded character of the manga, providing a lot of drama, hilarious antics, villainy, and straight up awesome in ring action. He is not my favorite from the manga, but that is certainly not for a lack of trying, only my love of great underdog and humble heroes keeps Takamura from achieving that spot, and humble this man is certainly not.

Takamura is basically the mentor of the series, although his arrogance and lack of ability to lose at anything cripples the psyche of everyone around him, which is very hilarious. Takamura is constantly cracking jokes and making fun of everyone else in the gym, but at the end of the day he has a good heart and did I mention he killed a grizzly bear with his bare hands? This man would be a hero to Stephen Colbert, and who the hell are you to argue with Stephen Colbert?

On a more serious note, the reason why he is able to make this list is not just his comedy, although it is great and awesome, but it is his relationship with the trainer of the gym and the bond they share. A serious and pissed off and motivated Takamura certainly, without a doubt, falls under the category of “holy crap why in the hell would anyone ever want to mess with this guy ever” hero archetype, a big favorite of mine, although not my absolute favorite. Crowning Moment of Awesome: Takamura versus Brian Hawk. Basically, Hawk is a black American stereotype, arrogant, natural talent who never had to work hard in his life for anything. He thinks Takamura is nothing but Japanese scum, and we the audience grow to loathe him with a huge passion. The fight is pretty legendary, as Hawk is beating the crap out of Takamura for the most part until… Hawk talks crap about the trainer. See, here’s the problem. Takamura is a proud man, but pride can only get you so far. But loyalty, respect, love… well, Hawk unleashed a whole other side of Takamura that we had never been privy to. Suddenly his natural talent as a boxer just wasn’t enough, Takamura rained down upon him with such sincere hatred and blood lust that Hawk was beaten to a bloody pulp in very quick and amazing fashion. Gone was Takamura’s fluffy perfected hair, gone was the arrogant smirk and easy going attitude. Hawk had unleashed a beast that we hadn’t seen before. Pissed off and completely serious Takamura. Hawk got jacked the **** up. Period.

Denny Crane – Boston Legal (TV)


 * Boston Legal Spoilers*

Denny Crane, name on the door. Not Guilty. Coocoo for Coco Puffs. Marry Me.

To those who know me, this will be a shock. Not because he is on the list, but because he is not in my top ten. It was a hard decision to be sure, but I just felt that his body of work wasn’t great enough to enshrine him in my top ten, and it broke my heart. Anyone who has ever played Mafia with me knows that I love quoting Denny Crane’s most famed line, that is, him saying his own name. Now of course if I were being true to the character, I’d probably say “Sir Chris”, but I like to name drop Denny Crane, that’s just how I roll. Denny Crane to me is just one of those characters that doesn’t come along very often and by all rights shouldn’t. I could not see myself loving another character like Denny Crane, nor could I see another actor pulling on my heart strings as brilliantly as Shatner did all of these years. What I love most about Denny is his unabashed look on life and his willingness to go to bat for people. Denny is not perfect by any means, and some of his actions over the course of the series have been truly, ahem, OUTRAGEOUS, but it is all a part of the charm. He is very old fashioned in some regards, but very “liberal” when it comes to certain aspects of his life, mostly speaking about the fact that he’d have sex with anything that walks.

Denny may be far past his prime when the show starts, and the so called mad cow may rob him of much of what he is, but Denny Crane is simply amazing, and apologies to Trek fans, by far Shatner’s best acting job of his career. I know for certain that the best part of Denny Crane is his relationship with Alan Shore, their love of each other as best friends is truly touching, if sometimes hectic. Denny Crane kicking ass in the courtroom is a sight to see, and I only wish we got to see more of it.

Denny Crane.

Barney Stinson - How I met your Mother


 * HIMYM Spoilers*

Barney is in a simple word Legen-

...

wait for it.

dary

Barney is not an ordinary comedy relief man nor is he an ordinary co-star on a sitcom. The show itself is pretty good, however I can't recall a single scene where Barney is in it that was not one of the following: Hilarious, awesome, brotastic. You do not screw with Barney when it comes to wanting sheer awesomeness to be dripping off of the body of a comedic god. For those heretics in my audience who have not seen How I met your mother, and mere months ago I too was a non-believer, Barney is one of two very good friends of the main character, Ted Mosby. He is a womanizer and his constant character is picking up chicks and telling us about it. He has a weird past to be sure, including a series of flashbacks that lead us to discover how he transformed from what was by all rights a life of a hippy into the trendy business suit big company exec he is today. If you couldn't tell by my first sentence, one of his catch phrases is to say legendary as if it was two different words, he pulls it off well. It is hard to describe what makes Barney so great, but I think it is his hilarious nature that sums it up well. The dude can make a scene funny even when his own character is being very serious, and he is the highlight of an amazing show. I even got my hands on an audio copy of the bro code written by this character, some of the best hours of my life went into listening to that and I hold absolutely no regrets. If you ever need the perfect wing man, look up Barney sometime, he'll get you laid faster than a cheetah devours an elk.

