| Personally, I think a lot of MCs in anime are either cliche cookie cutouts, somehow get the least development, are Mary sue's or Gary Stu's or have the worst or blandest character designs out of the whole cast of characters. It's a rarity that the protagonist of an anime is my favourite, or even a stand out character in a show and I feel that the supporting cast end up carrying the whole weight of the anime instead! So, which main characters do you think are written, designed and developed well and why?? |
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| As far as character development goes, I have to agree with Shinji. He's one of the only *logically written* characters i've come across. Well Written and Designed, would be Guts the Black Swordsman. He was made to be likeable, though. Overall, one of the best MC's i've read. |
| Edward Elric in Fullmetal alchemist. Especially in the Manga/Brotherhood verse. You're partly right about the MCs. The MCs of most of the Manga/Anime I read/watched do not figure among my top 5 fav characters of the series. The Female Protagonist is usually worse. But that's my opinion and I'm not at all an expert here.. There are many series with good MCs out there I'm sure. I quite like Meliodas of Nanatsu no Taizai too.He's a promising character. Let's see how he turns out. |
EvarinyaJan 30, 2016 3:42 AM
| "There's your truth and there's my truth. As for the Universal Truth - it doesn't exist." |
| Vash the Stampede. Hes hilarious and goofy at times, then straightup badass at times. With a mysterious backstory on a huge scale and even a sibling rivalry, and a Kenshin style vow not to kill even with his notorious reputation. Trigun would be nothing without him. Also Edward Elric, who I think is fantastically well done, great backstory, great development. hes probably one of the most versatile MCs out there, he can be funny, dramatic, badass, smart, he just fits for every situation possible, and there are plenty of testing situations in FMA. Others that are just legendary imo are Lelouch Lamperouge (charismatic, genius-level intellect, flambuoyant and dramatic), Shinji Ikari (for his influence and realism), Light Yagami, Spike Spiegel (do I even need a resason), Sakata Gintoki, Simon from TTGL, theres just so many. |
| You're watching too many harem light novel adaptions. There are plenty of great MCs in manga/manga adaptions. Just look at Oz Vessalius (Pandora Hearts) and the ones people above me mentioned. |
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| Shinji Ikari. Hands down. Character depth- wise. Also, Simon from TTGL. Character development- wise. Oh, wait a minute both of them are Gainax heroes... |
| I wanted to say the main mc from Ladies & Butlers way a nice protagonist but at the end he turned out to be the same usual dense cunt that we see in every harem anime ever. Other than that I got nothing lol. |
| Light Yagami. I hate that idiot, but he is written and develped quite well. |
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Snappynator said: Light Yagami. I hate that idiot, but he is written and develped quite well. Seconded. I dropped Death Note because it gave me nightmares but what little I've seen of Raito makes me agree with you. My brother (who is my go to guy when it comes to Anime and Manga) speaks highly of him. |
| "There's your truth and there's my truth. As for the Universal Truth - it doesn't exist." |
| Lol and here I thought I will see lots of "Gintoki" as an answer. But anyways for me it's Light Yagami and Edward Elric. |
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| Think I would have to say Light Yagami as well. He developed throughout the series, started off with a noble goal but in the end losing sight of what it was that he wanted to do, becoming the very thing that he wanted to defeat in the first place. |
 It's an entirely different kind of flying, altogether! It's an entirely different kind of flying. |
| Broken characters are usually the best written as well. Well, maybe not best written... but you can see what makes them who they are, if that makes sense. My vote goes to Shinji Ikari. |
| Another vote for Shinji Ikari here. He is miserable, but very intriguing and real. I don't understand the people that complain about how whiny he is. Himura kenshin is one of my favorite characters in all of anime. In a certain way, he is just like Shinji. He is tormented by his past and tries to camouflage this. The reason why I put him above Shinji is because of his skill with a sword and his character development. |
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| Kiritsugu is the only one that comes to mind. Fate/Zero wouldn't exist without him. |
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| Saitama. You can't deny it. You can't disagree. |
Seiya0890 said: But its still disgusting from my point of view, and from the word's point of view, therefore its disgusting. Wise words. |
| Rock from Black Lagoon gets a hell of a lot of development throughout the series. You get to see him go from your average Joe to being someone who (without spoiling) does things you would never initially expect him to do in Roberta's Blood Trail. Also, in terms of design, this guy:  |
I'm also filled with pure-hearted ulterior motives. |
| Kraft Lawrence and Holo. They managed to make a show about economics and grain entertaining. That's gotta be the sign of a good protagonist. |
