Favorite Literary Characters?

I look through the various threads here and am amazed that a basic, fanboyish, question hasn't been raised yet:

Who are your favorite literary characters?

Whether they're series characters in anything from the crudest pulp novels to the latest state-of-the-art blockbuster series; or one-off characters from stand-alone novels by your favorite writers, who do you like?

I'll get the ball rolling. In no particular order, my faves are: Sherlock Holmes; James Bond; Jay Gatstby, both Dracula and Van Helsing; and most of JD Salinger's Glass family members. And, lately, Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger.

Mostly genre stuff, but hey, that's me. How about the rest of y'all?

Baack

Top 3. JP Dunleavy's Gingerman,Sebastion Dangerfield. Nabakov's Humbert Humbert. Heller's Yossarian.

The one in your Avatar, Roland, is probably up there for me, if not the favourite.

Apart from him, I haven't really been drawn to any particular characters. Perhaps Gonzo from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.....there's someone I can identify with

Elliot Rosewater from God Bless you Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut. Great guy, good story. There was part of the book when they asked him to baptize somebodys baby. He was like "Welcome to earth baby. Its big and round. Its cold in the winter, and warm in the summer. There is only one rule...damn it, you got to be kind."

It was kinda touching comming from an athiest.

That or Hunter S. Thompson (Raul Duke in Fear and Loathing) in just about anything.

RIP HST.

John Shannow, Druss, Thomas Covenent, Drizzt Do'Urden (?sp), Belgareth, Bill The Galactic Hero

Death, The Librarian, Rincewind, The Wizards, The Watch (all of them), in fact it would be quicker to list Pratchetts characters that I didn't like

...and so is the book, but my favorite has got to be Maude Cummings-Godfrey in Taylor Caldwell's Ceremony of the Innocent. Now before you scoff at the title, it's a brilliant novel. Caldwell did her homework and her conspiracy theories are so accurate it's scary. You know about PNAC? So did she...before it even freakin existed.

There's really only one literary character that tops my list: Hamlet.

I never know whether he's truly mad, or genius.. (such a beautifully fine line to walk!!!)

And I can totally identify with his need to 'be sure' before making any big steps.. his constant doubting / second-guessing..

(Truly, the character was best played in the Kenneth Brannaugh (sp?) version.. I've seen a few movie versions, but that one really brought out the character for me. ...this is completely aside from the fact that he went page by page along with Shakespeare, and didn't rearrange a single line or scene!)

-Thomas Covenant, in the Covenant books by Stephen Donaldson.
-Allanon in the Shannara books by Terry Brooks
-Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights by Bronte (I forget which one, there were 3)
-Pug/Milamber in the Riftwar books by Raymond E Feist
-Rand Al Thor in the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
-Richard Cypher in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkidn