It’s time to talk about characters! Everyone loves a good character, right? I know I do.
One of the difficulties with this post in particular is that there are multiple different ways to “like” a character. Sometimes I like a character for who they are, and I probably want to be best friends with them. Sometimes I think a character is complex and interesting, but I don’t necessarily like them as a person. Sometimes I find a character complex and I like them as a person. Sometimes I like a whole group of characters, their dynamic, how they interact and work together, etc. more so than any one individual character.
The other difficulty is that, this year, I read a lot of books that had amazing, complex characters who felt like real people and books with whole casts of characters I just adored, so the competition was tough! There were a lot that almost made it but didn’t quite make it into this post. I also wanted to included some characters from games and visual novels I played since of them had great characters too. But never fear, I have at least whittled it down to ten books/series/games because end-of-the-year lists are just that important 😉
Anyway, in no particular order, here are my favorite characters this year!
Fred – Fred, The Vampire Accountant
Fred is so honest and good, and he’s humble, to boot. Plus he’s loyal to his friends and the people who’ve become his found family.
Darren – Mongrels
Darren stole the show in this book. He loves attention, so he’d be happy to be on this list, I think. He’s a mess and a half who’s done some bad things, but he’d do anything for his family, and I can’t help but like the guy.
Liam – Monster Prom
Monster Prom is a game, not a book, but I love this hipster vampire too much to leave him out! I love every ridiculous, pretentious, hilarious thing that comes out of his mouth, and I especially love it when he blushes and pretends not to enjoy things that he’s not-so-secretly enjoying.
Remus – Harry Potter
Remus has been one of my all-time favorites for a while now. He made mistakes when he was younger, but he learned from them and became a better person. He was good and kind and didn’t let the way others treated him take those parts of him away.
All the Women – Dead Indian Wars
This book is set in a lawless Old West afterlife filled mostly with men, so you can imagine how tough it would be for the few women who are stuck there. But damn, did they did kick ass in this book! From “Gut-Shot Granny” (so named because she shoots people in the gut) to a sharp-shooting prostitute, these women really showed up the men, in my opinion.
Bemelle – Lake of Voices
Lake of Voices is another game-not-book (a visual novel), but man, its one with characters that completely gripped my heart, and I think I might be in love with Bemelle. He’s beautiful on the outside and the inside. He has a temper sometimes, but only because he’s passionate and cares about other people. And he’s able to admit to his mistakes and be better when he does something wrong. He’s got a good heart.
Everyone – Thieves Series
I swear every time I read this series, I end up with a new favorite character, but they never replace the old favorite. It’s like I’m just collecting favorites. At this point, they’re pretty much all my favorites.
Jakub & Cheshire – Bang! Bang! BOOM!
I love these boys! Chesh is charismatic and jovial but hides his worries behind his smile, Jakub is a lovable grumpster who hides his care behind his scowl, and they’re absolutely adorable together.
Sir Robot IV – Saga Vol. 9
He’s complex and dynamic and terrible and good and sarcastic and sweet and funny and sad, and I love him for it. He’s flawed and messed up and broken, but he’s trying, and I love him for that too.
Vaun, Fay, & Samuel – Detox in Letters
Oh gosh, I love so many characters in this series. Fay is fierce and knows how to get what she wants but still has a caring side. Samuel has this whole mysterious air and maybe a bit of a playful side and is intelligent, loyal, and always on top of things. But Vaun is my favorite in the series. He’s silly and vain and shameless (the author’s word, and a perfect one), but he’s also compassionate and brave and overall such a complex character.
Check Out the Rest of My 2018 Top Ten Posts!
Best Book Covers from Books I Read in 2018 – Runners Up
Best Book Covers from Books I Read in 2018
Top Ten Characters from Books I Read (and Games I Played) in 2018
Top Ten Books I Read in 2018 (+ Some Non-Bookish Things)
I totally agree with Remus!! Haha but Prince Robot annoys me 😂
No! Blasphemy! You are blaspheming all over my blog! Are you all the way caught up on Saga though? I’m glad we agree about Remus at least!
I am intrigued by Liam from Monster Prom, I don’t play video games but I’m tempted to just so I can “meet” him😊
Ahhh it’s such a fun game, and he just cracks me up so much lol.
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I loved Remus, he was a great character. I love how he was always the calm one, even thought he had all this crazy stuff going on.
He really was. And you’re right, he was always the level-headed one.
Oh, I do love Remus. He’s such a great guy. I also need to get up to date Saga! I’m about four volumes behind? Stupid library. LOL I really just need to own all the volumes someday and that will help. A character I really loved this year is Victor from Vicious by V.E. Schwab; I still need to read the sequel, but I finally read the first one and I just love the complexity of Victor.
-Lauren
He really is great. Oh man, you definitely need to get caught up on Saga. I hope you enjoy Vengeful!
I love a good complex character- even if they’re not entirely (or at all) likeable lol. I feel like I kinda want to know more about Fred the vampire accountant?? And Mongrels I’m seriously considering because I need more werewolves, and not just shifter romances (not that there’s anything wrong with that). And Liam made the list. 🙂
Dead Indian Wars sounds like something I should be reading.
Same! Characters don’t necessarily have to be likeable, just well-written! Fred is awesome. I agree, nothing wrong with shifter romances, but that’s not my taste either, and it’s so hard to find books about werewolves that aren’t that. I love Liam!
You certainly have an interesting “collection” here above Kristen!
Thanks!
Remus is a favorite of mine too. I loved him and Tonks together.
I still want to read that vampire accountant series. I work at an accounting firm so I think I would really enjoy it and would probably also find myself comparing the characters to my coworkers, lol.
Tbh, I never really understood the Remus-Tonks relationship. It seemed so random to me. But I like them both individually lol.
I mean… you prob wouldn’t since he works freelance, and all his friends are other supernatural creatures, haha. Or maybe you would if you work with some really interesting people 😉
Awesome list!!
Thanks!
What a great list! I loved that you picked different mediums for the characters you love. Agree with you about Sir Robert and Remus. I have to giggle that you loved all the women in Indian Wars and all the characters in the Thieves series. Books do that! Happy NewYear! 🥳
Thanks! I couldn’t help it, I just loved those game characters too much! Aww yay someone who also likes Sir Robot! I feel like everyone else hates him :’-( Happy New Year!
Oh man, the only character I SHOULD know from this list is actually Remus, and I don’t really like Harry Potter – I find it really forgettable – so I don’t even remember what his role is in the book DD: But I am glad you’ve been able to discover some new characters that you love and also some that you remember and could re-love too.
Maybe you didn’t get far enough into the series to meet him? He’s a teacher, but not until the 3rd book, and was one of Harry’s dad’s best friends. Thanks!
‘Dead Indian Wars’ looks problematic af… Not saying you can’t like it (you know I wouldn’t say that! Like what you like!) But wow, that doesn’t look great!
I agree the title is not great; the book itself had problematic characters, but was not necessarily a problematic book. Not saying it was perfect or that no one would be bothered by it, but a lot of the characters were called out on prejudices (e.g. I think one character kept telling everyone to use the term Native American, and there was a lot of mention of how people were wrongfully killing them and stealing their land) and there were some POC, possibly LGBT+, and disabled characters that seemed to be rep’d well.