TOP 15 FANTASY CHARACTERS

top 15 fantasy characters now i'm aware i've made similar lists before but trust me it's been a long time i've come across a lot of new characters and i always like to take angles when crafting lists before and so it resulted in some inconsistencies like previously when i did a best characters list i'd say specifically i'm going to look at x factor and now i'm going to forget all of that this is purely a personal preference based best character list where i'm just looking at the characters i enjoy the most for specific reasons and bring them here for you to talk about and create lists of your own in the comments down below which i encourage you to do so now my own personal preference is obviously based off raw enjoyment but also i have a real fascination with judging how well a author realized the concept behind a character it's something i'm constantly taking notes on as i'm getting ready for reviews and so you might see a slight bias towards that factor but i just want to get it up front and just address the fact that it will be talked about repeatedly in this list but let's go ahead and jump on into not waste any more of your time the top 15 characters i've read in the fantasy genre am i probably gonna forget one and then be kicking myself as soon as i put out this list and someone points it out no question number 15 lamora now lock lock has a lot of personality and it would be very easy to just talk about that bold appeal to him for this entire segment but i want to actually refocus here and examine how lock's relationship with his best friend is really why we come to understand the scoundrel o so well lock stands out among fantasy protagonists for several reasons he's kind of a bad guy in some ways he's really reliant on a best friend and they have like a codependent relationship and it's at the forefront of the story he's a thief i'm not talking about someone who's like yeah he steals but he's no no lock is just a thief his relationship with his partner though is what elevates him for me so so high we actually really come to understand locke and john both extremely clearly because of how well they know each other and scott lynch the author really exercises and massages that advantage to his writing to the utmost extent the gentleman bastard series is really just a prime crystal example of why having a well-realized already defined and understood relationship with history behind it at the core next to your protagonist can be oh so beautiful for you as an author because it gives you so many tools to just then better understand each character and honestly your reader's going to take a ton of enjoyment out of just getting to know the dynamic between them as well someday lock lamora someday you're going to [ __ ] up so magnificently so ambitiously so overwhelmingly that the sky will light up and the moons will spin and the gods themselves will comments with glee and i just hope i'm still around to see it oh please said lock it'll never happen it's enough time unlocked though let's go on to number 14. no no gray nona has a lot of appeals but she's not going to be everybody's favorite she is getting knocked down and getting back up she almost has a little bit of like a samwise appeal to me like a twisted version of it where sam is just like purity and sincerity incarnate and nona is similar in that because she always believes in others she has faith and those around her no matter how many times a dagger ends up in her back she sees the best in everyone and mark lawrence is not forgiving of that fault of character you could almost say but it breaks your heart to label it as that because you want this to live within her obviously there's so so much more of an appeal towards a character aside from that she is strong she is ambitious she's just flooded with agency and has a massive impact on the world around her i'm not gonna spoil a book of the ancestor here obviously but if you're interested in checking out assassin nuns this this is there's the no other example that is better than this in my opinion though i'm gonna be honest that's a pretty narrow slot that's my secret and my shame i'm nona gray war is in my veins and the screams of my enemies are music to me next up we have vin from mistborn brandon sanderson has been garnering a bit of a reputation for himself as an author for representing mental illness extremely well something that he has refined and honed as he's evolved over the years but he started strong vin's appeal is largely based on the fact that she clearly suffers from depression and anxiety and those are fundamental elements to her character that she works to overcome and build through yeah mistborn as a whole because it's so early on and brandon's bibliography does have some rough edges to it especially when it comes to the pros but the heart of the story the real core of it is beautiful and i think that almost entirely rests on the lens we see it through and that's going to go squarely on vin's shoulders if we're being honest i know some people prefer kelsier and i've maintained since i first read mistborn and on every subsequent reread i don't necessarily get it for me finn is the obviously better defined character who provides more interest and insight into the world but i understand the appeal of kelsier he's super awesome but oh there is just so much to love she evolves drastically while never really changing her fundamentals it'd be easy and a lot of people do write a character who starts more quiet like vin and they make them this extroverted person after they get power and upgrade but vin never does she remains someone who is absolutely the same person believably yes this kind of hurt individual who's been through a lot grew up on the streets of all streets coded nash although there is an evolution though you see it subtly and continually from book one to three and obviously the ending of