Ry Senkari's 50 Favorite Fictional Characters



I WOULD do 100, but I'm gonna try to put some good work into these write-ups and such, so 50 is all I've got the will to do.

If there's a character on here that's REALLY REALLY REALLY good but I don't have up here, it's most likely because I haven't seen that thing. So no Dr. House, no Walter White, no Tyler Durden, etc. I need to watch House, Breaking Bad, Fight Club, and a bunch of other stuff, but there's only 24 hours in the day. If you don't like that, join my Operation Timefall to give everyone 100 hours every day so they can do all the stuff they wanna do, because there's a ton of stuff I'd watch, read, play, etc., if I only had the time.

That said, I DID have enough time on my hands to enjoy a ton of fictional media and with literally millions of characters floating through my memory, I managed to rank my top 50.

#50: Nikki Wong

"It's almost like between the two of you, there's only one brain!"

Featured in: 6teen Portrayed by: Stacey DePass


 * SPOILERS FOR the cartoon show 6teen*

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The list starts with a character from a show that's taken a lot of flack on the internet for its animation, potty humor, and other such things, but I really loved this show while it was on and was greatly entertained by its ensemble of fun characters. The standout among the cast was Nikki Wong, a 16-year-old girl with a bad attitude and some serious facial jewelry. On the surface, Nikki seems like the average "cartoon tough girl", but she's got a big heart deep within, showing unwavering loyalty to her friends and a deep, deep love for her boyfriend Jonesy no matter how much he pissed her off (practically once an episode... at least). Of course, there's nothing wrong with Nikki's tough exterior. She was one of the wittiest animated characters in recent memory, always ready with a sharp, hilarious insult delivered in perfect deadpan by voice actress Stacey DePass. It was when Nikki was taken out of her comfort zone, however, that she got REALLY hilarious and that snarky voice of hers became a full-on frantic gasp, speeding up several notches as Nikki struggled to figure out what to do next. She, like the other girls in the series, had quite a few fanservice moments, getting stripped down to her undies in a memorable (and hilarious) scene, and getting dressed up like a typical girly girl when she was briefly brainwashed by Khaki Barn management. Fanservice and humor aside, it was Nikki's heart that endeared me to her, and while it was tough for people to get close to her in the show, she was always kind to those she truly cared about, though she didn't hesitate to let them know when they were screwing up. Her moment of prime vulnerability (and heartwarming emotion) came in the season 2 finale special "Snow Job", where she was struggling to let Jonesy know what she thought of him as he tried to hook back up with her. After a series of angry outbursts, the episode climaxed with a touching scene at the end where we all got to see just how deeply Nikki cared about Jonesy, struggling to keep up her tough front even as her voice audibly broke (again, nice acting from the voice actress here). Nikki's final series of touching moments came in the series finale, when she and her family actually moved away from her friends (they really did it, and that was the end of the show). After trying desperately to stay with them by moving in with her friend Jen, Nikki was given the chance to stay after all when her parents decided not to move. However, Nikki took the unselfish road and decided that she needed to sacrifice for her parents (of course, she did vow to keep up a long-distance relationship with her friends and Jonesy over the computer). Despite being a lazy, snarky underachiever, Nikki showed she had perhaps the biggest heart in the series, showing love and sacrifice and loyalty. That, and being one of the best-looking characters in Flash animation.

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#49: Robert Langdon

"What really matters is what you believe."

''Featured in: Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol Portrayed by: Tom Hanks''


 * SPOILERS for Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lost Symbol*

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The main character of three of Dan Brown's novels and the most famous symbologist this side of Star Ocean, Robert Langdon is Dan Brown's author avatar in the three books in which he appears. A Gary Stu to be sure, but one with interesting layers and hidden depths that I felt made him the perfect protagonist for a trio of compelling novels. He's an awkward Indiana Jones, a socially-stunted James Bond, who can solve coded, cryptic puzzles with his mind but is clearly shown not to have all the answers, sometimes even when it counts. As is par for the course in these types of stories and with these types of characters, attractive women seem to be drawn to him, and it's fun to watch some of the awkward moments play out as the professor is thrust into situation after situation almost totally beyond his control. He rarely solves his problems with physical force, though he is prone to knocking people about the head in a pinch (it's quite funny when he has to resort to such tactics). Some may be surprised that I quite enjoy this Gary Stu (hell, some may be surprised that I enjoy these books which I admit are the equivalent of literary junk food), but he's got more awkward moments than most, he's in abject terror for 90% of the novels, and usually it's not even him who saves the day, such as when he and Katharine Solomon are kidnapped and trapped in The Lost Symbol and it's the FBI (or CIA, I forgot) who have to come to their rescue. Langdon's most heartwarming moments come not when he's romancing women (again, most of THOSE moments are awkward and are instigated by the female in those situations), but when he's experiencing moments of soul-searching clarity. Robert Langdon isn't a religious man, but he isn't QUITE an atheist either (I'd compare his viewpoints politically to someone like Trey Parker), and it's really compelling to see him open up at certain points in the novels and admit that there are things that he can never know about no matter how much research he does. In the Da Vinci Code movie, the last fifteen minutes of which are fantastic in my opinion, he admits to Sophie that when he was trapped in a well as a young boy, that he indeed prayed to Jesus that he would be saved, and that he has no way to know what's human or what's divine, offering up the quote I used for him. Then of course there's that moment at the end of the movie and of the book, where he realizes that Mary Magdalene is buried beneath the Louvre (a scene done beautifully in the movie, set to Hans Zimmer's excellent score) and goes to kneel above her grave. While Robert Langdon may indeed be Dan Brown's mouthpiece/wish fulfillment device, I couldn't help but be endeared to him over the course of three admittedly entertaining novels, and I couldn't think of a better protagonist for those books.

