Who are your favourite characters?

As for me, I've always been an Accelerator fan (obviously.) I've mentioned my reasons before, but I'll repeat them here. I've really enjoyed his character arc in the novels and his transformation from villain to hero. The writers have managed to pull off an impressive and interesting take on tired old tropes with his redemption arc. He's also got a great set of unique powers that make him fun to watch.

Plus I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing him act like a total psycho. I hope he doesn't get too tame in the future.

Runners up include Misaka and her sisters, especially when they play off against each other.

Kamijou Touma, I really do think he's an amazing character. It's not just his impressive fighting tactics, but also his heroic moments that just come from a mostly ordinary person. It's great that he's so weak, but so strong. I love his speeches, it helps show just how emotional he is and how much faith he has in his beliefs, because I don't like it when a character is shallow and uncaring. I really like it when he breaks illusions, he gets to the core of the problem and completely stops whatever is opponent has motivating them so he doesn't have to worry about killing anyone.

Touma takes the title of 'Hero' and takes it to an entirely different level. This guy isn't just worried about the physical either, he cares and fights for the feelings of himself and others. The 'Not needing a reason to save someone' is a great line because I'd just hate it if people are dying or getting hurt and a character isn't doing anything about it. Even more so is that the old Kamijou Touma wasn't in the memories but in the heart, that's where this 'Touma' gets the need to help others from. This Touma is like what the old Touma always wanted to be. I think that's beautiful.

There's plenty of reasons why I like Touma and that he's my favorite character of all time, but I'll just leave it at this for now.

I agree that Touma's a good protagonist, he's a league beyond typical Shounen protagonists who only ever react to the situations around him. Touma's a lot more proactive in dealing with things once he finds something to stand against. In a lot of ways he's like Shirou from Fate/Stay Night (The good routes, at least) with less head-slapping idiocy.

That said I'm finding myself a little frustrated with his lack of character development this far into the series. I appreciate that a protagonist has to stick to an archetype in this sort of story, but I can't help but feel like his character is stuck in a rut. Every arc ends with him the same as when he started (aside from the Index arc and his memory loss obviously.) It seems like there have been a lot of missed opportunities for him as a character.

But, with all that said he's definitely one of my favourites.

Yeah a lot of people say that he doesn't have much development, but then again it's the little things that are important to him. Like in Vols 14 - 20

Spoiler:

And instead of development, as we go along you get to know his character more and more
Vol 2, he's empty and finds happiness in helping others. Also he's very cold when his happiness is taken away
Vol 4, he likes his misfortune because it lets him help others
Vol 6, he dosen't care whether his friends are different or not, or if it's dangerous to be friends with them
Vol 7, his actions are based on his faith in himself, also since his world is so small the things he has are more important to him than others
Vol 9-10, he cares about the feelings and the happiness of others, rather than things that may seem as a major importance
Vol 13, won't harm his friend even if they are causing damage also will try to save his own opponent

Spoiler:

some of the examples may seem like we already knew from before or that there's more to it whatever but you get the point. With NT it looks like we are getting some character development

Definitely Misaka. No question.

Vanni wrote:Yeah a lot of people say that he doesn't have much development, but then again it's the little things that are important to him.

And instead of development, as we go along you get to know his character more and more

some of the examples may seem like we already knew from before or that there's more to it whatever but you get the point. With NT it looks like we are getting some character development

That's a fair point, but I still feel as though the author is keeping him in his niche when he could be going beyond it. I think it's more the fault of the Light Novel format, though.

All the girls, because they are Moe~

Wanna guess?

Yep, you got it. It's-

Misaka Mikoto

It's a bit hard to explain and this might sound weird if you look at it the wrong way, but Mikoto's basic character concepts (personality, background, (dis)likes, interests etc) and I have a lot in common. She is probably the only anime character I can actually relate to on a personal level. When I first started watching the Railgun anime, I kinda freaked out because it started to feel like I was watching some Alternate Universe superheroine version of the plain me (and my past highschool life). XD No joke though... Of course, we also have a lot of differences. She has qualities that I wish I could have and/or admire. These factors make the way I perceive her character very interesting: she's like me, but she's not at the same time. I'm sort of exploring that while I'm rping... Haha, I probably sound really weird. XD

That's pretty interesting. I think most people recognise a few elements of their personalities in characters now and then. It must be strange to have a character with that many qualities that mirror your own.

I tend to recognise parts of myself in fictional characters now and then. And it's never very flattering. Haha.

Frenda Seivelun seems like an interesting character. Her appearance has come and passed in the manga, but she'll be making an appearance in the upcoming Railgun series in the Sisters Arc.
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Character map (contains spoilers as it shows all characters)