Take Lelouch/Light, make him much nicer/more sociable, have no random superpower, actually go for girls and lower the scale of what he wants to change exactly and you get Yamato!
But yeah, Yamato is one of my favorite VN (and any) protagonists. Unlike many who are too dumb or dull, Yamato is a genius, and this makes many character interactions and events really great.
In a school where the average female is stronger than the average male, Yamato makes up for not being psyhically strong by always having great entertaining plans for the big events. Every so once in a while he can outsmart a really strong opponent just by thinking up great (and funny) ways to win.
It's hard to pinpoint which plans of his are my favorite, because really he does so many and pretty much all of them are great or at least entertaining.
16.Tadakatsu "Gen-san" Minamoto (Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai)
If we just go by how well-done tsundere traits are done, then Gen-san is objectively easily the best tsundere ever.
Unlike most popular tsunderes who use childish tsundere-isms to hide how sensitive they are, Gen-san acts grumpy to hide how much of a BRO he really is.
But yeah I'm not sure why but whenever Gen-san uses the typical tsundere lines, the way they're delivered is much better than how they're usually delivered by other tsunderes and the lines end up being really hilarious most of the time instead of annoying most of the time.
Sucks that as much as a bro he really is, it hurts him with his secret crush.
What I really liked about Kanji is how Atlus got really gutsy and put made a character somewhat possibly gay and put him in a pretty popular series. The end result is great since Kanji gets a lot of development towards this though it's still somewhat ambiguous if he's gay (if not bi).
Of course Kanji's still great otherwise. He's a bro, he's hilarious, he's badass and he'll renovate your ass.
I actually skipped through most of the planning stuff. Stupid things like that are sadly a "necessary evil" with a lot of VNs. I quote it because it's really not necessary at all but yeah. I have a much higher tolerance for stupid sexual stuff in VNs than I do for other stuff, for better or worse.
I've never really been been able to decide if I like Edgeworth or Phoenix more but they're definitely my two favorite characters in the series and they've got a good dynamic. When Edgeworth is more like a villain in the first game, he's really intimidating. Like when you find out in 1-2, the “Demon Prosecutor” is going to be going against you it's like oh man. Then you find out more about him and he becomes sympathetic while remaining badass. He's especially awesome in 3-5 which is my favorite case in the series. It's also cool that he got his own spinoff games. Wish the second would come out here. :(
27. Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)
I don't really even think of the AJ version as the same character because “what”
Anyway, Phoenix does a good job of being heroic and hopelessly idealistic but also being a huge goofball at the same time. He has a bunch of funny scenes but also a lot of awesome scenes. It always stuck in my mind after the very first case when Mia says Phoenix is the best attorney she's ever seen and then he proves it through the series by just kicking every stupid murderer's ass. It's funny how he can be so awesome in court but pretty much everyone walks all over him the rest of the time. What a hero.
26. Thomas Raith (Dresden Files)
deviantart sighting
Like many characters in the series, Thomas just has a lot of charm. I always like seeing him in scenes to see how he and Harry interact. Also like pretty much every character in the series, he's just so badass. He's one of the darker good guys well, because he's a ****ing vampire. His introduction was cool and I didn't expect him to become as important as he did. His personal struggles are pretty interesting and I'm looking forward to see where his character goes in future books. He also wears leather pants.
Strangely, Kaiji is one of the most inspirational characters I've ever seen. His life is pretty much awful and then it gets even worse as he gets put in all of these life-ruining and sometimes deadly gambling games. What's inspirational about him? How he continues to fight as hard as he can to get back to his awful life where he has basically nothing. He also cries all the time in ridiculous fashion which sounds like it would break the series' tone but it doesn't and is actually amusing most of the time. I just want to see the guy succeed so badly.
