Characters

[Trapper]

Good choices everybody.

Tolkien: Samwise, Faramir, Turin, Fingolfin, and (grudgingly as he's an arrogant ****) Feanor

Hobb: Fitz

Donaldson: Mhoram (Lord Mhoram's Victory is the greatest act of (fictional) heroism I have ever read, and the man could even daunt a Raver on the shores of Hotash Slay) and Bannor

Adams: Bigwig ("My Chief Rabbit told me..." and the way that line destroys Woundworts confidence), Blackberry, and Hazel (I can't believe you left out Hazel, Sarge?! I can't remember remember the proper spelling of elah-Hrairah but, even so, he told me to kick your ass for dissing a valued member of his Owsla )

Rowling: Neville Longbottom (the scene at St Mungo's hospital always makes me cry)

Heinlein: Thorby

(Robert Shea? It was a long time ago): Jebu

[stonemaybe]

Honestly, my brain has switched off today & I can't remember anything- possibly due to third day without ciggies - that's my excuse anyway!

But here are some of my faves....

Aldric Talvelan (from 'Horse Lord' 'Demon Lord' etc by Peter Morwood)

Bran from 'Raven of Destiny' by Peter Tremayne

Manannan McLir (God of the Sea!) from the Sidhe series by Kenneth Flint

Paedur from 'Magician's Law' by Michael Scott

Granny Weatherwax

Smaug

The Ravers

[A Gunslinger]

It begins and ends of course with Mhoram. The unbridled nobility and serenity of his spirit is always compelling and inspiring.

Also, has anyone read "Godbody" by Theodore Sturgeon? (SRD wites the afterword which I have found out much later, FYI). Godbody is a fascinating character!

[stonemaybe]

It begins and ends of course with Mhoram

I thought that went without saying!

[Wyldewode]

Foamfollower and Mhoram--chrons
Eilonwy, Fllewddur Fflam--the Chronicles of Prydain
Aerin--The Hero and The Crown
Strider--LOTR
Aviendha, Mat--Wheel of Time series
Alaric Morgan--Deryni books
Westley--The Princess Bride
Richard MacDuff--Dirk Gently's Holistic Dective Agency
Ivo Archer--Macroscope
Gurney Halleck--Dune

I'm sure that there are dozens more, but these are the first ones to come to mind.

[balon!]

Sumner Kagan - Radix, AA Atanasio
Multi-Vac, Isaac Asimov
Jake the Kid, The Dark Tower, Stephen King
Paul Atreadies, Dune, Frank Herbert
Tarl Cabot, Gor, John Norman

[A Gunslinger]

Jack Sawyer: Black House and Tailsman by King/Straub. Like agent Cooper only gritty and less naive.

[Foamfollower1013]

Lyra - His Dark Materials
Gandalf and Sam - LOTR
Foamfollower, Covenant, Mhoram - TCTC
Deth - Riddlemaster series
Artagel - Mordant's Need
Dumbledore and Sirius - Harry Potter

Spoiler

(what is it with all my favorite characters dying??)

Jane - Ender series
Lirael - Abhorsen trilogy
Rincewind and Death - Discworld

~Foamy~

[Avatar]

Roland Deschain of Gilead.

--A

[Warmark]

Roland Deschain of Gilead.

--A

I was just about to suggest him.

[CovenantJr]

I notice the question is "in fantasy and science fiction", not "in fantasy and science fiction literature" - which leaves me free to mention Kain, of Legacy of Kain.

Kain is complex and conflicted, with perception of him vacillating between arrogant tyrant and altruistic martyr at various times. He has a significant arc of development, and his motivations and moral codes are fascinating to me. Add to this his acerbic and mocking sense of humour, and I find Kain surprisingly engaging.

Plus, he is voiced by the incomparable Simon Templeman, and this is what elevates the good dialogue to true greatness. I would love to see (or hear) Simon Templeman perform Shakespeare.

This one reckless act unravels the skein of history. The Nemesis never becomes the Nemesis; William dies a martyred saint. I, the vampire assassin, become author of my own species' extinction - and Moebius profits from all of it.

