Favorite / Least Favorite Characters

[Nissa]

So we've had a sudden influx of members lately, so I'd like to discuss the all too obvious topic of liked and disliked characters. Why not?

I've always loved Aldaris. I've always had a thing for characters who are underestimated or demonized, and Aldaris is the type of person that modern culture hates. I hate modern culture, so the enemy of my enemy and all that. Besides, it's fun irony to like a character that hates humans. It amuses me.

Raynor's my second favorite, because he's an awesome hick. And if you put him and Aldaris in the same place, hilarity ensues. Mengsk is fun in that same sense, but my official third favorite is pre-infested Kerrigan.

Actually, I don't dislike any (pre-SCII) characters, other than the Overmind. He's just too sterile of a character to be very interesting, and yet we have to spend most of the first Zerg missions listening to his bland dialogue. As for SCII, I hate new Zeratul (awful retconning/voice acting), General Warfield (boring/awful voice acting), and that one Tal'darim guy that seems to be at every place Raynor is, conveniently.

[Turalyon]

My favourite characters are often those that most people dislike or "don't get" the most. Not sure if that says anything about me or not....

As such, they'd be Mengsk, the Overmind and Aldaris. Special mentions go out to Duke.

I would've struggled to find a character I actively disliked (before Sc2 that is) but if I had to pick a least favourite, it'd have to be Raszagal. She didn't have much of character/identity per se (for explainable reasons) since was used more as a support, a plot device from which others would have character moments at her expense (ie: the suspicious behavour she exhibits is more to do with Kerrigan's scheming and manipulations than Raszagal and her death is more to serve as character development for Zeratul than anything else).

As for Sc2, I don't have any favourite characters so far. If I was forced at gunpoint, maybe Tychus and Abathur because they are the most uniquely interesting? But then again, most people seem to like these two...

My least favourite Sc2 characters are all the rest, to varying degrees and reasons.

[DonnyZeDoof]

My favourite for StarCraft 1 is Raynor for obvious reasons.

I guess my least fvourite would be Artanis. I don't dislike the character. The thing is that he had a lot of potential but Blizzard seemed to have forgotten about him after the Protoss campaign and only brought him back last minute in the final mission of Brood War. They didn't execute his story as well as they could have.

My favourite StarCraft 2 character would be Tychus. I know his story wasn't executed well but it had some signs of that dark, gritty and mature undertones that a StarCraft 1 story had.

My least favourite would be that Zerg character in HotS. I forgot his name but he kept saying, 'Essence' throughout the campaign. I swear after I finished HotS, I never wanted to hear the word, 'Essence' ever again....

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My favourite for StarCraft 1 is Raynor for obvious reasons.

I guess my least fvourite would be Artanis. I don't dislike the character. The thing is that he had a lot of potential but Blizzard seemed to have forgotten about him after the Protoss campaign and only brought him back last minute in the final mission of Brood War. They didn't execute his story as well as they could have.

My favourite StarCraft 2 character would be Tychus. I know his story wasn't executed well but it had some signs of that dark, gritty and mature undertones that a StarCraft 1 story had.

My least favourite would be that Zerg character in HotS. I forgot his name but he kept saying, 'Essence' throughout the campaign. I swear after I finished HotS, I never wanted to hear the word, 'Essence' ever again....

[Hawki]

StarCraft: Terran

-Favorite: Jim Raynor

-Honourable Mention: Arcturus Mengsk

-Least Favorite: Magistrate

-Dishonourable Mention: Edmund Duke

StarCraft: Zerg

-Favorite: Zasz

-Honourable Mention: Kerrigan

-Least Favorite: Daggoth

-Dishonourable Mention: Overmind

StarCraft: Protoss

-Favorite: Fenix

-Honorable Mention: Zeratul

-Least Favorite: Executor

-Dishonourable Mention: Aldaris

Brood War: Protoss

-Favorite: Zeratul

-Honorable Mention: Raszagal

-Least Favorite: Executor

-Dishonorable Mention: Artanis

Brood War: Terran

-Favorite: Samir Duran (counting him as a terran here)

-Honorable Mention: Arcturus Mengsk

-Least Favorite: Captain

-Dishonorable Mention: Gerard DuGalle

Brood War: Zerg

-Favorite: Kerrigan

-Least Favorite: Samir Duran (for clarification, I dislike how he snivels up to her for most of the game)

-Dishonorable Mention: Cerebrate

StarCraft II: Terran

-Favorite: Jim Raynor

-Honorable Mention: Arcturus Mengsk

-Least Favorite: Graven Hill

-Dishonorable Mention: Emil Narud (in that if we've seen the end of him, and he's indeed Duran, there's one word for it - "botched.")

StarCraft II: Zerg

-Favorite: Abathur

-Honorable Mention: Kerrigan

-Least Favorite/Dishonrable Mention: Brakk/Slivan/Kraith/Yagdra (as much as I love the primal zerg in concept, the characters besides Dehaka and Zurvan aren't that interesting)

StarCraft II: Protoss

This is probably unfair in that we haven't seen LotV yet, but as it currently stands:

-Favorite: Zeratul

-Honorable Mention: Karax (I dunno, of what little we've seen I quite quite like his character)

-Least Favorite: Nyon

-Dishonorable Mention: Lassara

Overall

-Favorite Terrans: Jim Raynor, followed by Arcturus Mengsk

-Favorite Zerg: Abathur, followed by Sarah Kerrigan

-Favorite Protoss: Zeratul, followed by Fenix

Yeah, it's no secret how and why I prefer SC2 character-wise. Heck, that they dropped the insipid player character mechanic alone more than makes up for anything Nyon or the primal zerg spewed out. While SC1 has fewer weaker characters, it also has fewer interesting ones (IMO). It generally felt like the characters were secondary to the plot, so while I could make connections with some of them, the matter of presentation (talking heads, the player character mechanic, the use of the "green text") made it harder to make connections with them bar some exceptions (e.g. Raynor and Fenix) or in rare cases, succeeding o their own terms as characters (e.g. Mengsk). If anything, what puts me off LotV is that it seems intent on focusing on the conflict rather than the characters involved in it.