24. Molly Carpenter (Dresden Files)
Probably the darkest good character in the series. I really wonder what's going to happen with her in future books. I liked her before but she wouldn't have been this high before I read Ghost Story. It was one of my least favorites in the series but Molly got a lot more interesting in it. She hasn't been around that long relative to most main characters but she's still had a lot of cool parts. Her magic isn't as conducive to being awesome though so it's a bit different. If I had ever seen Star Trek, she would probably be higher because man that one part was ridiculous. Also she uses Japanese words for her incantations enough said
23. Jon Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire)
As a 16 year old when I first read the series, Jon was my favorite character. His adolescent struggles were really easy to relate to. However, he's also probably the most typical fantasy character in the series so my perspective on him has changed a bit. He doesn't really do anything that hasn't been done before but it also feels refreshing when compared to a lot of the characters. His development is about as simple as it could get as he goes from loser to totally awesome dude. I've also literally had a poster of him in my room for forever, gets me so much ass.
Also in case anyone is interested (SuperAngelo128,) here is a list of all the characters on my old list that aren't on this one. Because it's all fictional this time and I just didn't feel like doing writeups for a lot of characters from things I don't think or talk about as much anymore for whom my opinion on hasn't changed
Shizuo Heiwajima Rena Ryuuguu Tatsuhiro Satou Makoto Itou Kyou Fujibayashi Misaki Nakahara Yomi Isayama Kagura Tsuchiyamanda Sakuragi aka Bro Kyoya Ida Ippo Makunouchi Kei Kurono Claire Stanfield Revy Isaac Dian Miria Harvent Kenji Harima Miki Yamanobe Lancer Kenji Endo Mamoru Takamura Saber Chihiro Shindou Otcho Monkey D. Luffy Hitagi Senjougahara Rider Roy Mustang Rin Tohsaka Sawako Kuronuma Hajime Saitou Holo Rin Kaga Daikichi Kawachi Ed Elric Seiichiro Kitano Archer Rei Kashino Kira Aso
I read Mars two and a half years ago! For some reason, manga ends up being less memorable to me than any other medium. When I think about Mars, I don't even feel positive feelings anymore. When I get around to reading it again, I'm sure I will fall in love with it again.
One of the best cases of character development in fiction that I've seen so far.
He starts off as a misguided rival/villain, but with the help of Phoenix and Maya he's able to get back to the side of JUSTICE. Although he was good in all the first game cases, 2-4 is when he became SUPER AWESOME.
His return is one of the best moments in the series, and helped make 2-4 as great as it was.
Funnily enough, even though Ace Attorney Investigations is my least favorite in the series (mostly due to the overall case quality not being as good and the lack of believability of Edgeworth cornering people outside court), playing as Edgeworth is much more enjoyable than Phoenix/Apollo (and playing as them was already good).
His general personality of being really nice and being a fanboy of Steel Samurai hidden under his more serious personality is good stuff too.
The Office is one of the few American shows I've watched quite a bit of. While a lot of it is hit or miss one of the most consistent funny characters in the show (up to where i watched, which is around season 4/5) is Andy.
Throughout the show Andy is probably one of the 'weirder' and kinda dumber characters in the whole Office who has an obssesion with singing.
I loved him a lot when he was a douchebag that needed Anger Management, since his reactions to being trolled (and sometimes not) are really hilarious. His attempts to suck up to Michael and hit on girls was great.
Even when he went through Anger Managment and become 10x nicer he was still quite funny, continuning having lots of silly moments and random singing.
I hear in the latest season he isn't nearly as good but we'll see when I catch up.
A bit 'simpler' than most of the characters on my list but Sonic's still great to me regardless.
Just about every version of Sonic (games, older cartoons, Sonic X, comics) is a likable, heroic, kinda snarky guy who defeats his enemies through rolling and super speed.
Although his personality isn't too original I'd say all his traits are done quite well without having him be too obnoxious, dumb, or boring that some characters that have similar personalities to him end up becoming.
And most importantly he is usually fun as hell to play as.
When I watched Clannad a few years ago I thought Sunohara's humor was hit or miss, either it was kinda funny or kinda dumb. However a few months ago or so, I read the Clannad visual novel and I found Sunohara 10x funnier and much more consistent.
