Yea, Carrie! You've joined. Welcome. Thanks for sharing your list.

I'm confused about one little thing. You said: "Really most of Janet's list is my list, as she is trying to be me when she grows up. Not that she ever will." Do you mean I will never be you? Or, I will never grow up? You've really got me baffled! LOL!

Let's just leave that one alone. No answer required. Really!

So I had to join your group. I am glad you aren't exclusive...

All I can say is that Mark Darcy and Mr. Darcy are really the same guy so for me they will have to count as one....

Yes, Morelli. MMMMM Morelli. And we all know that Hugh Jackman must play him in the movie version that will never ever be made. Just sayin'.

Really most of Janet's list is my list, as she is trying to be me when she grows up. Not that she ever will.

I did want to be Nancy Drew. I still want to be Nancy Drew.


Other goodies:

Ryan from the Temperance Brennan novels, though not much of a fan of Tempe Brennan, go figure

I like Fanny from Mansfield Park. I know most of you (all of you) hate her, but she is so different from me, knows when to keep her mouth shut, knows how to be supportive, etc. that I admire it.

Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights

Bridget Jones, because I am her, only not quite as cartoonish, depending on the day

I have kind of put off replying to this, because I just didn't know what to say. For nearly every book I've really deeply enjoyed, there's been a character I fell temporarily (and usually very deeply) in love with. Some more than others, I guess, but that's how it goes.

Like most of you, I loved Mark Darcy and Bridget. I loved them in Pride & Prejudice, too. :)

I actually loved Frodo best in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, although Eowyn, Faramir, and Gandalf came in close behind. In that order. Eowyn almost overtook Frodo, because man is she badass. ("You look upon a woman, Eowyn I am, Eomund's daughter!" or "I'm no man," for book vs. movie.)

I loved-loved-loved the optometrist's wife in Blindness, by Jose Saramago. But I think that was the point of the book.

I admit it: I loved Harry Potter. After the first book or two, I also loved Hermione. And, obviously, Dumbledore. (I always fall for Gandalf. Giles was my favorite Buffy character, too.)

I can't remember her name, but I loved the main character in Snow Crash--of course, who doesn't? She's basically the same archetype as Blue Van Meer (Special Topics in Calamity Physics), Scout Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), the female character in Bridge to Terabithia, and Mick Kelly (The Heart is a Lonely Hunter), and how could anyone not love any of these characters?

The Hitchhiker's Guide "trilogy" is the only real exception I can think of--I loved it, but didn't love any of the characters. Except maybe Tricia McMillan. So maybe it isn't an exception, just an example of one where it was a calm feeling, rather than a big crush...

Oh, and in the Pern series, I actually loved the dragons the most. Except maybe for Salla (I think that was her name).

Oh, oh! And ohmygod I love Bean, from Ender's Game, SO MUCH. I like the Shadow books (Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets...) so much better than the Ender books. You still have to read Ender's Game first.

And now I'm done. There might be others. But those are the ones I'm going to bother to list today. :)

Janet A ~

The Nac Mac Feegles are certainly the coolest characters I have come across in a long time.

They are sort of a cross between the warriors from "Braveheart" and the "Smurfs" - and they are funny funny funny. Awfully Wee Billy Bigchin stands out as he is much smaller than his relatives.

Read "The Wee Free Men" by Terry Pratchett to enjoy some laughs.

~ Spaniel

Carrie, where are you with your list? I know you got one. Kids in the way? Employ the duct tape if you have to! My Joe Morelli entry and Megan's agreement with it totally reminds me of back in the day when we first started reading the series. Do you remember how much we gushed over Morelli. We talked about him as if he were a real live person whom we had just waited on. We were totally smitten. It was sick in a crazy good kind of way, huh? ;-)

Daniel, the names of your characters are awesome! Also they're very intriging to me. Aside from Harry Potter and Jason Bourne, I've never heard of any of them. Maybe I should try to expand my horizons? Awfully Wee Billy Bigchin sounds like my kinda guy!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Harry Potter!!!

I have to say that my most favorite "favorites" for the time being are Rob Anybody, Awfully Wee Billy Bigchin, and the rest of the Nac Mac Feegles from the Tiffany Aching/Wee Free Men books (Discworld).

Here are some others:

Muad'Dib and Duncan Idaho from the Dune Books.

Roland Deschain in the Dark Tower books.

Zaphod Beeblebrox in the Hitchhikers Guide books.

Granny Weatherwax in the Discworld books.

Boba Fett in the Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy (Star Wars).

Jason Bourne from the Robert Ludlum/Eric Van Lustbader books.

Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took in the Lord of the Rings.

You two picked some great ones!

