The Best Main Character Ever

I am also doing a story right now, or trying to at least anyway, what makes a character truly great is their ability to evolve like getting over a conflict/seeing how it changes them, like taking a scar and turning it into a beauty mark

 

Well, there are a variety of things, from tiny little details like what little quirks they have (for example, my main character likes childish underwear, such as pink panties with yellow ducks printed on them) to how they handle being in a position of power. If I were to go through everything on my list, "Things That Make A Character Awesome", then it would probably freeze people's browsers every time they tried to load up this thread, because it's VERY long.
And even so, that little mental list of awesome character components is made up of my opinions, which could be completely wrong to someone else.
So I'll go with three tips:

1) Make your lead make mistakes.
Nobody's perfect, and your character should be no exception. Have them make mistakes, from putting a shoe on the wrong foot, trying to open a door the wrong way or another minor mistake, to a mistake that sends the world into chaos and sets the story in motion.
For example (and he may be a more minor character, but he's still fairly important and my favorite character in the game) Gaz in CoD MW has to get an outside basement door open in the middle of a firefight. He shoots the lock, kicks the door. It doesn't open and he kicks it again. A third kick and it stays closed. He pauses a moment, then reaches down and pulls it toward him and open, then runs inside.
That was a little mistake, but it endeared him to me. It showed that he was only human after all, despite the fact that he's out helping to prevent a massive war. Under pressure, he made a mistake because he is human..
Another great example is Captain Price from the same game. When he was just a "Leftenant", he was sent on a mission to assassinate someone (the whole thing in itself doesn't make much sense, seeing as he was obviously fairly new, because his superior officer who he was with had to remind him of pretty much everything he taught Price. It just makes me think that there was a whole bunch of higher-ups drunk around some poker table going "Ehh, it's only the first assassination order the British government has authorized since WWII. Go ahead and send the inexperienced guy to take the shot, it'll be FINE"). When he does take the shot, he blows the guy's arm off instead of killing him.
Thus, he sets up the whole story with his mistake, and the normally collected, strong and pretty much indestructible Cpt. Price shows his human side and shows that, yes, even he was new once. It's one of the reasons that I love the game so much, becaue instead of going with the frankly quite stupid approach of making the good guys these indestructible, never-show-a-flaw, completely confident characters, the developers made them human people who do human things and who make mistakes. It's really made them very interesting, which is why it annoys me that more wasn't done with them. I mean, they could've at least had more of a backstory to them...

2) Make them grow.
Whatever your character's going through, they're going to be affected. Having them shift and change realistically over the course of a story will definitely help to make them great. Of course, it takes a lot of development to even understand what would make them change and why, so this shouldn't be taken lightly.
And the character doesn't necessarily have to change for the better. In fact, one of the characters in my book (a supporting character, but the lead's best friend and soon to be lover) is very afraid to be out of the closet, or do anything that would indicate she is even IN the closet. This is partly because she never told her parents she was gay before they died, and she only told her sister. So, because she is in love with the lead character, she can't resist kissing her one night. They're interrupted, even though no-one sees them, and they have to leave their hideout. But because she is being forced to confront who she is, and the possibility that everyone knows who she is, she begins acting cold and angry toward the lead, slapping away her hand at even the slightest, most casual touch. Eventually, she gets it figured out that no-one cares if she's gay, and that the lead loves her, and she slowly begins apologizing and acting more like herself. And so, even though the attitude change wasn't permanent, it still changed her, as she realized that hiding who she is and over-compensating for it will do more harm than good.

3) Make your character HUMAN.
I mean this with the utmost sincereity.
Even if your character is an alien robot from the future who's supposed to be perfect in every way, it would be incredibly boring and unrealistic as well to have them actually be perfect.
Also, even alien robots have their quirks, backstories, memories and things that made them who they are. Even though they're an alien robot, you should still make them human. Have them like, dislike and flat-out- HATE things, have them be inadequate at some things and great at others, and have them make mistakes, be clumsy, and in general, have flaws.


So there you have it. A list of tips/requirements for an awesome main character, at least for me.
And now SLEEP AWAITS ME.

Also, my favorite main character would have to be Clary from the Mortal Instruments books. She's so real and alive, and VERY WELL DEVELOPED.
But my favorite fictional character of all time is Gaz.