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#48: Sophia Maguire

"We don't have the luxury to grieve."

Featured in: The Event Portrayed by: Laura Innes


 * SPOILERS for The Event*

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The most unlikely of villains, Sophia was unique among villainous characters in ways that made her utterly unpredictable and so much fun to watch. Like many villains, she started out on the side of good... at least as much as you could tell was the side of good in The Event, one of the most "gray vs. gray" types of shows I've ever watched. She always, ALWAYS wanted what was best for her people, a race of alien creatures that had come to Earth during World War II only to be captured and imprisoned at a secret government base. Time and time again, Sophia's goals clashed with those of the government, only for the two to converge once more once Sophia's son Thomas went rogue. There was even a time when Thomas was thinking of killing Sophia, but he couldn't bring himself to do so, and one wonders what kind of mother Sophia must've been. What finally pushed Sophia over the edge, a tragic misunderstanding in which two-thirds of the group of former prisoners were killed by the US government, including Sophia's son Thomas in a horrific and tragic scene, set her full wrath upon the planet, and Sophia went from a caring, kind figure to one capable of nightmarish deeds, including the killing of billions of humans. In this final part of the season was when I REALLY came to like Sophia as a villain, because it juxtaposed her calm, motherly side with her dangerous, hate-filled villainess side. What made her unique among villains was the dear love she showed to her people, even when they repeatedly screwed up. Guard is stupidly tricked and gets tied up by the heroes as they make their escape? No problem, all is forgiven, do better next time! She turned the old "you have failed me" trope completely on its head. She was even willing to forgive those who betrayed her, though after numerous betrayals her capacity to forgive eventually ran out. Even at the end of the series, she had to be begged not to kill the hundreds of people she'd managed to trap inside an airport with the virus, and we could clearly see the pain in her expression as she spared human lives, her hatred toward the human race still very much visible. Masterfully played by Laura Innes (who deserved an Emmy for the performance), Sophia is one of the best TV and sci-fi villains in years and one of the biggest reasons I regret the show's cancellation.

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#47: Bayonetta

"Don't f*** with a witch!"

Featured in: Bayonetta Portrayed by: Hellena Taylor


 * SPOILERS for Bayonetta*

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I was endeared with Bayonetta from the moment I first saw her. Spectacularly hot, wears glasses, packs a ton of ass-kicking moves... actually, girls like that are a dime a dozen in the video game world, but Bayonetta has a ton of unique qualities that make her stand out from the rest. She's INCREDIBLY over-the-top, embracing her sexuality and flaunting it in ways that have rarely been seen in a video game before. She knows she's beautiful and she has a huge amount of pride in her abilities and appearance. Her spells are kickass and awesome, she's deliciously sadomasochistic and delightfully funny. Of course, it's her hidden depths that are even more endearing, and that comes in when young Cereza is introduced. Seeing the sexy, devil-may-care Bayonetta forced to protect this girl is incredibly sweet, and though she's understandably bitter at first, she swiftly endears to the girl and plays the role of the sweet motherly figure quite well. She's a study of contrasts, she can be twisted and vicious toward her enemies but is generally sweet, in her own strange little way. Her flirtations toward Luka are very cute and though it's never clear whether or not she's attracted to him (hell, maybe she's attracted to EVERYONE), it is clear that she has feelings for him on at least the level of friends. It's weird to see such a devilish and sexy character acting as sweetly as Bayonetta does, she's a lot more fun than Dante and her personality was a big part of what made her game so fun to play, it was practically dripping with personality, completely in tune with Bayonetta's personality and mood, the game and the character nearly became one at times. As mentioned earlier, sexy video game babes are incredibly common, but Bayonetta's complex and ultimately uber-fun personality makes her one of my all-time faves.

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#46: Rikku

"Sometimes, when I got a lot on my mind, it just helps to go 'AAAAAAAAAAH!'"

''Featured in: Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 Portrayed by: Tara Strong''


 * SPOILERS for Final Fantasy X and X-2*

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One of the cutest characters in any Final Fantasy game, Rikku is your typical RPG genki girl, but like so many others on this list, she's got quite a bit of hidden depth to her. On the surface, she's fun, adorable, and perky, with a few immature tendencies and a bit of a jumpy nature (especially around lightning). I love almost everything about Rikku, she's super sweet, super nice, and of course super cute. Tara Strong did an outstanding job on her voice, bringing Rikku's cuteness into focus with every squeak and shriek. Of course, she also brought a great performance to Rikku's more serious moments (such as when she's explaining why the Al Bhed have been kidnapping summoners, or why she's scared of lightning). It's made immediately clear that Rikku cares deeply for her friends and family and that she'd do anything to protect them, befriending Tidus like a sister and working together with him to protect Yuna from the inevitability of her death at the end of her journey. It's awesome how Rikku joins the party right after you fight her as a boss, that wetsuit unzipping scene is one of the sexiest cutscenes in video game history (in my opinion). In Final Fantasy X-2, Rikku retains her perkiness, but with a tough edge, punching out a security guard at the start of the game and being very adept in physical dressspheres, Rikku is a girl in the Yuffie type of archetype, though a bit less troublesome than the mischievous ninja. As sexy as the dreadlocked FFX-2 version of Rikku is, I still liked her squeaky, jumpy, somewhat insecure and tons more cute FFX incarnation, the very first version of Rikku I saw and the one I think most of us know and love. We saw her develop quite a bit over the course of the game, and build friendships that carried her and her group through thick and thin. I fell in love with her from pretty much the moment I first saw her in the game, and I've been a huge fan of Rikku ever since.