Arthas - Warcraft


 * Warcraft Spoilers*

You know, there are some characters that just suck. Those characters that if they suddenly just jumped off a cliff for some random cause you might just applaud the act and bump up the game a little bit just because they were now gone. This was Arthas when he was still human, still the crowned prince of his kingdom, basically a self-righteous jerk who would have never made it remotely close to this list. The problem that plagued him, like most of the humans of Warcraft lore, was his sense of entitlement and his arrogance. However one death blow to his best friend, and a remix to the undead side, and suddenly you have one of the most badass characters in all of fiction. See, if you take the basic drive, loyalty, pride, and overpowering need to win and add in a dash of evil and complete madness, what you are eventually are going to get is an awesome anti-hero who later turns into an awesome villain. In the Warcraft 3 Undead campaign you controlled Arthas and you did it with style. He wrecked the night elves, the Orcs, the humans, the high elves, hell, if you were a race, he destroyed you and took from you what he needed. Warcraft 3 was more about Arthas kicking everyone's combined ass moreso than 24 is about Jack Bauer kicking everyone's combined ass. That is a lot of ass to have kicked, let me tell you. I liked how in the Frozen Throne, TFT for short, how much of a "good' evil guy he really was. Making his way through northend he displayed traits of courage and loyalty that you would not expect from an evil bastard. I think one of the things that Blizzard has always done an excellent job of is making their villains evil, not stupid. A lot of games have villains who at the end of the day are cowards, Arthas really avoids this by being as brutal and confrontational as the best of heroes. Also he has a cool sword.

Le gasp, new write up!

Temperance "Bones" Brennan


 * Bones Spoilers*

Most fictional female characters who I find awesome also have the added benefit of being hot as all hell. With Bones, I don't really have that attachment. Can I see why people would think she is hot? Yes, but not my type at all. I say that small blurb just because of how awesome Bones does without my attraction. I believe Bones is one of the most charming people on Television right now, her weird yet very intelligent view on society, relationships, and people is such a weird new perspective that no one else offers, and makes her incredibly interesting to watch. She will offend like everyone in the room and Booth has to apologize like four different times. After he is done she'll look right at him and be totally confused about what the problem was. "Well he ISN'T an alpha male. Just because he has big muscles doesn't mean he has ANY of the attributes required to reach that status in his community." That is seriously how she talks. It is awesome, as well as very mean. In a good way.

Her relationship with Booth, as I might have said in the Booth write up, is the best male/female relationship on TV right now. There is such an essential trust there that can't simply be purely on screen. They have to hang out a little bit and be good friends away from the set or else they are the best damn actors I've seen in a long time. It comes very naturally their bond on screen, so very smooth and effortlessly believable. I never could get into the whole CSI thing, although millions love it. I view this as almost like a CSI ripoff except with far better characterization and with far better actors playing in far more interesting scenarios. It has the whole crime scene thing going on, except it focuses on the body itself all the time and things found near the body and quite honestly is just works out in such a splendid manner, all because of Brennan's great portrayal. A lot of characters can have ups and downs but I don't think she has had a single bad series in the entire history of the damn show, totally impressive and it makes the series one of my favorites by far. Also her dad is hilarious and added a very good dynamic for her, although I am glad that they didn't overkill that aspect.

Why she made the list: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLMJtmFfxf8 they are so goofy.

Dean Winchester - Supernatural


 * Supernatural Spoilers*

This is a very new addition to the list. I have to admit this was a hard decision to include him, however I recently, and by recently I mean two months ago, watched every season of Supernatural just in time for the latest season finale. I've got to be honest, I don't really have a lot to say about good ole Dean at the moment, which is part of the reason that I am doing this write up, to get it out of the way. Dean has been through a lot in the series, from losing his mother as a child to having to live with the fact that his father died just so that he could live. Oh, and then he sacrificed his soul to hell so his brother to live only so that an Angel (who are a bunch of jerks themselves for the most part) could raise him out of hell to do their bidding. Supernatural jumped the shark in many ways, and most of them having to do with Dean. I guess, above everything else, Dean made this list because he is a smartass son of a ***** who really takes no one's crap. Not always a good thing, he can get himself into a real big amount of trouble, but when Earth is about to get turned into hell itself there aren't very many people who'd I would want to have Earth's back more than Dean Winchester. Also given how big of a ***** his brother turned out to be, single handedly giving Lucifer his rise back to power because he put all of his trust into a hot demon chick, I had to give this spot to Dean over Sam. Sam had a lot of great moments, but he was just a little ***** at the end of the day, while Dean, despite a lot of his problems, and boy does he have a lot of them, overcomes time after time after time, and tells everyone to go to hell despite the clear costs that he has had to suffer. If you haven't seen Supernatural, I'd suggest it highly, as it is great, even if it has had to become the Dean Winchester show to remain awesome the past couple of seasons.