 

I think my favorite character is La Marquise de Merteuil from Dangerous Liaisons~ I love her because she's kind of a guilty pleasure girl~ She saw what she want, went after it, and makes no excuses. The movie is so good and it comes from a book that has had many adaptations across several countries... I really recommend the 1989 one with Glenn Close and John Malkovich. Here's a non-spoilery scene with the Marquise describing her way of life~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbYLhEPm3fg

I also love Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development~ She's so clever and always has a retort. She's another "this is my life so I'll do what I want" *flips hair* kind of woman so~ I guess I have a type of rolemodel XD;;;;;;;;;

 

Light Yagami. What makes Light so interesting is that he is more the anti-hero than the good guy. The plot of Death Note, summed up without all the major details, is that he finds a notebook. If you write someone's name in that notebook, then they die. And what happens when you give an 18 year old with a god complex the ultimate killing weapon? He goes on a killing rampage and makes it his sole purpose in life to kill any and all criminals in the world! Watching him going through with all these crazy schemes to not get caught is just so interesting! Also kinda scary.

 

I'd say Lee Everett from the Walking Dead game was the best main character ever

He has everything I think a character needs to be awesome;-

-Badass
-Tough
-Kind hearted
-Has done wrong in the past, but is trying to make up for it
-Protects a child in the midst of chaos and trains her to defend herself out of the kindness of his heart
-Smart
-A leader

I don't know, he's just so flawed it makes him so three dimensional :3

 

The best main characters are the ones that are entertaining.

 

Make them have self confidence issues. But not in your face. Also, make them funny.

 

I think the most important things to have for a strong main character is showing growth, being relatable, and having nuance. I should be able to believe that every action a character takes or every word that comes out of their mouths is something that that character would do or say. Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop is my favorite main character of all time, and you can see all those qualities in him.

 

Video Game: Trevor Phillips from GTA 5...
Movies: Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction...
TV shows: I don't watch many TV shows, but I'll go with Hannibal Lecter from Hannibal...

 

Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, hands down.

 

Questionable characteristics (things normally associated with antagonists) help make a main character more interesting but not so many to the point where the character is an anti-hero. Also, don't make the character flawless or invincible.

 

Funny, relatable yet smart or badass characters are great to read/watch. Also perfect characters tend to be boring, so sometimes having them make a few mistakes or have some faults in their personalities makes them more interesting, in my opinion.

 

Not take lead all the time.

Harry Potter worked well when the three main characters worked together, and with some of the secondary characters.

 

Tyler Durden from Fight Club

 

Jackie Peyton from Nurse Jackie.

 

I like main characters who get into trouble because of their own mistakes. And then they have the pluck to get out of it. I don't want them to be invincible, but I want them to be capable. And definitely flawed in some ways. They have to have conflict. I like internal conflict (as long as it doesn't turn into whiny self-pity) and external conflict. My favorite movie character of all time is Jen Yu from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I really identify with her struggle to be something beyond the narrow confines of her expected gender role and the deep love she has for Dark Cloud. I also like her flaws. Her anger... a lot of which isn't really her fault, actually... her selfishness, her inability to understand the consequences of her decision to steal the Green Destiny. But she really and truly wanted it, but more importantly what it represented. A chance to escape the societal prison she'd been born into simply because she was a woman and also a noble woman at that, freedom and what she thought was the chance to perfect her skills beyond what anyone had been able to show her. If she'd had a better teacher than super criminal Jade Fox (who also had her own true point about how she'd been treated as a woman even by the ostensible good people) then she might have become a powerful force for good. As it stood she destroyed everything and it's a true tragedy because she was not an evil person, just a person acting under forces beyond her control.

I also like Yozora from Haganai, but even though she does have a good side, it's really hidden deep in her heart. She's pretty awful in a lot of ways!

 

Deadpool obvious reasons

 

Himura Kenshin. At first sight, he seems like the perfect hero. Look closer. He has a dark past that he's trying to make up for and he has internal conflict.

 

Best main character for me was Spike Spiegel from cowboy bebop, like never was he truly in control or out of control.
Plus he's the manifestation of a "cool" guy...
I also cosplay as him from time to time...