From your lists, I have to agree with:

1. Joe Morelli - love him

2. Ranger - love him, too! such a dilemma for me and Stephanie Plum

3. Phedre no Delaunay de Montreve - she was so tough

New ones:

1. Bridget Jones - I could totally relate to her and I really wanted her to have it all - all meaning Mark Darcy. :-)

2. Cassie from the Secret Circle trilogy by L.J. Smtih. What an incredibly strong younger female character. I so wanted to be her when I was in high school.

3. and 4. Stephan and Elena from the Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith - talk about high school vampire love at its finest. Stephenie Meyer must have read this series before writing hers.

5. Vin from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. She is such a spunky character - fights for everything she has. No one thinks anything of her and of course she becomes the most powerful character in the book. She's also a little like Robin Hood - a moral thief.

I'll definitely be adding more to this list as I think of them.

*snickers* Lestat has one of those 3 or 4 part names too, but I don't have a copy of the book to look it up.

There's this quote from one of my old day planners, "Imaginary men are my favorite kind of men."

Stephanie, are you sure you don't just have some sort of fixation with three and four part French names? LOL!!
P.S. Thanks for contributing. I knew it wasn't just me who was crazy. ;-) hahaha!

I cannot image being a reader and not falling for characters in books!

My off-the-top-of-my-head list:

1. Phedre no Delaunay de Montreve from the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. She's an amazing, brilliant, strong female character.

2. Mr. Darcy - Who didn't love Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice? I think he is almost some sort of universal ideal.

3. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West in the book Wicked by Gregory Maquire - Another strong female protagonist who made the book for me.

4. Daemon de Santi from Anne Bishop's The Black Jewel trilogy - I loved these books. I loved Daemon! ...loved? lusted? obsessed? All yes!

5. Harriot the Spy - I wanted to be Harriot in 6th grade.

6. Louis Pointe du Lac from Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire - I loved, loved Louis and hated Lestat when I read this book in high school. Then...

7. Lestat in The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice - I read this book and saw how whiny Louis really was and how much Lestat rocked! Then seeing Stuart Townsend play Lestat on the big screen sealed the deal on my love affair with the character. (Sorry Tom Cruise o_o )

All right, while I am sure I could think up more with time, this is my Off-the-top-of-my-head list.

Does anybody have a favorite literary character? Someone that is your hero maybe? Or someone that you just admire and might want to be like? Or someone that you're totally smitten with? Or am I the only nutcracker out there who "falls" for fictional characters? I need a life. *sigh**

To name a few of mine (in no particular order):

1) Mr. Darcy - from Pride & Prejudice. If I have to explain, then there's really no hope for you.

2) Mark Darcy - from Bridget Jones's Diary. Again, I think no explanation is needed. (Cheat and watch the movie. Then I really need not explain.)

3) Elizabeth Bennett - from Pride & Prejudice. Really, another no-brainer here. She's spunky. She says what she thinks. She doesn't back down. AND, she gets the guy in the end.

4) Edmond Dantes - from The Count of Monte Cristo. As you follow him along on his journey, you can't help but love him, sympathize with him, cheer him on. His revenge becomes yours.

5) Richard Thornton - from North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell. This man is a similar character to Jane Austen's Darcy but much more endearing. While at times you might hate Darcy for his aloofness, you very rarely feel that way about Thornton.

6) Joe Morelli - from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It's a phenomenon I simply can't explain. I LOVE JOE MORELLI. That's it.

7) Ranger - from the same Janet Evanovich series. You try to remain true to Morelli. You really do. But, you end up falling for Ranger too. I'm a slut. Sue me.

8) Hunter - from Cate Tiernan's Sweep series. He's just a kid (to me at least) but I found that I truly cared about him and what was going to happen to him and Morgan.

9) Betsy and Sinclair - from MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series. Betsy is really awesome and I think that I wouldn't mind being her - and having all of her shoes! And Sinclair is super hotttt! One reason why I wouldn't mind being Betsy. (**wink, wink**)

10) Mr. Rochester - from Jane Eyre. I'll be honest. I've not yet read the book. But the Toby Stephens movie adaptation is enough to have me hooked on Mr. Rochester!

11) d'Artagnan - from The Three Musketeers. I haven't re-read this book since I was a tween. But, when I was a young impressionable girl (you see, I've progressed a lot)I really loved d'Artagnan. And this was before I had any tv or movie images of him in my mind. To me, he was dashingly gorgeous and one of my girlhood hero/crushes.

12) Nancy Drew - Don't even lie. You wanted to be her too!

13) Laura Ingalls Wilder - from Little House on the Praire. This might be embarassing, but it's the truth. From the time I could read until about, say, last week (I'm kidding), I really wanted to be Laura Ingalls. I wanted that life. Really, I did.

Okay. That should be enough for now. I think the above properly illustrates my pathetic semi-obsession with fictional characters. Hey, don't knock me - they're a lot nicer to deal with than real people!

Don't be shy. Add your favorites. I know somebody has to have some. Or one? Don't leave me hanging here.

Cheers!