Kurama - Yu Yu Hakusho


 * YYH Spoilers*

Kurama pretty much went from awesome, to more awesome, to more awesome, to "oh hey I have to include this guy in my top characters list, don't I?" Yeah, basically Kurama was one of my original badasses in my anime watching career, mostly because YYH actually aired on cartoon network back in the day. Kurama is so cool mostly due to the fact that in contrast to the other characters, one whom does in fact make a later appearance in this list, Kurama was insanely level headed and tended to always be above the fray when dealing with their opponents. I guess the first hint that we got that Kurama was something more than just an innocent seeming guy (for a demon anyway) was the fact that Hiei, who could be best described half the time as "wrecklessly proud" as far as I am concerned, teamed up with him just so that he wouldn't have to face him. Kurama, like so many of my characters on this list, needed a crowning moment of awesome to make this list. I mean, you can't have an amazing character unless you have that one moment where you just say to yourself "Holy crap that was amazing." I've discussed that moment before, and Kurama has one of the best ones. Kurama's demon nature is tempered heavily by his human side, I wouldn't say Kurama is "kind" but he is gentle by nature if people are good to him, he prefers not to get cut throat unless clearly pressed to do so. So, what Kurama did to elder Togoro was awesome in every possibly meaning of the word. Basically, for those uninformed, Elder Togoro was a very evil demon who had made it so that he could not die. He had infested the mind of a weak human and sought to battle a member of Yusuke's team, but Kurama stepped up the plate and cleaved the dude's head off within a second, knowing thta he was there instantly. Togoro laughs evilly and all of that, and says he'll never be beaten. However, in probably the best moment in the entire series, Kurama manages to ensnare his mind and body in a plant that is fueled on his rage. Normally, this would continue until the person died, but since he can't die, he is tormented forever by his own wicked mind. I cannot say how amazingly cool and awesome this was, so watch YYH or watch it again to see Kurama completely out-ruthless one of the most evil people in the entire series without a single moment's hesitation.

Spike Spiegel - Cowboy Bebop


 * COWBOY BEBOP SPOILERS*

Spike Spiegal is not the character you might think he is if you just casually watched an episode or two of Cowboy Bebop. Spike manages to convey a weight and heaviness to his life that would crush most other anime leads to dust quite easily. Spike is without a doubt one of the most badass and awesome characters you are ever going to find in the genre,and if you ever hear someone say they didn't like him because he was "cliche" or "not fleshed out" or because he was "animated", permission to slap them in the face is hereby granted.

Spike doesn't exactly start out as anything much, I mean, you really wouldn't think a lot about him except he has cool one liners, has a godly voice actor, and in general is an ass kicking machine. However the more you get to know Spike, the brief glimpses you get of his past, and then the final two episodes which deliver a climatic finish to an anime the likes which have not been repeated since, you know why they had to be brief: To keep the dream from the viewer. It is perhaps one of the greatest misdirects in anime history how they introduce us to Spike as a random badass who is just so chill, and letting us believe that all is well. However, life is not well, because for Spike he can afford to be so relaxed and calm because he just doesn't give a ****. He has made his peace, the love of his life isn't in the picture, what's to care about?

However, Episode 26, the final episode, is just... amazing. The death of Julia, the meal with Jet and telling him how everything has gone down, Faye crying her heart out asking him why he would throw his life away, and Spike just talking calmly the whole time. Spike is a funny guy, but he can turn on the mind numbingly powerful and thought provoking seriousness when he has to, and he can do it wonderfully. The end to Cowboy Bebop would be tragic if you didn't understand Spike, but it was really the only way. Spike was funny, amazing, and never failed to live up to his billing as the show's resident badass mother ****er. Spike is awesome, Bebop is awesome, and if you haven't seen it by now you fail miserably.

Tony Dinozzo – NCIS


 * NCIS Spoilers*

So Tony Dinozzo is incredibly awesome, funny, well acted, and very rarely has had a bad episode in the six seasons NCIS has been on the air because of his mixture of comedic value and ability to be very good in dramatic spots and yet he is not even close, not even a country mile, within being the best character on his show. Good God that must suck. He is the ideal “Supporting Character” in my eyes. Massive, massive awesomeness and yet not so great that it is more awesome than the main character. Because if the main character isn’t the most likable or the most compelling thing about a form of entertainment, than the overall entertainment is suffering for them not being the main person we follow around. That’s my crazy logic anyway, and why so many main characters are in my top fifty! Anyway Tony is here for multiple reason, so I’ll get started. For starters his “playboy” image when it comes to checking out hot chicks is pretty hilarious and whoever the token female on the show is, they never fail to mock him for it, and I haven’t been able to figure out in six years who gets the better of that exchange: him or them. The way he talks down to Mcgee, the junior agent who starts in season 2, is pretty hilarious.

However Tony Dinozzo also has a more dramatic, very serious, awesome side. His romantic relationship in season five was very touching and we caught a side of Tony that we hadn’t had the chance to see before. He is loyal, brave, and a very good guy underneath all of the blow hard attitude that he tries so hard to convey to people, and often fooling once they get to know him. I have often viewed him as the show’s successor to Gibbs that is never coming because Gibbs is too awesome to go away before the series ends, and the show recognizes that by putting him in the leadership role whenever Gibbs needs to take an episode break to deal with all sorts of nasty business. NCIS is an amazing show, not the last you are going to be hearing about it from me, and Dinozzo makes an excellent # 2.

