This isn't an article; it's my own personal thoughts on the matter.

Why do we like some characters over another? What do they all have in common? Here is where I'll analyze some of my favorite fictional characters. As I'm not much of a reader (gasp), I'll use TV shows. Even if you don't know the specific character, pay attention to the character traits I outline.

Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto

Naruto is my number one favorite character of all time, and the biggest reason is because he's so passionate about everything he does. He never gives up or sulks. If he can't do something, he will not sleep until he can do it better than anyone else.

Example: when he learned how to make shadow clones. He couldn't even make a copy image of himself. Every single person despised him and made fun of him, but he retreated to the woods and practiced until he could make actual CLONES of himself. Not even the elite ninjas could do that, and he ended up kicking one of their butts.

His ultimate dream is to become Hokage (the ruler of his village), and that drives everything he does. He has his own set of values (never giving up, never turning his back on someone who needs help, never half-assing anything), and he will never go against those, no matter what.

The guy always holds his chin up high and smiles. No matter how bad things get, he stays optimistic. In one scene, this evil demon thing was mocking him for saying he would take on the hatred of everyone and use it as his power. The demon told Naruto that if he couldn't even save his best friend (a very sore subject with him. His best friend/rival left the village and essentially turned “bad”, and Naruto couldn't save him), how could he save the world? Naruto just smiled at the demon and said, “I'll take away your hatred, too.”

Summary:

-He never complains or whines.

-He always gives his 100% in even trivial tasks.

-He's OPTIMISTIC even in the darkest situations.

-He holds onto his dreams every step of the way.

-His friends always come first.

Caroline from The Vampire Diaries

Okay, preppy, annoying, blonde cheerleader? Originally. Then she got turned into a vampire, and her characterization took a complete 180. She became of the coolest and most sympathy-inducing characters I've ever seen. Let's look at why.

Yes, really bad things happened to her (ie. Getting turned into a bloodthirsty vampire), but she didn't let it bring her down for long. She grew up to the challenge to living with her condition, and she learned how to own it.

But her shining moment came when preppy, annoying, douchebag jock Tyler turned into a werewolf. The guy was a complete douche, but she understood what it was like becoming a monster. She was there for Tyler even though one bite from him would kill her. She stayed with him right up to the moment he turned because she didn't want him to be alone.

Summary:

-She never complains or whines.

-She always gives his 100% in even trivial tasks.

-She's OPTIMISTIC even in the darkest situations.

-Her friends always come first.

Light Yagami from Death Note

The guy is a psychopathic serial killer (with a special notebook—the Death Note—in which you write someone's name, and then they'll drop dead), but I still loved him. If someone can make me (and many others) love a guy like him, there must be something really brilliant about him.

Light is smart and confident. He has a goal: rid the world of criminals (though his method is to kill them all), and he sticks with that goal throughout the series, from start to end. He doesn't sulk when something goes wrong and one of his plans get thwarted. Instead, he makes a new plan and makes it so intricate and brilliant, we're all sitting here holding our breaths, wanting him to succeed.

The thing with Light is he tries. Really hard. The death god that came with the Death Note even commented on the lengths to which Light went to protect the Death Note and the extent to which he used it. Light goes all the way. He doesn't half-ass his work, and that's what made him so interesting to watch.

Summary:

-He never complains.

-He always gives his 100% in even trivial tasks.

-He's OPTIMISTIC even in the darkest situations.

-He holds onto his dreams every step of the way.

(Sound familiar yet?)

Hopefully you can see the pattern. There are certain traits that will ensure your character is well-liked by most.

The biggest thing that continues to baffle me is why authors continue to write whiny protagonists in current YA fiction. They complain and whine all the time. Maybe that gets masked by a snarky attitude, but the snark is a very thin mask, and it's easy to see the character does most of the things not because they want to, but because they have to.