the series is the end of the series we'll get to that but talk about an escalation of power and character man and it's magnifique sometimes vin imagined she was like the ash or the wind or the mist itself a thing without thought capable of simply being not thinking caring or hurting then she could be free number 12 someone i thought i would have higher and i love them know that i want them higher but i couldn't justify it and that is sam vines from discworld samuel vimes i have a real soft spot for detective characters it's why the sherlock holmes books are in my top five series of all time but samuel vimes for the fantasy genre is the best detective it's ever seen yeah i'm going to stand by that samuel vines embodies like a lot of the best attributes from different detective tropes throughout the evolution of that character type in the history of literature he's got the gruff jaded modern detective in him with also a little bit of like the classic sherlock appeal he's such a blend and beautiful amalgamation but he also manages to stand as his own distinct personality filled character who does not feel like anyone else in the extremely crowded detective character field let's be honest detective characters in like any genre have been done a lot and samuel vines coming from the genius mind of terry pratchett is just level he will make you laugh he has brilliant heartfelt moments and he elevates almost every other character he comes in contact with because he has such a strong personality that watching other characters you've come to know play off of him just elevates both he's one of these magnetic forces in the pages that you will find yourself charismatically drawn to no matter what is happening he's one of these few characters where it's like i would watch him just go about get a coffee sit down drink it read a newspaper and i would be glued to the page the entire time i love me a detective character and samuel vimes is my third favorite detective in all of literature that's high ass praise man there's also an angle to him that i appreciate every single time it's shown in the story and that is his leadership role and abilities he's someone who has a lot of empathy and care but still absolutely will do what needs to be done to get the job accomplished he also hates authoritarianism yet he's an authority figure he doesn't like inherited wealth yet he's married into the upper class there's so many layers and conflicts that are so wonderfully displayed through samuel vines the richness there is just next level basically if you haven't read discworld go do it discworld is freaking amazing i have a whole video about how you can start it because i know there's a lot of confusion around there just just do it it's worth your time and you can burn through each one of them in like a day sherry was aware that commander vimes didn't like the phrase the innocent have nothing to fear leaving the innocent had everything to fear mostly from the guilty but in the longer term even more from those who say things like the innocent have nothing to fear number 11 we have shea from the green bone saga shae i know there's a lot of like if you've read the green moon song you know i'm about to say just unbelievably fascinating character after fascinating character each one of them has such a believable arc you understand who they are where they're coming from their evolution is always justified and even when they're moving in what you know is the wrong direction you find yourself as the reader like conflicted and almost rooting for the direction they're going in because you like kind of believe in the family stuff they're doing but at the same time you know it's not the right call and it's tr but there's no better example of that in the family than shae for me she's caught in this whirlpool of a crime syndicate in a fantasy setting and you can feel her being drawn closer and closer to the heart of it a tragic inevitable end and it's heartbreaking but again you as the reader are conflicted because fondly does an absolute masterful job of playing with your emotions as the reader and making you feel conflicted within yourself on what these characters should be doing there is so many reasons to read the green bone saga and shae stands out as one of the best of the best examples of how i believe fully this will be remembered as one of the greatest fantasy series of all time as it continues to grow in popularity i am so excited for the third book and due to the fact that the middle book the second book in the series was better than the first which sorry i'm having trouble which due to the fact the second book was better than the first like middle book syndrome did not happen here the opposite did it's like the empire strikes back of the green bone saga i'm just on pins and needles every day to find out how this epic trilogy will come to an end if you want the godfather like yakuza crime syndicate equivalent for fantasy the green bone saga is the penultimate example of that the second book i gave a 10 out of 10 for a reason and it has a lot to do with shade's arc and it's also one i have to like completely avoid spoilers for because i know almost no one in my audience has read it and i'm like come on guys get there the clan is my blood and the pillar is its master she whispered i have a lot of regrets in life but those oaths aren't one of them at number 10 we have another sanderson character and that's going to be dolinar for me and he's the last sanderson character i have on my list because sanderson in my opinion has never written anyone better than dalinar colin the tragic war hero the man who was an animal and now has to deal with the ramifications of his actions the monster the black thorn there's so many different labels you can put on him i absolutely adore this concept an upcoming interview i have with brandon sanderson he actually gets into how delanar was one of