Kenshin Himura


 * SPOILERS*

Not as high on this list as a few of the anime characters already mentioned, but saved for a little later because I find it hard for me to really give a concise write up for him. If Spike is a badass ass kicking machine then Kenshin is clearly a wussy ass kicking machine, at heart. Kenshin does not really enjoy fighting all that much, which is weird in a way. He, more than most, has a really odd dual personality going on for the longest time until Kyoto settles all of that quite nicely for the most part. I have taken the time to go back and read some of Kenshin’s more memorable moments of the Manga as well as re-read the final arc and I have to say Kenshin is very commanding in the way he goes about his business. He is a great swordsman and other great swordsman can tell he is simply because that is who he is. It really speaks to how great he is (second in the series only to his master, if that at times!) that he is able to defeat the strongest swordsmen of the era while never inflicting a lethal blow, only with his reverse blade sword. Ultimately Kenshin is a story about true redemption in every meaning of the word, and Kenshin devoting his life to his friends and eventually his ‘family’ and never breaking his vow to never kill again. Kenshin is, without a doubt, a deeply moving series and a very powerful one. There is something so innocent about Kenshin Himura, his soft spoken nature, his open friendliness… and then when you piss him off, those eyes of his. Those hard, killer eyes. Some of the best eye work ever done in anime imo is when Kenshin gets pissed off, it really just adds to his character splendidly. Also with Kenshin I have a phrase of “You don’t piss off Kenshin.” It is one of those rules of main character hax. Piss off the character, you get wasted, as simple as that. As a person who loves sword fighting and comedy, Kenshin is truly a one of a kind character, even if he isn’t my favorite.

Jack Bauer


 * 24 Spoilers*

Jack is actually kind of low on this list for this stage of the game, because he really doesn't fit into the character model of my typical "oh hey this is an awesome character who I would actually like." The thing is, I sincerely don't know how anyone could dislike Jack Bauer. You see Jack Bauer is the only thing that keeps 24 going. I mean sure, some of the other characters are cool and all, but at the end of the day no one gives a rat's ass about them. If Bauer is not your # 1 character from the show, good christ, you are doing it wrong. Never before or since has there been such a perfect and tragic storm of one man wrecking crew awesomeness like Jack Bauer. The man fears no one, will do anything for family and country, and has way too many instances of heroic badassness to even begin to try to mention them all here. The end of season one was amazingly epic sad, and then the first episode of season 2 he cuts off a guy's head. Seriously, this is just what jack does. I think my favorite thing about Jack is he will do what is needed in the moment almost no matter what. He might puke over it, he may hate himself for it, but the man will always, no matter what the terrible sacrifice, get the job done. As I said, Jack isn’t a character who really fits into what I like from characters, but he had to make the list when I was making it. There was just no way to exclude him.

Tidus – Final Fantasy X
 * FINAL FANTASY X SPOILERS*

Probably going to raise a few eyebrows from the people who either know me or have been following this list. Tidus is one of those characters that made this list that I don’t believe people would expect in the slightest. He isn’t inherently badass like his mentor Auron, and he is not particularly witty or clever like a lot of characters who you have seen so far. He makes the list because I like him a while lot, and it is quite hard for me to quantify why. I just enjoyed having Tidus around as the game progressed further and further. For the first time in a game it felt like someone with a personality similar to my own reacted in ways I would react. We are so used to it in Fantasy RPGs where magic is magic and guarding the random female character is met with nods, but here this guy is just plowing right along confused as all hell and asking a bunch of questions no one can really answer. That’s pretty damn awesome as far as I am concerned. I think an underrated aspect of his character is his ability to deal with adversity so damn well. Tidus, from my brief recollection, probably has to go through the most pure crap of any Final Fantasy hero and he still manages to end the game being incredibly awesome and well adjusted. I mean, dude, you aren’t real, it is time to totally freak out. Tidus is all like “Nah, that’s cool, job well done.” Also yes, FFX-2 did not happen. None of it. Even on this list Tidus can’t get much of a break. One of my top fifty fictional characters of all time and he isn’t even my favorite Final Fantasy character, kind of harsh if you think about it. Tidus wasn’t always perfect, and not everything he did was graceful or even likable, and that is a lot of the reason he made the list. It was his story, and it was a damn good one to view.

Maximus – Gladiator


 * Gladiator Spoilers*

Gladiator is one of my favorite movies of all time, and Russel Crowe’s portrayal of Maximus is a large part of that. I do not think there is a greater movie hero than Maximus. I know there isn’t much discussion in my topics, even when they were active there never has been, but I would like someone else to state their case for someone. Heroic, loyal, brave, fierce, a powerful performance all around and it is without a doubt Crowe’s best work. Such a tragic tale all the way through. From the death of his family to his own death, yet we aren’t supposed to be all that sad about it a reunion for all of time. Maximus is by far and away my favorite movie character of all time; I do not watch a lot of movies and I do not usually get too attached to the characters who reside in them, preferring more time to get to know a character than a two to three hour film can allow, but Maximus is a huge exception. Never before had I seen such a mixture of courage, heroism, and loyalty than before I had seen Gladiator. There is something truly and remarkably special about this man and this performance. His loyalty to his emperor and friend, his willingness to sacrifice everything so that his country may be free of a tyrant and the will of the betrayed emperor may be restored, his toughness, it is truly an inspiring story that needed not a picture perfect happy ending to still be picture perfect. I look at Maximus and see the gold standard for which all great heroes should at one time or another be measured. He doesn’t quite fit into the archetype of what my favorite characters are, but he doesn’t need to be. Maximus is “the man” and will remain so long after his pseudo-tragic death. Rest easy, great warrior.

