A list of some of the best anime and magna characters that I have seen or read. I don't claim to be an expert in these series, or read or seen all of it, but these were the guys I thought they were worthy of adding to a list.
The Greatest Thief of them All.
Lupin's rival/girl friend/enemy depending on the situation. She can change sides and work for or against him at her whim. I think one of the best films that demonstrates their bizarre relationship is "The Mystery of Mamo" where Fujiko constantly double crosses Lupin for her dream of acquiring immortality for herself. However, near the very end we discover that her deal was actually for two people: her and Lupin. And when Lupin refuses the deal, Fujiko sighs and declines immortality as well; proclaiming that "it would be no fun if he wasn't there".
This guy is flat out funny. He's a hard working and dedicated cop, but I can't tell if he really is a fool--or if Lupin is just that good at making him look like one. But he sorta reminds me of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau character.
The main character in a pretty funny series. I always remember this one scene where he goes, "This absolutely cannot be happening to me."
I was hooked in the first episode with Naruto Uzumaki's story. The anime filler arcs killed me though.
She's a pretty funny character in Bleach. I love how she can't draw worth a damn but always explains things with her artwork.
Another cool character, no pun intended from Bleach.
Goku might be the main hero of DBZ but I grew to like the character of Piccolo more. He started off as the most evil villain only to ally with Goku against a common foe, and even turned around to help train Gohan; the son of his greatest enemy and even sacrificed his life for the kid. He's a lot more intriguing character than most of the others; Gohan is a whiny brat, Vegita is a selfish jerk, and Goku is an idiot who is a fighting savant.
Like Piccolo, she's cool because she's such an interesting character.
Shinji Ikari might have been the main character of Evangelion, but Rei was the real star of the show.
I've seen mainly the anime but she's one of my favorite quirky characters.
She was my favorite Street Fighter arcade character so I felt I had to include her. She also has one of the best backstories of the Street Fighter series; very Batman-like.
I first saw her in the "Riding Bean" OAV and I wasn't that impressed but her "Gunsmith cats" series really blew me away. Sure, there are expert marksmen, but Rally shocked me in when she disarmed somebody, she really DISARMED them. I remember how she literally blew someone's thumb off, making them unable to cock their gun. You just don't see that in American comics.
I gotta give credit that it takes some attitude to shamelessly prance around in that skimpy outfit. Sure, superheroines are notorious for their clingy outfits but Mai puts 'em all to shame.
Although Maya could give her some stiff competition too. I think her transformation into her little chibi kid form and then her eye popping, super stacked adult form is worthy of her own entry.
The Greatest Autobot of them all. The writers sure do like to kill him off in every single television series or movie that he's starred in. My only consolation is that they always bring him back.
About the only marksman greater than Rally Vincent I think. He's a shameless pervert, but an incredible gunfighter.
This guy was the main reason why I was briefly addicted to Gundam Wing.
I thought the original movies were only so-so when I was a kid but I still watched 'em anyways. The later movies improved, particularly in F/X and I personally kinda of liked the American one with Matthew Broderick, although I think they could have done it better.
I did not add her cause she's a total babe ... well, even though that she is. But her sense of humor and common sense often saves the day even despite her "genius" sister. I also genuinely enjoy how her character has evolved over the years. Unlike a lot of other series which seem to "freeze" time, Fred Perry hasn't done that and allowed his creations to grow up.
By rights, the idea of an anthropomorphic rabbit cast in the role of a samurai should be darn ridiculous. But even though Usagi is, Stan Sakai never writes in any sort of animal humor or dumbs things down for his audience. He writes an epic story involving a samurai during a chaotic period of Japan-history. His characters are real and realized; you laugh at their triumphs, you cry when they die, and before you realize it, you don't see them as animals pretending to be people ... they're people who just happen to be animals. Usagi Yojimbo is one of the greatest samurai epics I have encountered and I fully expect that it will go down as a classic and most epic of manga that will always be in print for generations to come.
Of all of the Avatar characters, I have to say that I liked Toph the best. Despite her blindness, she didn't let that stop her and became the greatest Earthbender of all time, even mastering the ability to bend metal; something considered impossible by many. I also thought she was pretty funny as she wasn't afraid to poke fun at her blindness and mocking everyone else.