the initial ideas behind the stormlight archive yeah you can see how this is something that is just this gem that so much has sprung off from and grown into the beautiful wonderful world of roshar and dalinar i i don't know a tragic character in fantasy who i have hated at times more than him will also never not loving him there's a tragedy in almost everything he does but there's also just this wisdom and stoicism around him that does not feel dated like many stoic characters do now because there's such this raw emotional appeal to him especially when you're in his head in the third book oathbringer i just did a summary of oathbringer and i'm not gonna lie it's still my least favorite stormlight book well still not being bad it's just my least favorite of them it's still a good book but rereading it and getting into delanor's head again oh man it elevated it it's definitely worth a reread and i have a more favorable view of oathbringer now every flashback with him especially even if you know what is coming you feel this inevitable sense of dread because what happens is his fault that's the point of oathbringer with him accepting responsibility but ah okay i can't get into details but just wow dalinar is he's wonderful i will take responsibility for what i have done delanor whispered if i must fall i will rise each time a better man number nine we have a bit of a surprise pick because it's a series i have not consistently been in love with and it's definitely one that i've had my opinion on directly changed by by talking with the author but that's very genuine having malizand reframed after better understanding how erickson approaches his character and then going back and rereading some of my favorite uh bits from the series has thrown this character way further up my love list of characters and that is going to be anamander rake rake is somewhat of a trope you could apply many different labels to him but there is an appeal and realization to him that feels very distinctly different than almost anyone else in the entire genre because erickson very thankfully made the decision to never get into his head because how could you possibly write this perspective that creative choice alone actually for me does elevate anamander rake well above many of the other like supremely like thousands of year old beings that we have in fantasy because let's be honest once you're in their head it does take away some of the mystery and menorak is in many malazan books and he feels just as mysterious to me while i also do have a firm understanding a delicate balance his power and badassery also just fill every scene he's in while amazingly he does simultaneously manage to have kind of smaller human heartfelt moments and that's really extraordinary but yeah for being completely honest i still don't love the way eriksen presents his characters it's just not my style but i'm definitely able to put that aside and appreciate what is created here especially now that i have a clearer view looking back on his overall presence in the page and the final appeal to him for me is dear lord the quotes you can pull from andermender rake he is just saying line after line that is so powerful in every sense of the word and that hall i'm not sure if he's gonna stay this high for me but currently as of making this video he just he's up there right now and i'm just feeling and vibing with the vision of anamander rake more than i ever have before which is a great example of how over time after you research and reframe certain series in your head you can definitely have drastically changing opinions appreciation is the feeling i have towards that series and it kind of has been since day one there is no struggle too vast no odds too overwhelming for even should we fail should we fall we will know that we have lived now in the polar polar opposite of elementary rake we have number eight and that's going to be sam samwise gamji if the fantasy genre had a beating heart at the center of it that would be sam sam is the loyal sidekick we all wish we could have he's frodo's lancer and he is the devoted friend who never wavers having sam be the real hero the character who was pure in every single moment in line he said and this actually goes beyond just the lord of the rings books i'm also just including sean astin's performance as sam i would also just put that in here fight me any day all day i know some people think he's sickly sweet it's too much it's over the top it's become even a bit of a meme to say he's the best hobbit but the reason those exist is because it's true memes are often rooted in true nope don't want to say that that is that's not true but this one is damn it referring back to the beginning of this video though and i said i have a strong preference for author's realization of concept behind characters can you think of a character similar to samwise that is better realized in the concept new you cannot there's some good in this world mr frodo and it's worth fighting for i know i'm only gonna read like one sam hate comment on the hundreds left on this video but it's still going to ruin my day at number seven we have damage i know daniel's the wheel of time guys he's going to choose wheel of time i don't care i love her i would die for her and she's not even real i simp moraine give that if you want to my appreciation of this character goes deep enough that i made an entire video like just justifying all of her stances and opinions which a lot of people push back on and they had good points don't care i simp i don't need logic i just love her people are gonna think i'm being serious the old wise wizard trope is my favorite the fantasy genre has to offer it's an old one it's been done to death and i don't care i still want it in every single fantasy book i read and there is no old wise wizard that i have appreciated more than more rain people forget she's old they don't they