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holysauron said: Another vote for Shinji Ikari here. He is miserable, but very intriguing and real. I don't understand the people that complain about how whiny he is. I get that he is "well" written, but how is "real"? If you think, that every teenage boy suffers from depression, has father issues, and is a total wuss, you would be wrong. The choice he had was pretty simple. Pilot the EVA to help save the world, or act like a little shit and destroy the world. And he actually managed to do both at the same time. As much as I liked NGE, the characters, the messages and all that, Shinji is not even close to reality. He is grossly exaggerated. |
Seiya0890 said: But its still disgusting from my point of view, and from the word's point of view, therefore its disgusting. Wise words. |
| Since Shinji has been mentioned already, I'd say Emiya Kiritsugu's struggle with keeping his ideals intact while being as morally ambiguous as possible in his methods to achieve them was pretty well done, too. Dr. Tenma from Monster also comes to my mind. There's Uesugi Tatsuya from Touch if we go a little old school, his character development is really something. And Shinichi from Parasyte, which is an ambiguous case since he becomes kind of a Gary Stu 'can-do-nothing-wrong' protagonist for a while, but that's an important part of his character arc as it's meant to depict how he's straying farther away from his humanity. |
| Himura Kenshin and Lelouch ftw 30char/10 |
| Arata Kasuga from Trinity Seven Oogami Rei from Code:Breaker Misaka Mikoto from To Aru Kagaku no Railgun |
| I think Gon's (from HxH) development was done really well to be completely honest. You get a taste of how reckless he is at the beginning of the anime- even though he'd still be classified as a happy-go-lucky kid, but by the middle of it you can see how ruthless he can be, and then that ruthlessness kinda evolves until it consumes him. I don't know whether that would be classified as 'cookie-cutter' but it was definitely thrilling to watch. I also agree with the Shinji comments- when i watched NGE I didn't really see him as whiny, just realistic. |
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| Light Yagami, he's the only Protagonist i like an anime .. all my other favorite characters are not the Protagonists. and also guts well developed character. and i have to agree with shinji from NGE. |
| All of my favourite characters of course. |
| "Let Justice Be Done!" My Theme Fight again, fight again for justice! |
| Reinhards development is among the best ive seen |
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| Lol @ you people saying shinji... You guys understand that one of the key and most important traits to any protagonist is to have a transition or what many people like to call "character development". You could argue there was some...but not enough. Shinji more or less stays the same almost the entire anime. And NO...I'm not gonna count any of the movies...the 26 episode anime is what matters most. |
| Another vote here for Light Yagami. Very complex, unique character who is well developed throughout the show right through to that glorious ending. For me, he makes Death Note. I'm yet to find a protagonist on par with him TBH, although I will keep searching :P |
| I must say Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist, he is a good MC character, especially in the shounen genre. Also Light Yagami, Guts, Lelouch vi Britannia, etc. can't really think of others at the moment, but there are a few MC's that are 'done well'. |
vikki7783 said: You're watching too many harem light novel adaptions. There are plenty of great MCs in manga/manga adaptions. Just look at Oz Vessalius (Pandora Hearts) and the ones people above me mentioned. @Strawberrycake48 I'm only going to write LN protagonists. Ryner Lute from the Legend of the Legendary Heroes is amazingly well written. His personality and goals might confuse you in the beginning but his situation and overall demeanor are fantastic. Lawrence from Spice and Wolf is an amazingly well written character. He has a passion for his job and is constantly growing as a character. He also has great conversations with Holo. Satou Kazuma from KonoSuba is a good character. He's hilarious, and socially competent. He's also surprisingly patient and a hard worker when the need arises. Izayoi from Problem Children are coming from another world! Is also an interesting protagonist. He's such a surprising character that it's always fun to see how he'll act. Misaka Mikoto from the Railgun Series and Kamijou Touma from the Index series are both great characters. Kyon from Haruhi Suzumiya is a fantastic character. His demeanor lets him accept supernatural things pretty easily, and he really brings the cast together. He's not the glue of the group like Haruhi is, but he's the base. Kyousuke from OreImo is a great character. He's hilarious and plays off of the other characters really well. The other characters feel more vibrant around him than around each other. Kanda Sorata from Sakuraso is a great character. He has a dream but doesn't work at it. He basically starts off the same as anyone else with a dream, and it's refreshing seeing him struggle and fail for such a realistic goal. Tigre of Madan No Ou to Vanadis is a good character. He's not the most vibrant of characters nor is he the most driven but he's confident, and does what he needs to do. And that's just a few that I can think of. I didn't even include Araragi Koyomi from the Monogatari series because that'd be too easy. |
