Protagonists that you would appreciate

[Androol]

I think of two reason for over flawed character.

Generaly in anime you have not only one protagonist but a group of protagonist. Individually they are clumsy, stupid, feeble, coward, etc... and can't face anything by themselves but when they have to face a problem, they stick together and they have individual quality added canceling the individual flows and letting them face problem that only one protagonist can't. It's meant to taught the simple morality "unity is strength" who rule in non individualist society like japan.

Transferring this kind of character in a mono protagonist game is just not very smart unless you make a game where you can gather some NPC to follow the protagonist.

Another point is the use of human ethology, a branch of biology, who said that, for example, big eyes and clumsiness are key to get empathy from another human. Disney was one of the first to use these scientific weapons against is public Japanese learn it from Disney and apply it in their work.

Just an evil strategy. The fact that everyone uses it must have a counter effect at long time but children will all fall for it as we are genetically programmed to. The pattern behind this is if you compare a baby's head to an adult head, the baby has bigger eyes. Baby are clumsy too. No use to say that, as a species, human will not survive for long if they were not empathize with this kind of character.

I don't say i am not complaining of the effect but thats the cause i think.

[WatchJessieGo]

In terms of guys, as long as he's not the typical self-proclaimed "normal" high school student living a peaceful life whose routine is disrupted by a harem of crazy, sexually-exploitable girls, he's okay with me.

In terms of female protagonists, if they're a walking, talking jumble of sexism, that's also a no-no.

[Dakishimete]

Lately all protagonists I see have a strong will and some other features, not as important. They usually are normal people, not especially gifted, but they are able to achieve their objectives because of their determination... and I hate that. I get that they are supposed to teach the reader to not give up and work hard, but after another one of this type it gets really irritaing. Mostly because the way they try to live is simply stiupid, they just go through life like a battering ram and I can't understand why they're still alive.
I like intelligent protagonists as long as they REALLY act like they were intelligent. I've seen too many protagonists said to be smart or even genius when you couldn't see that in their actions or words.
Personally I like the most protagonists that are real and hard to like. I find a guy that's arogant and egoistic, but sometimes shows that he can be nice far more interesting than a silly sweetheart who loves kittens, but is lazy and clumsy.

[Headache]

I like a protagonist who is not decisive, who knows what he wants and does the proper things to get what he wants. You get this kind of people in certain good books, but for anime/manga OH GOD so rare. Once in a while, there'd be a protagonist you like, but nowadays the moe/harem boom is ruining everything and the protagonist is usually a normal high school student with wimpy characteristics and so damn decisive that I want to smash his head.

Opinions differ, but I'd prefer a character like Naruto (who, even though starts off as an annoying brat, later matures into a guy who strives to do what he thinks is best - it's actually pretty good character development IMO) over some gutless harem protagonist who just can't do anything right and is too decisive to actually do something.

[Calissa Leigh]

I don't care if the hero is a superhero or Jon Smith. He needs a personality that fits him and he needs one internal conflict and one external conflict. Otherwise the character is boring.

The normal kid walking to school one day isn't a story.

If the normal kid has a secret drinking problem and his bombshell school sweetheart is about to reveal the secret location of the body they buried together under the stairs, and this is going to ruin the simple day he had planned to break it to her that he accidentally got his cousin pregnant... Yeah. Characterization.

[Omnificent]

At the same time, it's important to strike a balance so that the plot doesn't become a melodramatic soap opera. There is something to be said for capturing the mundane in an entertaining way (see: Azumanga Daioh, Daily Lives of High School Boys, at least half of Adult Swim cartoons).

Also, different protagonists appeal to people at different stages in their lives. When I was 13-14 I liked all-powerful loser jerk protagonists with dark, unspeakable powers like Black Mage from 8BT. Now I prefer hot-blooded and/or trolls. And when I'm ten years on from now, I may very well like just an everyman kind of character with bills to pay and a family to support. As long as they're well-characterized, it ultimately doesn't matter.

[Twisted-Eva]

I like a protagonist who is not decisive, who knows what he wants and does the proper things to get what he wants. You get this kind of people in certain good books, but for anime/manga OH GOD so rare. Once in a while, there'd be a protagonist you like, but nowadays the moe/harem boom is ruining everything and the protagonist is usually a normal high school student with wimpy characteristics and so damn decisive that I want to smash his head.

Opinions differ, but I'd prefer a character like Naruto (who, even though starts off as an annoying brat, later matures into a guy who strives to do what he thinks is best - it's actually pretty good character development IMO) over some gutless harem protagonist who just can't do anything right and is too decisive to actually do something.

You mean "indecisive"? Sorry, just clarifying since it doesn't really make sense to have a wimpy character who is decisive versus a wimpy, indecisive character. >__< On the other hand, simply stating an ordinary high school student living an ordinary live is too redundant. Might as well leave that part out, unless that line is used for the shocking opposite effect.

[sciencewarrior]

Okay, I have a confession to make: I like "dense" protagonists in romance. Done right they are so incredibly funny! Bonus points for characters that actually noticed the other person's feelings, put played dumb because they had to solve their own hang-ups first.

