What type of characters do you like best?

[BadOctopus]

Whoops, I forgot to answer the OP. The characters I relate to the most are usually the ones who fit the "jerk with a heart of gold" trope. The ones who are quiet, standoffish, and surly on the outside, but hide a soft, gooey, sentimental center. Characters like Ron Swanson and April Ludgate from Parks and Rec, Toby Zeigler from The West Wing, Charles Winchester from M*A*S*H, and John Casey from Chuck. Oh, and of course, Horatio Hornblower.

Strangely, I also love the characters who are the complete opposite. Characters like Andy Dwyer from Parks and Rec, Max Klinger from M*A*S*H, and Philip Fry from Futurama, who are ridiculous and happy-go-lucky and do whatever the hell they want with zero regard to the consequences. Maybe I like them so much because I secretly envy them, and I know I could never be like them.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I like characters who are oddballs, loners and kind of aloof from things. That's a pretty broad category, but that's usually who I end up liking and rooting for in any given setting. A good example I can think of would be Abed from Community; that's someone I find kind of relatable.

 

[HongDou]

This might all be obvious, but I think it's not surprising that most people would like characters of their own type or characters with similar types. Fiction is like escaping reality and fleeing into a completely different life; it can indulge our imagination and our fantasies. So watching characters you relate to is really entertaining, because it's almost like watching yourself lead a new life in a new universe. The reason I love video games and RPGs in particular so much is because they create so much immersion. It's kind of the same reason.

 

[á´…eparted]

It varies, and I don't think I have a pattern. Here's four characters I LOVE, maybe someone else will notice:

Princess Bubblegum:

Cheese:

The Red Queen:

The Phoenix:

 

[Smilephantomhive]

I started this thread awhile ago on identifying with fictional characters. It wasn't explicitly type-related, but as often happens, some of the discussion went that way. I'm linking it here just as reference, not to suggest a merge (unless you want that).

I have been interested in this question for some time. As I posted on the old thread:



So, to answer your question, I tend to identify with characters who seem to share my type.


How about:

That's the same with me; hardly any of my favorites have a similar lifestyle as me. Most the characters I relate to are guys for some reason.

I relate to characters that are independent and relatable for me in some way. Neutral characters are particularly interesting because they're often aloof and unpredictable, and are different from the rest of the characters. For some reason I'm (usually) put off from liking the most popular characters. As soon as I discover the characters popularity I take less of a liking towards it, because I find that boring.
Some of my favourates are/were Greed from FMA (actually, I have several), San from Princess Mononoke (suprise!), Raven from teen titans, Ryuk from death note, Legion and Thane from Mass Effect, and Daenerys from Game of thrones (in my opinion she is a lawful neutral who seems like a good person compared to all the rest of the characters. They are all evil, no one in GoT is good. Not even Jon snow since the last season).

I love neutral characters too, but the ones I like aren't necessarily aloof. Anyway, what makes you dislike popular characters so much?

Personally I think the whole "never smiles oh-so-brooding stronger-than-everyone-else-somehow" trope, ESPECIALLY on female characters is really getting kind of annoying. When Katniss did it, it was alright, but now it seems like every other popular female character is that way.

I want a character who has their flaws and those flaws are pointed out and not appreciated by either the reader/viewer or the other characters, and maybe runs into an obstacle or two where they'll have to overcome their weaknesses or maybe their weaknesses even overcome them.

Also, characters that are funny or happy and are actually somewhat relatable. This excludes characters that are, deep down, incredibly pathetic and wimpy or always have to be whining about shit.

And don't forget characters that are clearly different than everyone else or are exceptionally smart but don't have a huge ego/superiority complex/spend the entire length of the story putting down other characters.

As for "types" as in like MBTI, I'm not sure, but it seems to me like the whole ISTP, INTJ, and INFP trio is being beaten to shreds by the cliche character traits.

Think like the Weasley family.

I'm okay with the quiet, brooding type if they're more of a minor and are like that due to a limited perspective. I hate when they're main characters since they are bound to have some thoughts that differ from that stereotype.

I'm also actually okay with wimpy characters (as long as the author doesn't want to make them look strong or something like that). It adds humanity to them.

This might all be obvious, but I think it's not surprising that most people would like characters of their own type or characters with similar types. Fiction is like escaping reality and fleeing into a completely different life; it can indulge our imagination and our fantasies. So watching characters you relate to is really entertaining, because it's almost like watching yourself lead a new life in a new universe. The reason I love video games and RPGs in particular so much is because they create so much immersion. It's kind of the same reason.

I think it's true too. I love it when I see characters to things that I do. Especially if I was insecure or thought it made me boring because when I see them do it I think it's kind of cute/cool. It just makes me feel better about myself.

btw, Nico is my favorite love live! character.

 

[Qlip]

I pretty much watch shows to get some sort of gratification from interactions and situations, I almost never actually identify with characters. And my favorites aren't any particular type. The one exception to identification that I've found is Angel from Angel, he's just the right mix of brooding, angst and vanity and idealism, definite INFP e4. Otherwise I mostly enjoy actor's performances and good dialog in a character.

 

[SD45T-2]

Besides Hermione Granger, those are literally the only good ones I can think of*. Out of hundreds, or even thousands, of ESTJs, most of whom are one-dimensional and tyrannical authority figures.

Not to generalize or anything.


*Claire Dunphy is so much like me that I'm starting to worry that I'll end up married to Phil.

 

[gromit]

I like resourceful (esp female) characters who fight for a greater good, maybe particularly when they find themselves in a situation they didn't choose.

 

[Hawthorne]

MBTI-wise, I gravitate to ISTP-like characters.

In general, I like bratty/sassy types that sometimes unnerve other characters with their bizarre antics. Think Alan Shore from Boston Legal. In fact, the Bunny Ears Lawyer trope is exactly what I'm talking about.

The more arrogant, shameless, and trashy, the better.

Basically, the less likable a character is meant to be, the greater the likelihood of me liking them.

 

[Coriolis]

Some of my favorites (many are antiheroes, or at least ambiguous in which side they are on):

Raistlin Majere (Dragonlance series)

Severus Snape (Harry Potter series)

Avon (Blake's Seven)

Spock (Star Trek, especially Leonard Nimoy version)

Guy de Gisborne (Robin Hood)

Also:

Estraven, from Ursula LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness
Gideon Crew, from Preston & Child's Gideon's Sword and sequels

 

[Kas]

[MENTION=4945]EJCC[/MENTION] one more good ESTJ for you

 

[wolfnara]

I love neutral characters too, but the ones I like aren't necessarily aloof. Anyway, what makes you dislike popular characters so much?

Because everyone likes them. Then they become more boring to me, idk why :/ I guess it becomes pointless, and I no longer see the character as my favourate because they already are everyone's favourate, if that makes sense. It's unoriginal, basically. Its not always the case thoughI like all kinds of characters and they can have any mbti type, but I noticed they usually lean towards the neutral side and are mostly Fi types.

 

[HongDou]

In general, I like characters who I can relate to. So I guess people who aren't antagonistic underneath the surface - characters who are silly, friendly, energetic, spontaneous, empathetic, maybe a little dramatic or unorganized, etc.

Following up on this, I made a character associates page on my Tumblr. I even added captions that appear when you hover over them.

Here's a better picture for yah [MENTION=25217]Kyubey[/MENTION]