I'm usually not a fan of a certain characters always end up being the butt of (violent) jokes but somehow Sunohara makes this type of character really hilarious and awesome.
Sunohara is ridiculously dumb and just does a lot of stupid things which is part of what makes him super endearing. However, whenever Tomoya pranks him or someone makes fun of him or hits him the over-the-top reactions he makes to them are sooo great. His face along with how well Daisuke Sakaguchi pulls off those really high-pitched squeals make these jokes/hitting so worth it.
To top it all off, Sunohara actually is a bro he just rarely gets the time to prove it..
Sachi starts off energetic and kinda funny but once we get to chapter 2 and find out why she really needed the obligation is where her character starts to get really good.
Never before have I seen negative development of a character work really well. Although her development and attitude gets quite frustrating, it's admittedly a little relatable, which is part of why I like it alot.
However by the end she gets A LOT of positive development, so it really makes all that negative development work really well.
There a very few pervert characters (male or female) that I care for let alone love but that all changed when I came to really like TWO of them in this VN (the other being Ikuro who barely got cut from the list).
Miyako has a ridiculous obsession with Yamato and she shows a lot of hilarious ways to show her affection for him whether making random sexual comments (like the one pictured above), making playful (and suprisingly not-annoying) jealous comments when he shows interest in another girl or vice versa, or her various ways of waking him up in the morning.
While that is the main I really like about her, she has a bunch of other good traits. Although, she's usually quiet her loyalty to her friends is quite admirable (to the point where she doesn't even talk to other people sometimes), and finding out how she got acquianted with Yamato and the other members was brief yet touching.
Making fun of other people and attempting to corrupt the more innocent characters like Chris is pretty funny.
I honestly want to put her higher, but unlike the other 4 main heroines her route hasn't got translated yet (and seems like it will be quite a while) so she hasn't really had much of a chance for character development. However I hear her development is quite good, so I'm excited for that.
Hidamari Sketch is one of those light-hearted feel-good slice of life shows and Yuno's personality really helps to accentuate that feeling.
Although she's shy and somewhat lacks confidence she does her best at looking at life in a pretty positive way.
While it may not sound amazing, Yuno's generally happy attitude along with a bit of character development to becoming more confident helped me really enjoy Hidamari Sketch as much as I do.
Although Aika's tsundere traits aren't her main selling point like Gen-san, she's still my favorite tsundere character overall.
Aika's starts off as sort of a grouchy jerk for a bit, doing things like making friends Akari in order to get closer to Alicia or complaining about some things in general though I did find a bunch of these jerk-ish acts entertaining.
By hanging out with Akari and Alice I liked how she gained a role in being the realist/voice of reason to Akari's super idealism and Alice's antisocialness.
However, my favorite part about Aika is easily her character development. She slowly starts to appreciate her two closest friends through hanging out with them all the time and starts to really appreciate her mentor that she wasn't fond of.
Her and Akira particularly get a few of the best scenes in Aria, and I really liked seeing the contrast of how Aika viewed Akira in Origination/the end of the manga compared with how she viewed her towards the beginning.
My opinion of Alice compared to the other 2 main undines has switched a lot. A long time ago I considered her my favorite barely, on last year's list she was 3rd and now she's my 2nd barely.
Alice's dynamic in the main trio is quite interesting. Although she's objectively the best at rowing of the 3, her chlidish tendencies and antisocial/snarky personality rounds out that group nicely, and she usually has a whole bunch of funny remarks/actions.
When an episode/chapter isn't focused on Akari or the 3 as a whole, it's usually focused on Alice and she gets a bunch of good episodes such as the first Maa ep, the leaping on the shadows, stalking Alicia and the invitation to that one party.
Although Alice's character development isn't quite as spelled out as Aika's, she arguably gets more (and better) development overall. That one episode/chapter towards the beginning where she warmed up to Akari is one of the better moments in the series to me.
By the end of the series you see how much she really cherishes her friendships, her being able to finally project her voice while rowing and mending her relationship with her mentor. All this culminates in one of the best moments in the series at the way way end (done better in the anime but still quite good in the manga).