don't show it so she's old older oldish most of the time this trope serves as a passage a gateway into exploring the fantasy world the author is painting for us you take the farm boy from the middle of nowhere you give him a wise wizard who will explain things and that way you as the reader get things explained to you it happens so naturally with moraine the speech in book one about monetary do i need to say more she has charisma gravitas mystery lethality there's just so many angles of this character to appreciate and that's not even taking into account the fact that her phenomenal relationship with rewarder and the farm boys a lot of people think it's stilted i think that's the point and it makes it more appealing yes they have like a friendship and it evolves and grows but there's never really full trust and that angle that constant tension really really works for me it's something we don't always see with older wiser wizards where people just are like oh you're the gandalf gotcha you got my back cool why would you if you've lived in this isolated village and there's all these rumors about these twisted wizards why would you and that's a brilliant part of that character i mean robert jordan famously talked about how one of the main uh inspirations for wheel of time was how he grew up as a country guy and if a wizard came up to him and was like you're gonna be the chosen one you have to go with this adventure he'd go right and jump out the bathroom window and that's kind of a continual philosophy about the relationship between these villagers from nowhere and the wizard trying to guide them on their journey not that anyone actually literally jumps out a bathroom window do they no no we have made the world dance as we sang for 3 000 years that is a difficult habit to break as i have learned while dancing to your song you must dance free and even the best intention of my sisters tried and guide your steps as i once did at number six galacta glocta glacta clacta there's a lot of silver tongues in fantasy it's a trope having someone who is able to manipulate and lie their way to the top through intelligence wit understanding and manipulation none of them come close to glockda he is the penultimate zenith of this trope in my opinion and there's a lot of people from first law who i debated having this list and didn't necessarily eliminate and there were people who just pushed them out like okay i love logan nine fingers as much as the next guy savine is slowly stealing my heart but none of them are going to surpass glockta like it's just duh while he is crippled and not necessarily a physically imposing presence there is an era about him that just permeates every conversation you know no matter who he is talking to they are at some form of disadvantage because they're dealing with the smartest man in the entire first law world and he has the ability to just read and manipulate and push and pull everyone he wants to except for that one guy i can't get into because spoilers the one man glockdo fears he hasn't had the greatest change throughout the first law but there's definitely a substantial evolution and realization of character that every reader appreciates to me glockta is several things in the page he is danger he is intelligence he is wit he is charisma of an alternative kind and he's poison he is an element that is to be feared and dangerous not in the same sense of like logan nine fingers but in the sense of you know he's going to accomplish what he wants to even though people could cut his head off at any moment they're not going to because glock doesn't control in acting classes you're often told like hey realize like how much social strength your person has and be sure to like if you're at someone who's had an eight and you're a four be in that position where it feels like that gocta's always at a ten you are aware i suppose that i lived through two years of torture two years in hell so i can stand before you now or lean before you twisted as an old tree root a crippled shambling wretch mockery of a man a lordhoff let us be honest with one another sometimes i lose control of my own leg my own eyes my own face he snorted if i can call it a face my bowels too are rebellious i often wake up doubt in my own sh i find myself in constant pain and the memories of everything that i have lost nag at me endlessly he felt his left eye twitching let it twitch so you can see how despite my constant efforts to be a man of sunny temper i find that i despise the world and everything in it and myself most of all a regrettable state of affairs for which there is no remedy number five fitz from the far seer series i've only read the farseer trilogy but no doubt fitz is gonna be in my top ten he could adjust and sink down to seven or pop up to three but for now this is a strong number five i absolutely adore underdogs characters who get pushed down and get back up again and again win my heart it's corny but it's an appeal that will never die to me almost no characters go through as much as fitz has gone through and he consistently is the one who just rises the horns swell narratively and he comes back for more he is a hero in nearly every single sense of the word he has great villains to enhance his appeal as a charismatic force not that he's like necessarily like this grand speech giver but you understand what i'm saying he's made bad calls he's been pushed in directions i wouldn't call good yet he manages to find his way back to the light and continue to be the protagonist the farseer trilogy demands his growth of character is also just exceptional referring back to like the social thing i was talking about before this guy starts it like a soft three but by the final book he has just found the confidence believably understandably to rise to a point where he does fill the page and dominate many conversations and situations he has a strength and a depth