[Razz]

I really dislike ungrateful or whiny protagonists. I know the creators browse the forum so I hope they won't take offense, but I wanted to punch the chick in the flower shop: winter in fairbrook demo. It basically starts with the protagonists roommate getting her a job out of college as a favor. Score! The protagonist drives there and not only is her new boss giving her a job she's also giving her a place to stay for a while.

Then her boss cooks her dinner and the first thing she asks is if they can order pizza. -_- This person just cooked you food. It's not even some comical scenario where it's mosaics and tentacle hentai monsters it's just food the protag wasn't used to eating. Then the boss tells her she wants to go over job protocols and the protagonist goes 'tomorrow, i'm sleepy'. The boss then has to wake her up because she's late for her job...and the protagonist goes right back to bed. ಠ_ಠ

If this had been a scenario where the protagonists mother was forcing them to work in their own store it might make sense, so I can usually live with any protagonists if they 'fit'. (OR have a lifestyle to back up that kind of personality, like an ungrateful spoiled rich girl, moody man whose parents are DEAAAAAAD, etc.)

[SilverxBlue]

Before I go on with my rantpost, I would like to apologize in advance to all the twilight fans and I hope you guys don't take any offense, the same goes for non-twilight fans but are fans of what I'm about to talk about.

For female protagonists, please for the love of my sanity, don't ever make someone like Isabella Swan. The biggest Mary Sue I've ever had the displeasure of knowing. Someone who claims to be oh so plain and boring, but has, like, more than five men falling for her the first day she arrived at school. Someone who prioritized the totally hot vampire boyfriend over her friends and family. Someone who does nothing but freaking whine and complain. Someone who is very vain.

I hate vain characters who do nothing but admire themselves, that's for sure so you'll never see me appreciating them.

As for what I'll actually like, a female protagonist who's witty, can kick ass and troll around just for the heck of it. I'd also like it if they aren't that clueless to love. It would also be nice if a female protagonist has parents who actually care for her, give her advice and support her. I'm already a bit tired of parents being almost non-existent in VNs. (I mean, what kind of parent doesn't care about his/her own daughter's well-being in the first place?)

As for male protagonists, I totally agree with LateWhiteRabbit's post. Also, cynical (somewhat emo) guys are somewhat a big no for me. The few male VN protagonists I totally appreciated were Maebara Keiichi and Satoshi Mochida from Corpse Party and the one I hated was the protagonist of Saya no Uta.

[Argeus_the_Paladin]

An actual historical character, warts and all.

This may apply to all walks of anime, but honestly I'm sick of all the "Historical domain character X, only loli!". It's not funny, it's not innovative, it sure as heck is not respectful of the deceased, and is a pretty good way to give anime and visual novel fans the creeper label. In fact, make that most loli character, but that's a rant I'd save until another day.

I want to see Cicero and Sulla as Plutarch described them. I want to see medieval knights being, well, medieval knights, i.e. landowners and career soldiers who may or may not be chivalric. I want to see Napoleonic magnates being skilful and ruthless statesmen and talented generals and who have a plethora of hygienic/health issues, not sparkling bishonen.

Then again, I practically worship historical accuracy, so my opinion should be taken with a sack of salt.

[papillon]

Of course, an *actual* historical character sort of requires being a no-choices kinetic novel, doesn't it?

[Argeus_the_Paladin]

Eh, we can always have alternate historical scenarios that are actually logical and believable.

My favorite example: What would have happened to Rome had good old Marius not drunken himself to death out of fear in his seventh consulship? It is an alternative scenario that made sense in context (his supporters did not do all that to let him retake Rome just for him to die within like twelve days, for instance) and thus does not really require a lot of suspension of disbelief.

Same for such sudden and unexpected reversals of fortune as Richard III's betrayal in mid-battle or Adolphus Gustalvus of Sweden taking a cannonball to the knee suddenly dying in battle. To that extent I'd say a story with that alternate premise - be it a traditional or visual novel - counts as being authentic as long as the author knows how the world as a whole back then actually worked.

[papillon]

Oh sure, I understand the appeal of alternate history. I would still argue, however, that it's difficult to stick to anything resembling accuracy while maintaining a large degree of player control over the outcome of the story. With a fully branching plot, you're not just showing one plausible alternative, you're dealing with a player who commonly wants to be able to go in lots of different directions.

Standard solution, of course, is to set the story against a backdrop of accurate-ish history, but make the protagonist someone completely unimportant, so that their adventures aren't going to cause international chaos. That works, but it can disappoint people who want to play the important figures... especially those who really *want* to drag history off-track as much as possible.

[Argeus_the_Paladin]

My solution in that case would be to use historical characters that are, owing to the vagaries of fate and/or their own lack of competence, naught but a footnote in history books today (or relatively obscure by pop culture standard), but were actually kind of a big deal in the international balance of power back then and whose fate, if changed, could significantly influence history as is. That way, there's still leeway for artistic freedom, if only because there aren't all that many surviving primary sources on them today and as the writer I'd be entitled to give the shrug.

I actually keep a list of these individuals waiting for an opportunity to use them in a fitting storyline. Now if only I weren't too tied up in too many projects to count...