Your Favorite Literary Characters (Other than HP)

[Shingie]

I like Finny & Gene from A Separate Peace.

I can't remember any other characters except maybe the characters from The Thief Lord. XD

[Jigga]

Non-fiction: Ishmael Beah ( A Long Way Gone)

Fiction: Lord Asriel, Lee Scorseby (His Dark Materials)

[lilamedusa]

I love Scarlett O'Hara and Ashley Wilkes rom Gone with the Wind(Margaret Mitchell). Teresa from The Unbearable Lightness of Being(Milan Kundera), because she was so fragile. Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter from His Dark Materials(Phillip Pulman).

[madbouthp]

Julian from The Forbidden Game series. I absolutely loved him.
His twisted love for Jenny and his evil ways ... but he had a sweet side in the end!

[Perlidia]

Originally Posted by LilyPod

Algernon Moncrieff, from The Importance of Being Earnest: How could one not love Algernon? Algernon is one of Wilde's genius characters in my opinion, in that, in novel brimming with triviality of senseless characters, Algernon may appear to be the most trivial and most silly of all, with his serious practice of "bunburying" (Creating a false identity for himself, to get out of social situations that he finds distasteful) and his deep analysis of muffins, but truly, he is the only character in the novel who possesses a working brain and a three-dimensional character, for while Cecily, Gwendolyn, Lady Bracknell, and Jack really believe the nonsense they utter (The novel is a satire about the triviality of the upper class during the time of immense class conflict in Britain), Algernon gives off the distinct aura of realizing the stupidity of the other characters and merely exploiting it to get what he wants-- money, self-satisfaction, and Cecily's hand, among other things. Algernon is a conniving charmer who knows how to cleverly manipulate others-- he knows he does wrong, and delights in his own selfish ingenuity. Like Templeton, he isn't a person I would want to associate with in real life, nor is he one whom I admire, but he made the story quite an interesting read, and his wrongdoing is the reader's guilty pleasure.

I never would have thought of Algernon - he is definitely top of my list, "bunburying" is one the most wittiest ideas ever written.
I Like also Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre: Gruff, imperfect and wonderful.

Holden Caulfield from Cather in the rye, I agree with above his sarcasm and outlook on life is fascinating and endearing.

Ford Prefect and Dirk Gently for being Adams greatest creations.

Carlo from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, I love all his chapters and observations.

I had to edit I forgot Kilgore Trout I went through a real Vonnegut obsession last year and I love Trout in Breakfast of Champions. Albert Finney played a really good interpetation of him in the film.

[CROOKshanks1919]

i just thought of another one! i really love Athos, from the three musketeers, he was the cool, collected one, really enjoyed reading about him! he was the one who didn't think twice, about anything, and really was loyal to his musketters friends. Also, i loved how he handles the situation with milady, and threatned her they way he did..yes that may sound sort of twisted, but if you've read the book, its nice to know that SOMEONE could intimindate milady

[Lennon]

Uhtred, The Saxon Tales, Bernard Cornwell - The ultimate bad a!?, not willing to negotiate, brave, abrassive, incredible main protagonist.

Ponyboy Curtis, The Outsiders, SE Hinton - Wise beyond his years, emotional yet generous and sympythetic, above all loyal to his friends, family and desire to belong.

Edmond Dontes, Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas - manipulative, cunning, suave, one of my favorite characters of all time.

Dexter Morgan, Jeff Lindsay, Dexter series - violent, cruel, demented, determined, genius and loving/loyal. Truly the villain?/hero? you love to hate, and hate to love...

Few of my favorites, among many.

[freelantzer]

Originally Posted by Lennon

Ponyboy Curtis, The Outsiders, SE Hinton - Wise beyond his years, emotional yet generous and sympythetic, above all loyal to his friends, family and desire to belong

Ponyboy! And Johnnycake!

[Lennon]

Originally Posted by freelantzer

Ponyboy! And Johnnycake!

Just the names of characters in this book are awesome. Sodapop, Dally, Johnny, Darry, Two Bit...the book itself, well it is truly amazing. Hinton has written other great novels as well I highly recommend them all. That Was Then This is Now, Rumble Fish, few others.

[HesperGamp]

-Ponyboy Curtis
-Victor Frankenstein
-the Baudelaires

[leah49]

Jo March from Little Women (and Little Men, Jo's Boys...). I love how she's a tomboy, being the son her parents never had, but does have her feminine side. Mostly in literature the girl is either a tomboy or girly. But, Jo is the right combination, imo. I also love that she's a writer. I like her initiatives to get her stuff published. I wished she married Laurie (spoiler), but I think the man she does choose is just right for her.

