Top ten characters from English Literature

[~Andrea~]

OK I know there is already a favourite character thread in the archives, but can you really narrow it down to just one?

 

I haven't decided on mine yet but I'm pretty certain my final list will contain

 

Aslan - Chronicles of Narnia

Fiver - Watership Down

 

So how about you? Who's in your top ten?

 

ETA: Aarrgghh! Anybody know how to correct a spelling mistake in a thread title?

[Michelle]

ETA: Aarrgghh! Anybody know how to correct a spelling mistake in a thread title?

 

I think it's a mod/admin only feature. I've done it for you.. just drop someone a pm if you want something changed in the future.

[~Andrea~]

Thanks Michelle

[Echo]

I'll attempt this, but I'm going to do English and American literature:

 

1. Elizabeth Bennet - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

2. Aloysius Pendergast - The Relic and its sequels, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

3. Lucas Davenport - The Prey Series, John Sandford

4. Samwise Gamgee - The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

5. Becky Sharp - Vanity Fair, W.M. Thackeray

6. Larry Underwood - The Stand, Stephen King

7. Ian Malcolm - Jurassic Park and The Lost Word, Michael Crichton

8. Anne Shirley - Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery

9. Nicholas Nickleby - Nicholas Nickleby, Charles Dickens

10. Jane Eyre - Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

 

Of course, this will all probably change by tomorrow.

[Kell]

This was really tough!

 

1. Stu Redman (The Stand by Stephen King)

2. Cato and Macro (Eagles series by Simon Scarrow)

3. Elena Michaels (Women of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong)

4. Sam Vimes and Granny Weatherwax (Discworld series by Terry Pratchett)

5. Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne)

6. Crowley (Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

7. Mole (The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graeme)

8. Puddleglum (The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis)

9. D. S. Logan

[~Andrea~]

In no particular order:

 

Gollum - The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings

Anne Shirley - Anne of Green Gables

Maggie Tulliver - The Mill on the floss

Aslan - Chronicles of Narnia

Uncle Andrew - The Magician's nephew

Fiver - Watership Down

Orr - Catch 22

Yosarian - Catch 22

Gabriel Syme - The man who was Thursday

HeathCliff - Wuthering Heights (I don't mean I like him, I hate him ) and he's a favourite for that reason, if you know what I mean

[jenmck]

I think everyone else's answers are pretty interesting.

 

My favorites

 

1. Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice)

2. Harriet Vane ("Gaudy Night" by Sayers)

3. Walker Boh (Shannara Heritage Series by Brooks)

4. Paul Atretis ("Dune" by Herbert)

5. Duncan Idaho ("Heretics Of Dune" by Herbert)

6. Kate (Taming Of The Shrew)

7. Agatha Troy ("Death In A White Tie" by Marsh)

8. Roderick Alleyn (Ngiao Marsh mysteries)

9. Grianne Omsford ("The Straken" by Brooks) and Wren Omsford ("Elfqueen Of Shannara)

10. Jaqueline Kirby (Elizabeth Peters Mysteries)

 

Whew, that was TOUGH actually.

[Oblomov]

In no particular order

 

1. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

2. Iago - William Shakespeare

3. Nostromo - Josef Conrad

4. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

5. Captain Yossarian - Joseph Heller

6. Orlando - Virginia Woolf

7. Hawkeye - Fenimore Cooper

8. Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain

9. $crooge McDuck - Carl Barks

10.Scarlett O'Hara - Margaret Mitchell

[~V~]

Blimey. Tough one

 

Will have to agree with Aslan

 

Also Henry de Tamble has to be in the list surely?

 

Anna, from my favourite book 'Mr God this is Anna'

 

Shall return with seven more. Or maybe not

 

Oh yes, I'm very fond of Lincoln Rhyme

[KathleenMacIver]

Here are some of my favorites:

 

I no particular order:

- Elizabeth Bennett (Pride & Prejudice)

- Jem (Anne and Gilbert's son, from the Anne of Green Gables series... don't ask my why I love him... I don't know!)

- Miach (from Lynn Kurland's Star of the Morning... at least so far. I'm assuming that the next two in the trilogy will complete the character that this book hinted about)

- Harold (You guys are going to think this is funny, but this character is a young boy who only appears in the Prologue and Epilogue of Lynn Kurland's "The Tale of Two Swords" novella, found in the To Weave a Web of Magic anthology... but I love him!)

- Jason de Piaget (another of Lynn Kurland's characters... he is a side-character in This Is All I Ask, and From this Moment On, but his own love story is told in the novella, To Kiss In The Shadows, which happens to be a RITA winner.)

- Miss Marple (Agatha Christie's murder-solving old maid)

- The Scarlet Pimpernel (the original hero-in-disguise, from Baronness von Orczy's books)

[Kylie]

In no particular order:

 

Yossarian (Catch-22 by Joseph Heller)

Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

Raoul Duke (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson)

Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll)

Alex (A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess)

Charles Pooter (Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith)

Randle McMurphy (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey)

Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)

Ellie Linton (Tomorrow series by John Marsden)

Edmond Dantes/Count of Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas) OK, so not English lit but it was translated into English and I just couldn't leave him out!