katsaroulhs said: holysauron said: Another vote for Shinji Ikari here. He is miserable, but very intriguing and real. I don't understand the people that complain about how whiny he is. I get that he is "well" written, but how is "real"? If you think, that every teenage boy suffers from depression, has father issues, and is a total wuss, you would be wrong. The choice he had was pretty simple. Pilot the EVA to help save the world, or act like a little shit and destroy the world. And he actually managed to do both at the same time. As much as I liked NGE, the characters, the messages and all that, Shinji is not even close to reality. He is grossly exaggerated. I haven't really finished Evangelion yet, but given what I heard about his backstory I would be depressed myself. Plus, it's not really a gift to pilot an EVA in the first place. It puts a great deal of mental stress on you because you know that if you screw up it's not only you who dies but humanity in its entirity. Most people panic when faced in such a situation, like Shinji almost did the first time he fought an angel. |
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holysauron said: katsaroulhs said: I get that he is "well" written, but how is "real"? If you think, that every teenage boy suffers from depression, has father issues, and is a total wuss, you would be wrong. The choice he had was pretty simple. Pilot the EVA to help save the world, or act like a little shit and destroy the world. And he actually managed to do both at the same time. As much as I liked NGE, the characters, the messages and all that, Shinji is not even close to reality. He is grossly exaggerated. I haven't really finished Evangelion yet, but given what I heard about his backstory I would be depressed myself. Plus, it's not really a gift to pilot an EVA in the first place. It puts a great deal of mental stress on you because you know that if you screw up it's not only you who dies but humanity in its entirity. Most people panic when faced in such a situation, like Shinji almost did the first time he fought an angel. Yes, but not doing anything, when you know you are one of the very few who can help, is worse. Also I am not talking about his very first encounter. Everyone would piss their pants if they had to fight a monster like that for the first time. It feels like Shinji has almost no development. He stays the same negative, frail and pathetic little kid, even after helping AND getting recognized. |
Seiya0890 said: But its still disgusting from my point of view, and from the word's point of view, therefore its disgusting. Wise words. |
katsaroulhs said: holysauron said: I haven't really finished Evangelion yet, but given what I heard about his backstory I would be depressed myself. Plus, it's not really a gift to pilot an EVA in the first place. It puts a great deal of mental stress on you because you know that if you screw up it's not only you who dies but humanity in its entirity. Most people panic when faced in such a situation, like Shinji almost did the first time he fought an angel. Yes, but not doing anything, when you know you are one of the very few who can help, is worse. Also I am not talking about his very first encounter. Everyone would piss their pants if they had to fight a monster like that for the first time. It feels like Shinji has almost no development. He stays the same negative, frail and pathetic little kid, even after helping AND getting recognized. Always saw him as a "Why me? I never asked for this." type of person, which on some level is understandable to be honest. |
Guts. A character that is really easy to relate to emotionally and makes it difficult to judge his sometimes morally suspect actions. Pretty much as masculine a character can get without being ridiculous. |
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| Lelouch; designed to have noble, yet truly human characteristics. |
| Be thankful for the wisdom granted to you. |
katsaroulhs said: holysauron said: I haven't really finished Evangelion yet, but given what I heard about his backstory I would be depressed myself. Plus, it's not really a gift to pilot an EVA in the first place. It puts a great deal of mental stress on you because you know that if you screw up it's not only you who dies but humanity in its entirity. Most people panic when faced in such a situation, like Shinji almost did the first time he fought an angel. Yes, but not doing anything, when you know you are one of the very few who can help, is worse. Also I am not talking about his very first encounter. Everyone would piss their pants if they had to fight a monster like that for the first time. It feels like Shinji has almost no development. He stays the same negative, frail and pathetic little kid, even after helping AND getting recognized. I think about it like this. He was hesitant at first, which is absolutely normal. Then, when he learned how to pilot the EVA better and met some people he could get along with he gradually got used to it all. But with all the stress he gets from his father and the fact that he can't fuck up without putting the existence of humanity at risk against something that is frightening to fight, he generally slips back in his depression. It's like those soldiers at World War I, who often ended up in a madhouse when they were not killed. It's not something I can relate to, but I know that both situations are pretty similar except from the father being a prick. |