[Yoana]

Ugh, some of my absolutely most favourite characters are from Bulgarian books and nobody would have heard about them. It's such a shame we have this small language and even smaller literature, so nobody is even remotely interested in translating it, because some of my most favourite books are Bulgarian and they're truly superb, rich, engaging, complex, altering! Ok, enough with the pathos. From "international" books my favourite characters are the Moomins and their friends from the Moomin series of books by Tove Jansson They're adorable and fun and tenderly remind me of childhood stuff. Other than that, I really really like Candy from The Sound and The Fury, mostly because of the way she's written - the restricted POV of the narration allow only glimpses of her and her life and that makes her tantalisingly fascinating. I also love Lizzy Bennet (naturally); Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Warren Smith; Huck Finn (inexplicably, I always disliked Tom Sawyer, maybe it was class indignation speaking in me at the age of 7!); Satan in The Master And Margarita (while I was reading the book, I even had a dream about being his lover); Humbert Humbert from Lolita; Holden Caulfield and probably some others I can't think of right now.

[Trixa]

Originally Posted by Yoana

Ugh, some of my absolutely most favourite characters are from Bulgarian books and nobody would have heard about them. It's such a shame we have this small language and even smaller literature, so nobody is even remotely interested in translating it.

Not true, not true. There is a book by a Bulgarian author which has just been released here. I want it soooo much but it's very expensive so I'll have to wait for the pocket version or order it online. I actually think non western literature is amazing. It's very special and I'm sorry so few authors from East European countries make it in the West.

Satan in The Master And Margarita

Ooh, my favourite book! I had no idea someone else besides me has read it. Well, actually, it's a classic so of course people have read it but you never hear anyone talk about it. Did you like it? I thought it was so amazing and magical. It really had something for everyone I believe. A must-read-before-you-die sort of book, IMO. I liked Margarita because she was such a cool female character. I was worried about her being a Mary Sue but she was far from it. Even the devil liked her.

I also like Hamlet (kept seeing Mel Gibson while reading which made it even better) and I am probably one of the few people who like Emma Bovary. I kept rooting for her and look how well that went.
I also like Zenia from the Robber Bride even though she isn't exactly a character. She's more of an anti-ideal... it's complicated but those who've read the book (probably) see what I mean.
Nancy from Oliver Twist - probably the only decent female character Dickens created.

[Yoana]

Originally Posted by Trixa

Not true, not true. There is a book by a Bulgarian author which has just been released here. I want it soooo much but it's very expensive so I'll have to wait for the pocket version or order it online. I actually think non western literature is amazing. It's very special and I'm sorry so few authors from East European countries make it in the West.

Oh, this makes me so glad! I do hope you'll enjoy it! And I hope they picked a good author, because we have some rather questionable stuff, too...

Ooh, my favourite book! I had no idea someone else besides me has read it. Well, actually, it's a classic so of course people have read it but you never hear anyone talk about it.

Oh it's extremely popular here - maybe because Russia and my country have always been culturally entwined, ever since the 9th century AD, and Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Bulgakov are among the most widely read authors here.

Did you like it?

I loved it!! It's one of my most favourite books of all time. I was downright infatuated with it while reading it.

I thought it was so amazing and magical. It really had something for everyone I believe. A must-read-before-you-die sort of book, IMO. I liked Margarita because she was such a cool female character. I was worried about her being a Mary Sue but she was far from it. Even the devil liked her.

Oh yes. She's an extraordinary woman in many senses.

[freelantzer]

Atticus Finch. I want to marry him.

[Melaszka]

Originally Posted by freelantzer

Atticus Finch. I want to marry him.

I saw him first!

[Hysteria]

Atticus Finch, Lestat (Interview With The Vampire), Lyra (His Dark Materials), Kiriyama (Battle Royale), Aragorn, Count Olaf (Series of Unfortunate Events).

[moogirl]

A lot of great characters have already been mentioned here, so I'll just bring up my favourite in recent days. She is one of the most original characters I have ever read - Lisbeth Salander from the Millennium Trilogy (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo etc). Highly recommended series, if only for her unique story and views.

I mean seriously, how often do you come across a criminally-minded security analyst/computer hacker, who just so happens to also be bisexual, dresses like a goth and beats up men three times her size on a regular basis?

[mactheknife]

Artemis Fowl, Mulch Diggums - Fowl Series
Ghengis Khan, Kachiun, Tsubodai - Conqueror Series
Saphira - Inheritance Cycle
Renius, Marcus Brutus, Gaius Julius - Emporer Series
Alice Cullen - Twilight Saga
Linus Wynter - Airman

[leah49]

Peter Pevensie from the first two (written and published) books of the Chronicles of Narnia. I like him because he's the leader of his siblings. It's an attraction on a comfort level for me. He reminds of my brother in that sense. My brother is leader of the three of us. When the parents are away he's in charge without anyone having to say so. I don't like that he becomes High King. I think that he should just be regular king and Lucy should be High Queen because she found Narnia first, but he is the de facto leader of his siblings, so in that sense he earns it. He's only 13 when he appears in the first book, but to me, he comes off as being older.