[Kell]

1. Elizabeth Bennet - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

1. Elizabeth Bennett (Pride and Prejudice)

- Elizabeth Bennett (Pride & Prejudice)

Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy (Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen)

Wow! Lizzie's one popular girl, eh? She and Mr. Darcy were very close to being on my own list too - there's an entire swathe of characters now moping on my bookcase, complaining that I didn't choose them!

[Oblomov]

Somewhat predictably (and I won't say why so ), Liz Bennett of Pride & Prejudice seems to be the most popular choice thus far with 4 nominations. Personally, I considered her character as weak and indecisive. But what is more interesting for me is that Yossarian of Catch 22 is a close second with 3 mentions. It will be interesting to see WoKK's choices.

[poppy]

Funnily enough, four of my favourite books are mentioned but the characters I like best are different.

In 'Gone With the Wind' I best liked Melanie, in 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' I liked the narrator Chief Bromden and in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' I loved Atticus, the Dad. And in 'Winnie the Pooh' it's hard to pick a favourite, but I think mine would be Piglet.

[Louiseog]

I've now read too many posts not to be interested but here are my ten, NOT in order:

1. Thursday Next (Jasper Fforde)

2. Judith in Simon Brett's Fethering Mysteries

3. Hercule Poirot

4. Piglet A A Milne

5. Atticus (I agree Poppy) To Kill a Mocking Bird

6. Aragorn (Lord of the Rings)

7. Severus Snape(HP)

8. Mrs Weasley (HP)

9. Matthew Bartholomew Susanna Gregory

10. Alex Cross James Paterson

 

Not all English sorry or possibly literature ( and there are two who are in there because in my head they are very gorgeous)

[Rosie]

This has been difficult but here are mine in no particular order:-

 

Sydney Carton

[jenmck]

I read these and think "Oh RIGHT I forgot about HIM".

I agree. Atticus is definitely my favorite character in "To Kill A Mockingbird" but I loved Scout too.

 

And Dickon. How could I forget Dickon?

[Princess Orchid]

Andrea Marr (Girl - Blake Nelson)

Thursday Next (Jasper Fforde)

Isabel Dalhousie (Alexander McCall Smith)

James Potter (Harry Potter - and don't ask why!)

 

I'm sure more will come to me later...

[writeoff]

You couldn't get two more different but here goes.Gabriel Oak - Hardy's 'Far from the madding crowd'Frankenstein's monster - Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein'I also love Jane Eyre but doesn't everyone?

[Laramie]

ummmm......

 

1. Maerad from the Pellinor series

2. Cadvan " " "

3. Hem " " " "

4. Hermione from Harry Potter

5. Ron " " " "

6. Harry " " " "

7. Sabriel from....Sabriel (The Old Kingdom Series)

8. Lyra from His Dark Materials Series

9. The Doctor from the Dr Who books

10. err...ummm....Artemis Fowl from Artemis Fowl lol

 

and....errr....11. Holly Short from Artemis Fowl.

[bree]

Found this old thread during a random search - some wonderful mentions already here!

 

 

This is my list, going from youngest to oldest (based on my assumption of their ages) -

 

1. Anna, from Mister God, This is Anna

 

2. William Brown, from the Just William series

 

3. Henrietta Savernake, from Agatha Christie's The Hollow

 

4. Jerusha "Judy" Abbot, from Daddy-Long-Legs

 

5. Sydney Carton, from A Tale of Two Cities

 

6. Atticus Finch, from To Kill A Mocking Bird

 

7. Bilbo Baggins, from The Hobbit

 

8. Galahad Threepwood, from Wodehouse's Blandings books

 

9. Matthew Cuthbert, from Anne of Green Gables

 

10. Grandfather, from Heidi

[emelee]

HAMLET (Hamlet, William Shakespeare)

KONSTABLE ELS (Riotous Assembly, Tom Sharpe)

HERCULE POIROT (Agatha Christie)

MR DARCY (Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen)

MR TOM (Goodnight, Mr Tom, Michelle Magorian)

MATILDA (Matilda, Roald Dahl)

SHERLOCK HOLMES (Sir Arthur Conon Doyle)

PIGLET (Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne)

[Ruth]

Jane Eyre

Atticus Finch (yes, I know he's in American literature, but I cannot mention top characters without mentioning him!)

[poppyshake]

Very difficult but in no order ...

 

Lizzie Bennett (Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen)

Thursday Next (from Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series)

Bertie Wooster (P.G. Wodehouse)

Cassandra Mortmain (I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith)

Esther Summerson (Bleak House - Charles Dickens)

Molly Gibson (Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell)

Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling)

Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery)

Miyuki Woodward (Gold - Dan Rhodes)

Peter Grant (Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch)

[bree]

Nice list poppyshake

I had a hard-time choosing between Wooster and Uncle Galahad, but settled for the latter finally, as I do love him, a little bit more

 

...

Cassandra Mortmain (I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith)

...

This is a book I really want to read.

Edited September 7, 2012 by bree