to him that others respect there's a lot you could talk about with this character robin hobb is one of the best character writers for the genre in my opinion and there's no better example from that from her i've seen than fitz and i cannot wait to get into more of her bibliography three books of fits for me were not enough i need three more and i plan to read them early next year wolves have no kings number four i have to have a martin character in here right and there's no doubt that the best martin character in my opinion is tyrion lannister tyrion's entire life has been been knocked down he has countless elements working against him not only the fact that his culture and society around him looks down on him for his physical differences which of course is something people today still have to deal with but he overcomes that with one of the best minds again the fantasy genre has ever seen can you tell i like smart characters i like detectives i like people who are smart and i like a good silver tongue and the humor oh the humor watching tyrion dance circles around nearly everyone else in the entire song of ice and fire world is never not entertaining and in a similar samwise appeal i'm talking about both the live-action adaptation and the character in the book i think both of them earn spots on this list and i'm going to solidly give them the number four place peter dinklage's performance is probably the greatest performance that the game of thrones show had the joffrey performance is up there as well but oh it's it's i i would i would maintain tyrion yeah and seeing that performance does enhance the character in the book for me fight me i don't know i'm just going to say it and be honest if you want to exclude that from your list go right ahead and make your own but he's the downtrodden of the downtroddens the underdog of the underdogs and the tragic take on him and the reveal of just how much his own family has done horrific things to him and yet how he still manages to be so himself is somehow inspiring again he has the kind of presence where every time there's a chapter with him involved you will be glued to every single thing he does and that's one of the beauties of characters written in this quality they could be just doing nothing and you're going to be fascinated i've genuinely been through more emotions reading his character than maybe just about any other i've cried for him i've laughed at what he's said i've envied him i've pitied him pretty much the entire gambit and that to me is one of the true signs of an expertly written character you can even hate him in moments and then love him tyrion is tragic yet inspiring there's just layer upon layer upon layer it's it's addictive once you have accepted your flaws no one can use them against you number three maybe the most written off character who is of this caliber for the entire genre because people only read his first three books maybe three maybe four and they're like yeah i get it and they move on it's a disservice damn it harry dresden is one of the best arcs the genre has ever seen it's subtle it's believable it's human and what i'm going to talk about specifically for this number three spot is closeness to the reader you and harry in the pages are just right there every emotion every thought every beat of his arc you feel and experience with him yes the advantage of the first person perspective but it also is the master class realization from the author jim butcher jim butcher's a zany guy the conversation i had with him he proved that but that has worked to his advantage in crafting a character who has such humor such heart and such depth i know after reading just like three or four dresden books it's very easy to just be like yeah and move on but trust me as the character grows as the series goes on and the world builds you subtly and expertly fall in love with this man and understand him on such an intimate intimate level i've talked about several times in this channel how i feel like the dresden files is like a sneak fantasy epic where it starts so small yet by the latest books we're dealing with like some of the most huge events i've read in fantasy like it just grows and grows and it's like oh wow i'm reading a real epic fantasy now with a world that started like these small detective tales and that's a huge amount of praise but the same thing occurs with harry's character he seems small he seems just a trope done to death smarmy detective whatever where but by book seven book eight book nine you realize just how human he is and that's almost entirely realized from the author in my opinion through his relationship building he has so many friends such a colorful cast around him each one with their own perspective on dresden that's distinct from others yet still true and that's how you begin to get the full picture of this man whether it's through molly michael there's a lot of m's here bob or even mouse all of them show you another part of dresden and you put the puzzle together and then maybe the most fleshed out character in terms of personality in fantasy comes to life at least in my opinion i used a knife i saved a child i won a war god forgive me number two we got the twoster got the number two randolphore the chosen one trope a trope a lot of people are tired of until they come across a of rare caliber example of it and randall thor is no doubt that some people hate him i think he has a lot of personality traits in common with like anakin at times he can be a bit bothersome but at the end of the day he's also so so believable and his growth and earning the chosen one mantle is unrivaled in my opinion for the countless characters that have fallen into this slot he goes through many many different stages each of which totally understood and realized and earned to the point where hardcore wheel of time fans have labels for like zinrand mad rand steel randy they all