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Love them or hate them, these characters stay with you long after the last page.
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9,485 books · 8,518 voters · list created June 25th, 2008 by JG (Introverted Reader) (votes) .
304 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


JG (Introverted Reader) 4405 books
437 friends
Laura 52 books
724 friends
Wealhtheow 4761 books
690 friends
Kelly 2065 books
333 friends
Frank 1271 books
227 friends
jessica juniper 137 books
9 friends
Coqueline 683 books
137 friends
Katie 131 books
17 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-31 of 31 (31 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Andrea (new)

Andrea I'd love to know specifically, which characters (not always obvious by the title). I'd also love to see comments, but they seem hard to get to or nonexistent.


message 2: by David (new)

David umm...shouldn't there be...i don't know...characters?


message 3: by Michael (new)

Michael Bialys Got to be Fluffy the talking earthworm who hails from the big Apple-The Book-The Chronicles of the Virago: Book 1


message 4: by Sandie (new)

Sandie Kae enjoyed it


message 5: by [deleted user] (last edited Dec 05, 2008 12:09AM) (new)

I still adore Gus in Lonesome Dove! I fell in love with him while reading the book. Who could ever forget Scarlet even tho she isn't the most likeable? Another fascinating character is Norah Lofts Jassy. Another interesting person is the woman in The Evening Star also by Larry McMurtry. What was her name? She was so entertaining.


message 6: by Mike (new)

Mike My first vote goes to The catcher in the rye for the unforgettable Holden Caulfield.


message 7: by Emma (last edited Aug 01, 2009 05:11AM) (new)

Emma I voted for The Princess Bride, Hamlet and Fight Club....

The whole cast of The Princess Bride is unforgettable..... Come on, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father--Prepare to die!!" How could you ever forget THAT??

And Fight Club... They have to be talking about Tyler Durden/Narrator, but Marla Singer isn't bad either.


Do I even have to explain why Hamlet got my vote?


message 8: by Mandy (new)

Mandy I voted for Les Miserables.
C'mon who can forget a man released from prison and starts his life being, like, the most charitable man in France, a police inspector who's hell-bent on doing his duty, and honestly 11 hot French boys! Not to sound shallow, but each has his own personality which just makes you want to classify every guy you know as an "Enjolras" or "Montparnasse." :) Not to mention that 9 out of those 11 guys die for a cause they believe in. I dare you to forget that. Vive la Republique!


message 9: by Jeaneva (new)

Jeaneva I was surprised The House of the Scorpion isn't on this list...at least it isn't right now.
That book has like the best characters of all time!


message 10: by Kal (new)

Kal I was expecting "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" to be higher up... Lisbeth Salander is the best character I've read in a long, long time.


message 11: by Xenophon (new)

Xenophon Hendrix Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Jeeves, Jubal Harshaw, D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Long John Silver, Raoul Duke and his Samoan attorney


message 12: by Rheeza (new)

Rheeza sherlock holmes is not in the list?


message 13: by Live for This (new)

Live for This one letter for two characters from two books---V! from v is for vendetta and catapult soul. even similar in certain ways.


message 14: by [deleted user] (new)

Mandy wrote: "I voted for Les Miserables.
C'mon who can forget a man released from prison and starts his life being, like, the most charitable man in France, a police inspector who's hell-bent on doing his duty..."


Wow, you sound like you love Les Mis as much as I do. You're the first person I've heard describe those dear Frenchboys as "hot"...I don't feel alone! ;D
Now I really feel the need to go on a fangirlish rant. I will hold back, though, to preserve my reputation as generally intelligent. (OhmygoodnessEnjolrasGrantaireCombeferreFeuillyJehanyay.)


message 15: by Salazarkrys (new)

Salazarkrys Sam, Owen, Katie and Merlin from Enchanted Inc. How can you forget such lovable characters?


Fiction Book Reviews Rahul Kapoor and Seema Tandon from Truly Madly Deeply


message 17: by Angela (new)

Angela Little Women would be my number one choice. Joe is such a strong character and her growth through the novel is interesting to me. The book makes me cry and it's by far one of the best written books. I like the other sisters as well- particularly Beth, but Joe stand out to me among literary characters.


message 18: by Inday (new)

Inday i scrolled through the selections and found out some of them were already turned to movies..


message 19: by [deleted user] (new)

Good writing is hard to find (re Angela). That's why "The Ballad of Young Tam Lin" stands out. Compelling plot, great characters, romance, fantasy. I sure bet.


message 20: by James (new)

James No one is more unforgettable than Edmond Dantes. Once he has changed into the Count you are at the edge of your seat waiting to see how his revenge will play out.


message 21: by [deleted user] (new)

A sad character, nonetheless. Revenge is an unsatisfying dish, either hot or cold. I prefer love.


message 22: by James (new)

James He finds love in the end...but that is also why Mercedes is so engaging, her part of the story ends with the impression that she may live out her days miserable. And she really didn't deserve it.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Miss Marple is truly unforgettable, as far as I'm concerned (as are Hercule Poirot and Tommy and Tuppence, of course).


message 24: by Meshkat (new)

Meshkat Your choices are quite similar to mine. :-D


message 25: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Sep 08, 2017 09:02AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) I have strong doubts about Aesop's Fables (#2159) being on this list.


message 26: by BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) (last edited Sep 08, 2017 09:03AM) (new)

BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Angela wrote: "Little Women would be my number one choice. Joe is such a strong character and her growth through the novel is interesting to me. The book makes me cry and it's by far one of the best written books..."

I've only read a Dutch translation but in it 'Joe' was spelled 'Jo'... I guess it's different in the book's original language?


message 27: by Donna (last edited Apr 28, 2019 02:01PM) (new)

Donna Davis The system found and removed 3 duplicates.

All told, it's a nice list, but I have doubts about the nonfiction. Is Anne Frank really a character? What about Tina Fey? It seems bizarre to throw memoirs and biographies into the mix.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Donna wrote: "All told, it's a nice list, but I have doubts about the nonfiction. Is Anne Frank really a character? What about Tina Fey? It seems bizarre to throw memoirs and biographies into the mix. ..."

I agree; it should be fiction only.


message 29: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Booklovinglady wrote: "Donna wrote: "All told, it's a nice list, but I have doubts about the nonfiction. Is Anne Frank really a character? What about Tina Fey? It seems bizarre to throw memoirs and biographies into the m..."

JG, are you still with us? Do you want the nonfiction to come down, or should we leave it alone?


message 30: by Book2Dragon (new)

Book2Dragon Superior and excellent list. Two things: Series should be added only as a series, not individual books and (2) 100 is not enough votes for me on a list over 200. Increase it please Goodreads.


message 31: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Returning to this list after a break of three years and I deleted several titles from my votes because...I can't remember the characters very well. Good way to test your votes, heh.


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