Favorite fantasy/science fiction characters of all time

Post by **pat5150** » Sat Apr 02, 2005 11:02 pm

Hi guys!

Well, there wasn't supposed to be another poll for some time, but Karen at robinhobb.com has beaten me to it!;) So I have no choice now but to go along with her idea! Which was going to be a future poll, anyway!:D

So this around we'll compile a list of your favorite fantasy/scifi characters of all time. You know how it works, so it's now time to vote!!!

I have to admit that this one is a little tougher, though. I don't know about you guys, but I'll have to give this one some thought...

I could have sworn that this sort of poll had been done in these parts in the past. But I tried to find it and couldn't find a trace. So if you're in the mood, feel free to vote again!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Post by **dennisrwood** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:47 am

Boba Fett
Dr.Who (the Baker version)
Hile Troy

Post by **danlo** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 5:29 am

Thomas Covenant
Danlo
Mallory Ringess

Post by **Loredoctor** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 7:23 am

Nice choices, Dennis!

Post by **Variol Farseer** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 11:18 am

In no particular order:

Samwise Gamgee, The Lord of the Rings
Steerpike, Titus Groan & Gormenghast
Lord Mhoram, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
Paul Atreides, Dune
Charlie Gordon, Flowers for Algernon
Friday Jones, Friday
Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, The Chronicles of Prydain
Hank Morgan, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
R. Daneel Olivaw, The Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, & The Robots of Dawn
Daenerys, A Song of Ice and Fire

(An eccentric choice, that last one; but sometimes the promise of another Daenerys chapter is the only thing that keeps me slogging through the blood, gore, and betrayals of GRRM's magnum opus. She started badly, but gets more interesting with each successive book: the opposite, I find, to the series as a whole.)

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 1:27 pm

With the limited range of stuff I've read, a difficult choice.

-Thomas Covenant
-Angus Thermopyle
-Karsa Orlong (aka Toblakai)
-Marvin

There were probably others I could've named that more people would agree with, but I was having difficulty deciding so just used the ones I liked reading about most.

Post by **Ainulindale** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:07 pm

I always tend to go crazy with lists so I'm limiting the number (I just hate not to include great characters).

My 50 Favorite:

1. Tyrion Lannister - A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin
2. Corwin - Chroncile of Amber - Roger Zelazny
3. The Weaver - Perdido Street station - China Mieville
4. Steerpyke - Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake
5. Olorin - The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
6. Muad Dibb (Paul Atredies) – Dune – Frank Herbert
7. Sol Wentaub – Hyperion – Dan Simmons
8. Anasurimbur Kellhus – Prince of Nothing – R. Scott Bakker
9. Deth - Riddle Master of Hed - Patrica Mckillip
10. John Uskglass - Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke (small roll, but incredible)
11. Rincewind – Discworld – Terry Pratchett
12. Thomas Abbey – A Land of Laughs – Jonathan Carroll
13. Jon Snow - A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin
14. Uther Daul – Scar – China Meilville
15. Andrew VanBergen – The Last Coin – James P. Blaylock
16. Brenan Doyle - The Anubis gates - Tim Powers
17. Joshua Calvert - Night's Dawn trlogy - Peter F. Hamilton
18. tergis Cromis - Virconium - M. John Harrison
19. Mahasamatman - Lord of Light - Roger Zelazny
20. Miles Naismith Vorkosigan - Vorksogian - Lois Mcmaster Bujold
21. Elric Melnibone – Elric Saga – Michael Moorcock
22. Thomas Covenant – Chronicles of Thomas Covenant – Stephen R. Donalsdon
23. Guy Montag - Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
24. Kane - by Karl Edward Wagner
25. Kirth Gersen - Demon Princes - Jack Vance
26. Conan – Conan series- Robert E. Howard
27. Gray Mouser – Lankhmar – Fritz Leiber
28. Bernard Marx - Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
29. Ged - Earth Sea Cycle – Ursula Leguin
30. Severian - Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe
31. Ender Wigins - Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
32. Genly Ai - Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula k. Leguin
33. Tagomi- The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick
34. Duncan Idaho – Dune – Frank Herbert
35. Sir Richard Francis Burton - Riverworld - Philip Jose Farmer
36. Winston Smith - 1984 - George Orwell
37. Harold Shea -The Complete Enchanter - L. Sprague De Camp
38. Jerry Cornelius - Cornelius Quartet- Michael Moorcock
39. Phaethon - Golden Age Trilogy - John C. Wright
40. LittleFinger - A Song of Ice and Fire - George R.R. Martin
41. Grand Admiral Thrawn - Star Wars- Timothy Zahn (yes I put a Starwars Eu character on my list! He's a good damn character)
42. Hunter Hawk - Night Life of Gods - Thorne Smith
43. Jane Alderberry,- Iron Dragon's Daugther - Michael Swanwick
44. Mister Croup and Mister Vandemar - NeverWhere - Neal Gaiman (a duo)
45. Shadow - American Gods -Neil Gaiman
46. Scott Crane - The Last Call - Tim Powers
47. Jack Faust - Jack Faust - Micahel Swanwick
48. Anomander Rake - Malazan - Steven Erikson (so he's a bit archetypical)
49. Lyra Belacqua - His Dark Materials -Philip Pullman
50. Vinculus - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke

Post by **dennisrwood** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 3:54 pm

Lore: thanks.