Sagara Sousuke - Full Metal Panic

SPOILERS

Sousuke is the man. He goes beyond the man. He is the mother ****ing man. Every great series with conflict needs that one guy. You know who I mean. When that guy shows up, every other main character turns to him, or in some cases her, and goes "Oh OK, we win." Harry Potter has Dumbledore for this, and Full Metal Panic has Sousuke. This is the guy who I would want to have my back if crap was getting real bad real fast. The dude is literally a machine of death and destruction when he gets going. Now granted he did have a bit of an emo phase in the latest series, but hey, even killing machines need lovin' too. Sousuke is great because he is always so absolutely serious and it makes for great battles, and if that was his only side to him, he would not even have graced my top 250. See, the best thing about him is that the creators of Full Metal Panic realized something - He is hilarious. Stick a person who was raised solely in a military environment into a high school setting and forget to tell him what is "normal" and all sorts of hilarity will ensue in very short order. From him beating the crap out of people, to trying to disarm dangerous "poisoned" letters by attaching C4 to them, this guy does it all. I have never cracked up more at an anime than I did at Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu!?. It is, without a doubt, pure comedic gold that anyone who can even stand to watch anime should check out, if you don't like it I am just afraid you don't have a soul. Sousuke is always good times, and his military style of taking everything too serious has left me teary eyed with laughter more times than I can count.

Patrick Jane - The Mentalist

SPOILERS

Patrick Jane is no one's fool, and is probably the best character on a running television show. OK, maybe not quite that high, but he does not take anyone's crap and he was good enough to make this list before any of season two. Basically what you need to know about Jane is he is a brilliant man who is hunting for the son of a ***** that killed his wife and daughter. Jane used to be a psychic and he chose to mock a serial killer, Red John, and the man was not pleased with this at all. So he left him a note that said "If you really are psychic than you already know what I did to your wife and daughter." Well, yeah. So Jane now works for the CBI (think FBI, but california only) and hunts down murderers and the like. I think I was hooked on Jane's character when the first scene we saw him in, he caught a husband who sexually abused and killed his own daughter and then walked out of the scene without technically saying it to the noise of the wife shooting her scumbag husband. Jane is not a man to be trifled with and he is not an overly moral man who let's the law stop what he thinks is just. A leader of a biker gang got away with killing a woman's brother, so he set him up personally to be the fall guy by hinting all throughout the episode that there was a leak inside the gang and then handing him an envelope of cash and walking away. I think one of the best scenes involving Jane can't be properly described in words, so let me see if youtube has a video of it.

Ok, it does, but more on Jane before that. Jane has such a great demeanor. In fact, screw the character, the ACTOR has such a great demeanor about him. The man could play any part in the world, he is just so brilliant at what he does. Every nuance of this acting performance is a rigid, highly intelligent, but very emotionally distant man who is very kind in a way but brutally ruthless in another. He will cut people down swiftly and he will speak so directly that it is scary. This man could play a Sherlock Holmes for me any day, and I can find no higher praise. With time, I have a feeling Jane, if given the chance, is going to grow into one of my all time favorites. His charm, his wit, and his brutal style of mangling opponents is... truly amazing.

Anyway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHhIqaV80RQ That describes Jane well.

Yusuke - Yu Yu Hakusho

SPOILERS

Man, Yusuke is just awesome. It is hard to quantify why exactly I love him so much, but I think I'll go with he has a patent on "not taking anyone's crap regardless of how powerful or how disadvantaged he may be." This guy puts his life on the line at every available chance for the people he cares about. There are few characters in fiction that I'd want to have my back in a fight to the death over Yusuke, comparable power aside. Loyal to a fault, takes crap from absolutely 0% of the population, and was doing will power power ups before they went passe. If Kurama is the cold, calculating, and smart badass then Yusuke is without a doubt the hot headed and loud mouth badass perfected. There is something amazingly wonderful about his recklessness that really gets to you in a positive way. He will never back down, and he damn sure won't take crap from people who would look down on him. Yusuke isn't perfect, for certain, but he always managed to add to everything by being what I love about main characters: Extremely loyal, and extremely ready to kick some douchebag's face in. I am not one to ever deny that douchebags deserve their faces kicked in, and Yusuke was always ready to deliver some kickings. Yusuke may just be the most hot headed person on this list, and that's OK, because even dangerous and reckless hot heads have a special place in my heart when they do it as well as Yusuke has managed to do it over the years.