When I first stole into this chamber centuries ago, I did not fathom the true power of knowledge. To know the future, Raziel; to see its paths and streams tracing out into the infinite... As a man, I could never have contained such forbidden truths. But each of us is so much more than we once were...

And perhaps my favourite (certainly the one I find easiest to recall, and most flexible for everyday use):

The town of Steinchencroe bore with it the infamous aroma of its inhabitants. In life, I would not have graced the place with my presence; in death, I merely added to the stench.

[A Gunslinger]

Roland Deschain of Gilead.

--A

I was just about to suggest him.

Roland is afavorite of mine too....obviously. Very tragic.

[iQuestor]

The Fitz, and The Fool, Robin Hobb
Paragon, Liveship Traders, Robin Hobb
Ender, Enders Game - OSC
Daetrin, The Madness Season, CS Friedman
Bardo, Neverness, Zindell (By God he is!)
Saltheart, TCTC
Sam Gamgee, LOTR

[Warden]

Aragorn, Sam - Tolkein
Angus, Warden, Geraden, Mhoram, Foamfollower, Lena - SRD
Arithon, Dakar - J. Wurts
Marc, Aiken - J. May
Pug, Jimmy, Thomas, Nakar, Arutha - Feist
Anomander, Whiskeyjack, Kalam, Tehol Beddict - Erikson
Simon, Binabik - T. Williams
Fitz - R. Hobb

EDIT (or oops)
Jamie, Jon, Arya, Danys - Martin

[Avatar]

Haha, I like Feist too. Nakor is probably my favourite from his books.

Welcome. (Again. )

--A

[stonemaybe]

Haha, I like Feist too. Nakor is probably my favourite from his books.

Can't remember his name now, but i liked the guy...d'oh..was his name Guy? who betrayed the kingdom and then led the defense against whatsisname in the big city with the big walls up north somewhere where they blew everything up and killed everyone except the big baddie who rode his horse up some magic protective road or something?

Too much savanna.

[Avatar]

Black Guy...yeah...uh...(I keep wanting to say d'Gisbourne ) Oh yeah... Guy du Bas Tyra.

--A

[Matthias]

My favorite characters vary greatly

Fantasy/Fiction:
JRR Tolkien - Strider (Aragorn), Gandalf, Manwë
SRD - Thomas Covenant
Brian Jacques - Matthias (of course), Mattimeo, Cluny the Scourge
Anne Rice - The vampire Lestat
David Eddings - Eriond
Obert Skye - Geth, Sabine
JK Rowling - Snape, Sirius Black

[Elfgirl]

Artagel - Mordant's Need

YES!!

My list (there's usually two...must be my Gemini mentality!)

Nick Succorso & Min Donner (Gap series)
The First & Pitchwife (TC)
Masterharper Robinton & Moreta (Dragonriders series)
Polgara & Belgarath (Belgariad/Mallorean etc)
Sparhawk & Danae (Elenium/Tamuli)
All of the LOTR characters!
Morgaine (Mists of Avalon)
Lestat (Vampire series)
Maeglin (Silmarillion) - those First Age Elves were a bit more hard-core...

[Holsety]

Since Covenant gets to heaps praise on video games, I get to also.

I'll go with Levin from Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War, some weird bard/wind mage guy. He's this rather witty, free spirited, and...slightly detached prince who abandons his claim to the throne of Silesia (typical cold snowy pegasus country for anyone who's played Fire Emblem) in hopes of avoiding civil war.

He wanders a kingdom, kills some bandits, joins an army, and offers sanctuary when the leader is framed for killing his prince. Everything ends up happy despite a civil war and Levin gets the holy wind tome Holsety. Then Sigurd defeats his enemies in his kingdom, but gets backstabbed by a nasty fire mage and most of the characters are slaughtered.

Then, he just kinda appears again in the second half of the game, and acts as the advisor for the new main character. He no longer fights, and if he had kids he can meet his own son and daughter, and has to explain why he abandoned his kingdom and his children. In general many of the convos with him are pretty well done and engaging, and he's just a well developed guy for a game sparse in minor character development.

He's also extremely overpowered.

EDIT-The game he's from draws on Norse mythology, and particularly the whole ring story, much like other fantasy works including one which I believe we all hold dear.