[Telenil]

Between the way Starcraft 2 mangled the characters and the hundreds of hours I spent on Mass Recall, it's a little difficult to sort it out.

My favorite character as a kid was Fenix. He is loyal, focused and does what he thinks is right without making a song and dance about it. Heroic in an humble way and definitely relatable.

I also admired Tassadar for the similar "doing what is right" mentality, though Tassadar is much more of a leader. No wonder the two got along.

I like Raynor as shown in episode 1 and 2, but by Brood War I was a little irritated that the Protoss praised him more than they praise each other. I like Raynor when the story is about him, less so when he appears into other people's stories. But I can live with that, the fact that he never shows up again after True Colors proves that Blizzard didn't want him to steal all the show.
Raynor in SC2... is a different character. Moving on.

I also loved Brood War Kerrigan as a vilain. Her capture and infestation made her sympathetic, and she could have played along and tried to find her own place in the Sector. Instead, she chose to conquer it. She's clearly evil and merciless, but not in a Complete Monster sort of way. The way she never shows any interest in actual genocide and keeps her soft spot for Raynor made her far more interesting as a vilain than your average alien commander.

The Overmind was great, but more as a concept than a character. His lines were rather blank, but you could feel the Swarm single-mindedness in the rare moments it showed emotions. I wouldn't have been impressed if I hadn't read the manual, but since I did, I liked it.

The only Starcraft 2 character I can put in that list is Abathur. He has the same focus as the Overmind, the same disdain for anything not relevant to genetic improvements, and I could totally see him under the Overmind in episode 2. Good vocal effect, and as with the Overmind, the rare moments where he showed emotions were all the more impressive.

The character I hate the most would be SC2 Arcturus. He shows no particular motivation or redeeming quality (not even love for his son), displays massive incompetence half the time he shows up, but he is still portrayed as a dangerous mastermind that will be difficult to defeat. That's what itches me the most. Whenever Raynor or Kerrigan remind someone of how dangerous Arcturus is, it makes feel me they are dumb, not that Arcturus is smart.

[RetlocLive]

Starcraft Original
Favorite: Fenix - Badass defined.
Least Favorite: Duke - His character just never stuck out to me.

Starcraft Brood War
Favorite: Kerrigan - Her role as the villain was great...even if it benefited from a couple idiot moments from opposing factions.
Least Favorite: Aldaris - his revolt mission never should have happened by a logical standpoint.

Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty
Favorite: Tosh - Likable anti-hero. Such wasted potential being a filler character.
Least Favorite: Kerrigan - Served no purpose, but to pointlessly taunt the player.

Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm
Favorite: Abathur - The ONLY well-written character from Kerrigan's Zerg.
Least Favorite: Arcturus Mengsk - Overhyped as #$%& given his continued incompetence.

[GnaReffotsirk]

Fenix
Warrior, Friend, Dude, Bro, Buffed, Probably works out.

Aldaris
Guardian, Self-less, Devout.

Thatcher
I don't know why but she's something.

Horner
I think we could be alot alike.

[Nissa]

Hawki, you get two points for remembering the names of the primal zerg. I have trouble even remembering they exist.

Who the fudge is Thatcher? Is that the dropship pilot?

There are just so many good characters. I actually like Duke as a character too. I've been thinking about him lately, and he's got a lot more depth than people think. For example, when Tassadar threw a fit at him during the 'Toss missions, Duke totally kept cool. It makes Tassadar look really irrational when a guy two centuries younger than him is calmer and more grown up. Seriously, all Tass had to do was say "my bad" and Duke probably wouldn't have sent those battlecruisers against him.

[GnaReffotsirk]

I think the Duke is an old Duke Nukem. He could be keeping harems at his quarters somewhere.

He's exterior is cool, calm, but he can lash out quickly to do what he's sent to do. He does keep whoever won his loyalty though, all depending to circumstance of course.

A military man. Doesn't see the point. But wants the job done properly and as it should.

"now that's what I call sloppy", he says.

A logic-driven character. Tassadar was more emotional in his drives. He made stupid impulsive actions right at the start of the Protoss campaign.

Without further investigation, he told Aldaris, Fenix, and the Executor the cerebrates must be struck down. He doesn't say not to attack yet, even though at this point he never knew that only the void energies of the dark templar can kill them.

Tassadar is passionately driven. The Duke is not. He's about honoring your word, as a military, and would rather not have battle immediately.

After all he got into trouble because of following orders. Thus Mengsk was able to rescue him when no one else responded to his request for help.

[Telenil]

Without further investigation, he told Aldaris, Fenix, and the Executor the cerebrates must be struck down. He doesn't say not to attack yet, even though at this point he never knew that only the void energies of the dark templar can kill them.

Well, how could he have known? The only time the Protoss had attacked a Cerebrate, Zeratul did the killing blow. It's not like they could make tests on a second Cerebrate. He knew destroying a Cerebrate would scatter the Zerg, so he forwarded the information ASAP. Sounds sensible to me.