Adrian Monk

Spoilers

Some son of a ***** killed his wife and it is the one murder he has yet to solve. I want that to be the opening sentence so you get how amazing Monk is. Here is a man who deals with so many phobias - so many phobias that his murdered wife, Trudy, helped him keep at bay with her love, while still having one of the keenest minds in the world. Adrian Monk is a deeply flawed man but also, unlike Jane, a very nice man, a champion who you can root for. I love Patrick Jane, but to say he is a good guy would be bordering on lying at times. You can't say that about Monk, he is nice, loyal, hard working, and usually on the up and up. He is also very, very clever. In fact I will say I'd put him a little bit above Jane on the intelligence scale if I had to think about it. Jane is so deadly at reading people, but Monk is just as deadly reading just about anything and everything. The fact that Monk is coming to a close soon makes me quite sad, eight seasons is enough memories, don’t get me wrong, but Monk has been exceptionally well acted and I have enjoyed every season since the first, even owning most of the DVDs, something that I rarely do legally. It has always been so absolutely easy to root for Monk just because he is such a good, kind man, despite all of his flaws. He is so normal seeming, so humble in a way. He isn’t stylish, or adventurous, he isn’t reckless like Jane can be or a charming man like some other characters. He is just a first class detective who, given enough time, can solve any crime. There is only one remaining, and it seems even that is going to be taken care of sooner rather than later. A tip of the hat to the second best fictional detective, bravo Mr. Monk.

Harry Potter

Spoilers

Harry Potter carried his series, and I won't have anyone else tell me differently. Dumbledore was amazing and provided the beyond real ass kickings that the awesome mentor is obligated to do, but Harry Potter was such a well done character that when I put down the last book I openly wept and said "yeah, that's enough Mr. Potter, have your life now." I was so furious that people had the gall to say it was a bad sign for the end of the series that Harry lived. Screw that, to the max. Harry Potter's triumph over Voldemort was one of the best moments in fiction in the past twenty five years. It doesn't matter that the duel didn't last for forty pages, it wasn't what it was about, it was never about any of that. Skill wasn't the point. It was about a young boy going into a world he knew nothing about and always being brave and willing to take every chance to win. Harry Potter was one of a very, very small portion of the magical community that just plain didn't fear Voldemort in any meaningful way. When you can stand up to one of the most powerful dark lords of all time and remain defiant, the battle is pretty much already won.

Harry had so many great quotes and moments over the years, I think one of them that sticks out to me personally was in Book 6 when the new minister of magic accuses Harry Potter of being blinded by his like of Dumbledore, going so far as to accuse him of being "Dumbledore's man." Harry plainly states to this ex-auror, this man who exudes power and confidence, that he is dumbledore's man, through and through. That was the scene where I put the book down and I went "Harry Potter is now a man, this book just got about three times more awesome." Then, after christmas break, Harry tells the scene to Dumbledore who says that was very rude of the man, and then Harry says 'I told him he was right." Dumbledore crying in pride was just so touching and awesome and that's why Harry Potter is amazing. He has had so many badass moments, too many to recount, but the boy is just so loyal and so good at heart. How anyone could ever find it in their hearts to root against such an amazing young man in his journey through hogwarts and in the final book is just something I cannot fathom. Harry Potter is simply a brilliant character and is justly one of the most famous fictional characters of all time now thanks to the success of his book series. Rest easy now, Mr. Potter, your ordeal is done.

Ramza Beoulve – Final Fantasy Tactics


 * SPOILERS*

Man, Ramza is such a great heroic figure, he deserves to be in those fate games, except since history doesn’t remember him as a hero that may not work out, but I still think he could be a heroic spirit just because he is awesome like that. Ramza is one of the best video game characters in the history of games, perhaps even the very best, because of the qualities he represents not only through pretty speeches butt through actions and hardship. Ramza, when the journey first starts, is a bit of a scrub. He is a nice kid and all but in reality he has no idea of what is going on in the land around him, the plots, the treachery, and the betrayals even within his own family. His goal is a simple one: To uphold his family name, a name that his father did proud. However long story short he found out his brothers were a bunch of scrubs so he said screw that, and it is time to stop all injustice.

… That is not exactly an easy task given that every single faction turned out to be against him. When people benefit from the corruption and suffering of others, they hardly want you to put a stop to it. The Church, rival families, enemy factions, even royalty all tried to stop Ramza. In the end, they all failed to accomplish this. Ramza was a hard headed son of a ***** and that is why I loved him. He never let the harsh times beat him down and make him compromise his ideals, and when you are able to kick ass while still keeping your pride, that is awesome. I think Ramza has a lot of awesome quotes, some about pride, some about justice, and he was not afraid to kill If he believed it was the right thing to do, if someone could not be reasoned with. Oh, and was there ever a lot of killing. His brothers perished for opposing him, one a fool, the other a monster. FFT was such an amazing game, and I believe most of my love of it is founded in Ramza’s amazing main character appeal. He did not take crap from anyone, he got the job done, and then he was able to rest peacefully, knowing he did a job well done. Ramza was such a departure from final fantasy leads of the time, an actual character, a noble one at that, inside a video game. Ramza is the man.