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katsaroulhs said: That's completely true if you ignore most of the series like episodes 7-16. His change in character is even outright commented on and he does not voice a single compliant as he grows into his role as a pilot before understandably regressing due to pivotal events in the series (and even then, he doesn't complain and expresses desire go out to help both Asuka and Rei when they're in danger despite being grounded). His almost refusal to grow up as he falls into his role more readily, particularly when he comments on his reason for piloting after receiving praise from his Father during episode 12 (in contrast to his initial goal to move away from him) is a vital part of the series.It feels like Shinji has almost no development. He stays the same negative, frail and pathetic little kid, even after helping AND getting recognized. |
| <--- Aoba because she's cute as shit. Serious post: Hikigaya Hachiman. He's no Edward Elric or Emiya Kiritsugu but Hachiman stands out for me and not with the usual stance that he's relatable . Outside of his snarky and pretentious mentality edgy teenagers seem to love, he is the definitive depiction of an overthinking teenage boy, one who has gone through social problems due to his behavior which he shuns. His development in the second season was some of the best I've seen in the realm of literature, taking into account the subtle dialogue and problems he shares with the two main heroines and his relationships with other people. The changes seem small but this is a huge step forward, in my eyes. TL;DR - Holden Caulfield if he wasn't boring as shit. @ Shinji fangays The dude's walking symbolism made to make Anno's themes of depression and Christian imagery look cool. |
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| The majority of Shinji's development is internal. Throughout the series, he gradually beings to recognize his own problems and his place in the world. His actual journey is seeking out what he must do in order to truly become happy. His monologues along with many of the imagery used is where his development and depth as a character truly lies. I wish people would stop limiting their view of NGE to just its surface level, so that they might actually begin to see the big picture. |
| Yabuki Joe from Ashita no Joe Phantom Harlock from Captain Harlock Yang Wenli and Reinhard von Lohengramm from Legend of the Galactic Heroes Akira Fudo from Devlman Guts from Berserk |
MagicalMahou said: There is nothing subtle to be found in Yahari and the circumstances that surround his development are as contrived and as unreal as his methods of self-sacrifice and helping people.His development in the second season was some of the best I've seen in the realm of literature, taking into account the subtle dialogue and problems he shares with the two main heroines and his relationships with other people. The changes seem small but this is a huge step forward, in my eyes. |
TonyTheme said: katsaroulhs said: That's completely true if you ignore most of the series like episodes 7-16. His change in character is even outright commented on and he does not voice a single compliant as he grows into his role as a pilot before understandably regressing due to pivotal events in the series (and even then, he doesn't complain and expresses desire go out to help both Asuka and Rei when they're in danger despite being grounded). His almost refusal to grow up as he falls into his role more readily, particularly when he comments on his reason for piloting after receiving praise from his Father during episode 12 (in contrast to his initial goal to move away from him) is a vital part of the series.It feels like Shinji has almost no development. He stays the same negative, frail and pathetic little kid, even after helping AND getting recognized. He didn't have any development. He was simply waiting for his daddy to notice him. Throwing tantrums around. He actually became worse. |
Seiya0890 said: But its still disgusting from my point of view, and from the word's point of view, therefore its disgusting. Wise words. |
TonyTheme said: MagicalMahou said: There is nothing subtle to be found in Yahari and the circumstances that surround his development are as contrived and as unreal as his methods of self-sacrifice and helping people.His development in the second season was some of the best I've seen in the realm of literature, taking into account the subtle dialogue and problems he shares with the two main heroines and his relationships with other people. The changes seem small but this is a huge step forward, in my eyes. 8man isn't socially competent, and isn't socially liked. The ways he solves problems aren't the best way they could be solved, but they're the only ways he can think of which is indicative of him needing some growth. Later on he starts relying on other people, so they can balance out his own problem solving skills. It's why Iroha's situation was handled so much better than any previous one. His growth is real, and it is subtle. I usually don't like edgy characters but I don't mind Hachiman since the whole theme of the show is growing into adulthood and it places edgy Hachiman firmly into the teenager category. |
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