But that doesn't mean your characters can't whine from time to time if it's done in the correct context. Wally West (Kid Flash) from Young Justice was having a really awesome birthday, and the Young Justice team (which is made of the sidekicks/apprentices) got to fight alongside the Justice League. But Wally had to run a donor heart to a hospital across the country. Obviously, he wasn't pleased to miss out on an epic fight to be a mailman, and he whined about it almost the entire episode. But near the end of his journey (with a few villains getting in his way) he went through an emotional rollercoaster of hell trying to get the heart to the little girl on time. The bad guy tricked him into thinking he didn't make it on time, and watching Wally have a mental breakdown when just 15 minutes ago he'd been moaning and groaning was heart-wrenching and so touching. He matured so much over the course of that episode. That's when you can justify whining--when they see how stupid they were for whining, when they mature and become deeper emotionally. You have whiners like Bella who just remain whiners throughout the story, and that's when whining is insufferable.

When you write your characters, protagonists especially, they should never do something because they HAVE to. They should do it because they WANT to, because fulfilling this task gets them a step closer to their ultimate goal. They should be excited about almost everything they do and go into the situations with optimism.

Would you rather read about a character who says, “*groan* why do I have to do this? This sucks!” or “Let's do this. I'm going to beat them down and show them who's boss. *nods*” The latter are the people who gain a huge fan base. They're the ones who get respect from their peers.

 Don't get me wrong, a character doesn't have to be optimistic to be lovable. Usually, optimistic characters don't whine, and I abhor whiny characters (except Wally, on whom I have a huge cartoon crush). Anti-heroes are the bomb! My favorite movie of all time is Batman: Under the Red Hood. And the main villain, the old Robin, is also an anti-hero. There's nothing happy about the guy (except his cocky one-liners), but he still pulls at my heartstrings. Then Batman is a pretty dark guy himself.

I think the appeal of optimistic characters like Naruto is that he inspires me to be a better person. I'm a huge pessimist, and I hate that. Naruto continues to remind me that I don't have to get stuck in the low points of my life.

So the take-home point is whatever you do with your characters, don't make them whine unless you rectify the whining at some point. Making them optimistic is the easy option because optimistic people don't whine or complain very much if at all. You can write the anti-heroes, too, as long as you keep this in mind. Make them passionate about something. Make them go to hell and back for their hopes and dreams, make them suffer, and when they're at their lowest point, make them pull themselves back on their feet.

Make your characters become leaders over the course of the story, not followers. I can name numerous examples of this: Harry Potter went from being a kid living under the stairs to the leader of Dumbledore's Army. Eragon went from being a farmboy to being the most important weapon in the rebellion. Naruto went from a social outcast to the village hero. Shu from Guilty Crown went from a crybaby to the rebel leader. Bobby from Pendragon went from a normal high school kid to the leader of the mystical Travelers.

Realistically, your character doesn't have to become a rebel leader or save the world or even make that much of an impact on others to be liked. You have characters like Holden from The Catcher in the Rye who didn't do much growing at all throughout the book. The thing about Holden was that he was relateable, and that's what made him so likeable.

He was shy, awkward, a dreamer. Heck, the guy was in a room with a prostitute, and he tried having a conversation with her because he was lonely. He wears a ridiculous, red hunting cap as a safety net like little kids hold onto teddy bears. By the end of the book, he was pretty much the same guy, but just the fact that he personified all the insecurities and awkwardness of teenagers, it made us want to give him a hug and never let go.

But a word of caution: unless you can write like Salinger, don't attempt a character like Holden. Salinger based the entire book around an immense amount of symbolism. If you were to take the book at face value, there was literally no plot and the character showed no growth. It would've been a terrible story, but if you look deeper into the symbols, everything becomes so deep and complex, delving far into the teenage psyche. That's where the magic of Holden is, and unless you can weave such complex ideas together on your own, I wouldn't advise trying to create a character like him.

Who are your favorite fictional characters and why? You can even mention real people if you want. What characteristics do they have that make you like them so much? Post your thoughts in the comments!