Dexter Morgan  –  Dexter


 * SPOILERS*

Darkly dreaming Dexter. There is a certain human appeal to Dexter that shouldn’t really be there. He doesn’t have these emotions, he only feigns them for the benefit of others, or so he tries to tell himself sometimes, it isn’t always the case. Mess with his sister and there is more of an even chance that you are going to be killed in a very bloody manner. I guess that is something that drew me to this series and to this character, Dexter is an evil man but in a way that makes you root for him. I am not fond of the classical evil characters, I find their senselessness to be annoying and tripe. But Dexter is different, not only is his evil made out to be more of a primal need, the narration style lends itself well to the type of story that goes on in Dexter. The thoughts of a serial killer who hunts down and kills other murderers is intriguing and is a driving force behind the series. Hearing him think that to himself that “someone’s time has come, oh yes, you’ll know how it feels to die yourself very soon.” Is both chilling and amazingly well done, and a total credit to the acting job.

Dexter is a character that sadly does not lend himself much to god moding, but I guess his general attitude is good enough that it doesn’t matter. He plans well, his wit and intellect are a credit to the guild of serial killers, but one thing that hinders Dexter is he doesn’t have any of those crowning moments of awesome that so many of my favorite characters, do, and that is perfectly OK. Because when he has his prey, helpless, their eyes wide and terrified I get the character. Imagine if you had the freedom to do this. TO hunt down terrible people that the law could not catch and to bring them to justice, to see their terror in their eyes, the same terror their victims felt, it is certainly a rush thinking about it. No mistaking it, Dexter is not a good guy, but he doesn’t need to be to be a compelling and a fantastic character. His past, and the way he has woven his web of lies is amazing. The show has been fantastic, and I hear the books are amazing as well, I need to look into those. Dexter is awesome, you should watch it if you have not yet.

Captain Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds – Firefly


 * SPOILERS*

Nathan Fillion is the god damned man, and so is just about every character he has ever played. Mal is such an amazingly awesome god moder that it shouldn’t be called god moding when it comes to him, because he doesn’t exit it often. The thing about Mal that is so amazing is he is the wittiest son of a **** in a crew full of wit! I had meant to go back and watch Firefly again to grab some quotes from him, but I haven’t gotten a chance to do it. Mal is an extremely loyal guy too, a trait I will always respect and admire. I guess the thing that puts him so high on this list is the fact that he takes life, and its hardships, with both an amazing sense of humor as well as a stark realization that it can be cut short because he has lost way too many friends and people he considers family to it. He gets life, and he gets why it is hard but he also has never let it beat him down. You aren’t going to beat down this man no matter what. You can do a lot of things to this man, you can torture this man, but you are not going to take away who he is.

And that’s just bloody awesome.

Actually I think I am just going to stop there, that pretty much explains it

And if this doesn’t make you laugh, you have no soul: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPRlHwwVIug ON TO THE TOP 12.

'''# 12: The Tenth Doctor (Doctor Who) Played by: David Tennant'''


 * SPOILERS BELOW FOR THE DOCTOR WHO SERIES*

You know a top twelve is going to be insanely amazing when I start off with a fictional character who I could grow old watching over and over. In a way, this almost feels like an injustice. The Doctor is such an amazingly awesome character and has made me laugh and “whoop” in fanboyish delight so much that I am saddened that he had to go below the other eleven, yet it must be done, if barely. The Doctor is on this list, and is numbered, for one single reason: He is the bloody freaking DOCTOR. I said in an earlier write up, regardless of power, if there was one person who I would like to have at my back there would be few characters who I’d like to have my back more than Yusuke. Yeah, The Doctor would be a resounding # 1 on that list. The Doctor is not only brilliant, but madly clever and can get out of just about any situation through his intellect and wit. Also although he is able to move passed it, when the Doctor gets angry or serious it is one of the most amazing transformations in all of fiction. The Doctor is usually a goofy, joking around type of guy who loves the universe and just about every creature in it. He loves to see new and exciting things, and he has a great love of the human race. Make him angry, and you get the man who in a former life is fabled to have single handedly ended the biggest war to ever grace time and space, the last time war. He was just about the only one left standing when it was all said and done. Funny Doctor is pretty hilarious, he just trolls just about every villain in the history of the forever by just being him.

I mean, this is just hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsGzSz0KyNI and more or less in character, despite it not being. Now, this is angry Doctor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAmEHsMu1L8

I think the guy’s narrating when The Doctor reveals that he was just messing around with them and totally trolling them by distracting them while he blew up their ship, and he is now going to punish them sums it up nicely.

“He never raised his voice, that was the worse thing. The Fury of Time Lord. Then we discovered why. Why this doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away and hidden. He was being Kind.”

YOU DO NOT MESS WITH THE MOTHER ****ING DOCTOR. Ever. If there is one rule in the forever of any forever that you should follow for the rest of your fiction watching existence it is this: You not mess with the doctor. Not ever. He will own you. He will own you so unbelievably hard it isn’t even funny if it happens to your worst enemy. Because you’ll look at your worst enemy with such pity you will weep. That is one of the many reasons The Doctor made this list: You can’t beat him in the end. You will think you can beat him, but all you do is piss him off. And once you have gone and done that, there is no hope for you. I think some of the best Doctor moments, sadly, are when he has lost something dear to him. Tennant really knows how to deliver effective emotions, and it is no surprise he is a brilliant Hamlet. At the end of his second season when he is cradling The Master in his arms and mourning over the death of the only other Time Lord still alive, it is very tragic. Even after all of the great evil that detestable man has done, The Doctor still found it within him to forgive him and want to protect the Master, but on that occasion, it simply was not meant to be.