are known but you have to understand they're not like corny or shallow they're from moments the character experienced and results of the narrative having tremendous impacts on him and one of my favorite parts of randall thor is how much he fails rand is a disaster at times he does evil things he accidentally harmed people who do not deserve it he is flat out wrong in certain situations and reckless with his own life even though the fate of the world depends on him all of these things come together for me to show a this is what a chosen one would be like someone who doesn't necessarily want the pressure who does not handle it well and it takes a long long painful time for them to finally come to terms with their role and that's after coming to terms with it in the wrong way in different ways repeatedly he's a great friend and he's a terrible friend he's someone who can't decide how to handle so much that's been handed to him and that's to me how a chosen one should feel i love the guy and i've said enough about him so i'm not going to spend too much more talking about rand but i think most people at least who have finished the wheel of time are going to agree he is what many chosen ones should look to and how to do that trope right flaws failure growth and a whole lot of earning it and rand also has one of my favorite corny strengths as a character which is being strongest when he's close to his friends and has those who know and trust and he trusts around him and he's weakest when he's isolating i know it's not the deepest thing ever but man i love me some well-defined friendships and i love those friendships to have consequences for the story and the growth overall how do you feel about your prophesied destiny i must know if i am to compose this epic feel ran looked around the camp at the jindo moving among the tents how many of them would be dead before he was done tired i feel tired before we get to number one though some quick honorable mentions who could be number one the wheel of time guy didn't choose wheel of time who could take the top spot who's the best my favorite current fantasy character ever it's almost entirely gonna come down to that note i said at the beginning where i adore seeing a strong execution from an author of a concept they have for a character and there has been no better realization of that for me than death from discworld a dark lord with a blue collar job who is human and goes through everything i have reread the death books in discworld now because i was just drawn to them and this character brings me so much joy to read but also makes me think a lot and feel everything he quits at times death quits death's like i'm out i'm done not dealing with it he has depression he has anxiety he'll let people go at times he's kind of human but he's definitely still a dark lord and it's tricky but that concept that idea of making death a human is on its own i'm sorry death the job is like a blue collar job in its presentation which i appreciate that alone is just great and then on top of that putting a human personality in the role and just meditating on what would they feel what would they experience what would their ideas be what would their rejection be what would their actual like loyalties to the job be all of it terry pratchett just there's not a scene a book a thought death has that is not fascinating to me because the concept's so great and the execution so flawless i never want to see the death arc from discworld adapted because i do not believe it could be done justice for what is in the pages i don't think they're the greatest fantasy books ever i'm talking purely on my enjoyment of this character death from discworld takes the cake from me the fact that terry pratchett himself got letters from sick fans people who were on the brink of passing saying if when they met death they hoped it was like his character from his books because of how human and how uh just it brought death down in a way to a more relatable level and that's just so magical to me it's the embodiment of what fantasy can do for its reader take something that is beyond our comprehension the idea of death itself and bring it to a realm through the fantastical that somehow feels more understandable it's exquisite and i'm grateful that i was even able to read this character terry pratchett's humor and playfulness just carry it along with such a masterful hand that i am ranking at my favorite fantasy character ever all right said susan i'm not stupid you're saying humans need fantasies to make life bearable no humans need fantasies to be human to be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape tooth fairies hogfathers yes as practice you have to start learning to believe the little lies so we can believe the big ones yes justice duty mercy that sort of thing they're not the same at all really then take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice one molecule of mercy and yet you act like there was some sort of rightness in the universe by which it may be judged yes but people have got to believe that or what's the point my point exactly but that is my top 15 fantasy characters the genre has to offer and i am very very curious to see your thoughts on the matter in the comments down below like and subscribe if you have not already hit the patreon if you want to support what i do here have a go on y'all peace and of course i'd like to record a special shout out to my latest high tier patreons matthew mons and sticky orange

Channel: Daniel Greene

Views: 198,031

Rating: 4.9532804 out of 5

Keywords: top 10 fantasy characters, top ten characters, top 15 fantasy characters, wheel of time, stormlight archive, daniel greene, cosmere, discworld, the wheel of time, mistborn, fantasy books, fantasy series, greatest fantasy series

Id: 27OngrnsvN0

Length: 36min 59sec (2219 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 18 2020