Flaming Carrot (new series out!)
Gurgi (Prydain Chronicles)
Blackavar (Watership Down)

Post by **danlo** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:03 pm

This is an old list of top Fantasy characters from the Hangar pre-ASOIAF and BOTNS

Tyrion Lannister is now #2. Severian #3 Deth probably 11 or 12...

1. Thomas Covenant
2. Randolph Carter-The Dream Quest of the Unknown Kadath
3. Vain-TCTC
4. Lord Mhoram-TCTC
5. Aragorn & Gandalf-LOTR
6. Corwin-The Chrons of Amber
7. Ged-The Earthsea Books
8. King Kull
9. Elric of Melinborne
10. Artagel-Mordant's Need & Aslan-The Chrons of Narnia
Hon mention: 2 The Rayhnyn, The Bloodguard, The Giants--and many, many other characters, including The Land itself! in TCTC

Post by **pat5150** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:58 am

Hmmm, Ainulindale... A top 50, eh!?! Do you seriously believe I'm going to compile all of them!?!

Kudos, my friend! I don't think I could come up with a top 50!

By the way, I just posted the L. E. Modesitt, jr. interview on the weblog. A very interesting Q & A, even if you are not a fan of his. Check it out!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Post by **dennisrwood** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 6:36 am

Darth Maul

Shade the Changing Man (DC Comics)

K9 (Doctor Who)

Post by **Roland of Gilead** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:54 pm

Roland Deschain - Stephen King
Tarl Cabot - Gor - John Norman
Dray Prescot - Alan Burt Akers - Kenneth Bulmer
Earl Dumarest - E. C. Tubb
Conan - Robert E. Howard
Breckinridge Elkins - Robert E. Howard
Kane - Karl Edward Wagner
Kane - James Axler
Caine - Matthew Stover
Richard Blade - Jeffrey Lord
Ryan Cawdor - James Axler
Saltheart Foamfollower - Stephen R. Donaldson
All of the Bloodguard/Haruchai - Stephen R. Donaldson
Kimball Kinnison - E. E. "Doc" Smith
David Valentine - E. E. Knight
Daenerys - George R. R. Martin
Tyrion - George R. R. Martin
Taita - Wilbur Smith
Centaine Courtney - Wilbur Smith
Sean Courtney - Wilbur Smith
Ralph Ballantyne - Wilbur Smith
Richard Sharpe - Bernard Cornwell
Harry Flashman - George MacDonald Fraser
Francis Crawford of Lymond - Dorothy Dunnett
Arwyn - Sojourn - Ron Marz
Blaine McCracken - Jon Land
Johnny Wareagle - Jon Land
Rodrigo Belmonte - Guy Gavriel Kay
Alexander DeKoven Woolf - M. K. Wren
Doc Savage - Lester Dent
John Carter - Edgar Rice Burroughs
Aragorn and Gandalf - J. R. R. Tolkien
Dirk Pitt - Clive Cussler
Allanon - Terry Brooks

Some of these aren't sf-fantasy, but I included them, anyway. As you can see, I'm very hero-oriented. My favorite characters are usually ones who are better and more principled (at least in my perceptions) to those people I've met in real-life. There are exceptions, of course, but if nothing else, they all share one trait in common - a never-say-die attitude, a "just won't quit" in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Except Flashy. He's simply the funniest anti-hero in all of fiction, and I just had to give him an honorable mention.

Post by **Warmark** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:59 pm

i love the sharpe tv series but i havent read any of the books worth reading?

Post by **Roland of Gilead** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 9:46 pm

Warmark, the books are better than the tv movies. The films are pretty good, but they can't capture the large-scale epic battles that Cornwell portrays so vividly.

I highly recommend the novels. Think Hornblower in the infantry.

Post by **Avatar** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 6:20 am

I haven't seen any of the tv movies, but I join with Roland in heartily recommending the books. I've enjoyed every one of them. In fact, they were what sparked an interest in the Peninsular Wars for me.

--Avatar

Post by **pat5150** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:28 am

From all the disparate answers we're getting with this current poll, I think it will be well nigh impossible to come up with a list...

By the way, the interview I did with L. E. Modesitt, jr. has generated a lot of positive responses. Nearly as much as the one I did with Tad Williams! Check it out, if you haven't already!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Post by **pat5150** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:50 pm

Just wanted to let everyone know that this poll is now closed. I have tallied the results and will post them on the weblog as soon as time permits!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Post by **pat5150** » Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:07 pm

The results are in! And there are more than a few surprises, making this poll the most interesting yet!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Post by **[Syl]** » Fri Apr 15, 2005 3:19 pm

No offense, pat, you just compiled the data, but I'm not going to bother with any more of those lists. In fact, I think I'm going to go lie down and listen to some soothing music.

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Favorite fantasy/science fiction characters of all time

Favorite fantasy/science fiction characters of all time