The Doctor is a brilliant character, and it greatly saddens me that there are only three episodes/specials left until we have to say good bye to David Tennant’s Doctor. It was obvious from the first episode that the man was a childhood fan of the Doctor, no other type of man could give such loving detail and magic to a character but a true fanboy. This Doctor made a fanboy out of me, and was bloody brilliant the whole time. If you have not seen Doctor Who and consider yourself at all to be a fan of science fiction, or just great fiction, you owe it to yourself to watch this character do his work. He is so very well done and amazing to watch, and easily one of the best characters fiction has ever produced, even when he does not raise his voice, even when he is taking no action, because he need not do either to command even the greatest foes or cosmic beings under his sway.

'''# 11: Veronica Mars (Veronica Mars) Actress: Kristen Bell'''


 * SPOILERS BELOW FOR VERONICA MARS*

Man, I remember this show was suggested to me a lot because of my love of the character archetype (detective type people) and so a couple of years ago I have it a try, and it was one of the best ideas I have had in quite some time. As red13n can tell anyone who cares to ask, my obsession with Kristen Bell resulting from my love of Veronica Mars might just outmatch his obsession of foxes and pokemon doing things that would make you sick. I think one of the most important things to understand about Veronica’s character is that she is not just the sum of her parts, but also how brilliantly it was acted and portrayed. Basically the thing that has always made Veronica such an exceptional character is equal parts believability, fallibility, and hilarious hijinks in any given episode that makes her my favorite female character of all time (slight spoilers for this list).

K, enough preamble. Kristen Bell is unmatched when it comes sarcastic wit for a female in the last, like, ten years. She is basically a smartassed ***** in every episode of the series. Like, I don’t exactly know how I could phrase this without showing video evidence. It is just, every line that isn’t needed to be serious she is trolling just about everyone in her life through a mixture of wit and sarcasm. That isn’t the only reason I like her, but it is a big part of why I do. It doesn’t hurt that in the third and final season of the show she single handedly carried the show.

Despite her wit being portrayed insanely well by Kristen Bell, her ability to detective her way into completely destroying people is amazing. She has blackmailed half of the town and it is an utter shame that the show had to end on a loss for her, because it wasn’t meant to be the end of the show. It doesn’t hurt that most of the characters on the show are complete douchebags which really does make it easy to root for Veronica. Her being so intelligent and witty is what makes it so hard to watch when Veronica is hurt emotionally. Because so many shows get it so wrong when it comes to the emotional side of their characters, and they oversell it and it seems too sappy. However almost every time that Veronica just stopped trying to be strong it was really heartbreaking, because she was so awesome and it just broke my heart every time she had that stricken look on her face. Hard to really do a write up for Veronica without delving too much into spoilers and specific examples, which is something I vowed to try to avoid while making this list. Basically Veronica Mars as a character and a show is one of the finest treats you'll ever have in terms of how awesome a single character can carry a cast of dozens. Veronica Mars &gt; your favorite fictional female.


 * 10: Doctor Daniel Jackson (Stargate)

Played by: Michael Shanks


 * Stargate Spoilers*

Daniel Jackson is a very interesting character, for sure. He is the resident “Hey guys I am the expert around here thank you very much” guy to begin the Stargate series. I would note that James Spader also played this character, but given that they decided to retcon the movie from ever existing, I’ll agree with them for the purposes of this write up. I love James Spader, but I feel Michael Shanks’ acting ability is terribly underrated. While Jack was the star power, Daniel was subtle but needed. Subtle until he died and got superpowers, anyway. I think that comes off a bit mocking, but it really shouldn’t be because I actually liked it. Daniel’s big problem in the early part of the Stargate series is he whined and then he didn’t do anything about it in the end. “Damnit Jack” got tired after awhile. So him sacrificing everything he had worked most of his life to obtain to save a planet from Anubis was simply amazing. Anubis was a fantastic villain, and in my eyes the true final villain of the Stargate SG1 franchise. Everything after that was mere phantoms in comparison to the vile and unstoppable nature of Anubis. The reason I take the time to praise Anubis is because it made Daniel so much better. Daniel’s raw defiance of the other ascended in order to put a stop to Anubis’ madness just shot him through my fictional character list like you just would not believe. The entire Anubis arc just totally made Daniel a real impactful character that you couldn’t help cheer for. Daniel’s character certainly involved over the years, from a quiet but passionate scientist to a real leader on the show. While the show did decline in a very noticeable way over the seasons where Daniel was in more of a spotlight role, it was not because of him. I think the thing that is going to stay with me about this character is his passion and how well Michael Shanks portrayed that passion. From his wife to his fight with Anubis to even the terrible Ori arcs, Daniel was a great character that brought a desperate charisma with him at every opportunity, and it always worked so brilliantly.