My Top Ten Most Heroic Characters

I use the term "hero" very loosely here, for a lot of the people here are closer to antihero than actual white knight, noble warrior-type heroes. 

1. Captain America/Steve Rogers (Marvel)

Captain America. He needs no explanation.

2. Harry Dresden (The Dresden Files)

http://flickumbicus.tumblr.com/post/17952577060/thegeek531-fandombrain-tdfangirl

The Dresden Files was a series I picked up out of boredom about a year and a half ago, and ended up falling in love with; mostly because how darn hard the protagonist works to do right and be a good person, despite the endless--and I mean ENDLESS--pain this causes him. In book one he manages to get off instant-death wizard probation after years of being persecuted for defending his own life, resulting in the death of his evil wizard, mind controlling foster father, and honestly it just goes down hill from there. But no matter what, Harry Dresden just keeps going.

3. Crowley (Good Omens)

http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/art/Good-Omens-Green-Fingers-95710313

The set up of this book is a happy little dichotomy, about a demon and an angel facing the end of the world. The demon less evil, more vaguely sinister for the fringe benefits of getting to wear black sunglasses and drive a cool car. The angel less good, more generally fond of books and tea and a little too sympathetic to the human race. But the demon, Crowley, is my favorite for the fact that among his more heroic actions in the book include taking on a pair of upper demons with spray bottles of holy water. 

4. Samuel Vimes (Discworld)

http://browse.deviantart.com/?order=9&q=sam+vimes&offset=24#/d4am2sf

Gosh. My hands down favorite Terry Pratchett characters. What makes Sam Vimes so damn heroic to me, is not just that he's pretty, much a walking bad ass but that his sheer awesomeness is in part due to the fact that he knows he's not some lily-white lawman, crusading for justice. He's a bitter, sad, angry, vengeful cynic, who is brutal in his quest to protect his city and resolute in his duty. He's not a great man. He probably wouldn't claim to even be a good man. But he is as straight as an arrow, and by God, he will never bend.

My favorite moments of him include him announcing "We can rebuild him! We have the pottery [in regard to a golem]." and him storming into battle in a dark underground passage, to which he fell at least fifty feet and then was carried by an underwater river, with the heart breaking battle cry of "THIS IS NOT MY COW!" Terry Pratchett: it makes sense in context.

5. Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings)

What's not heroic about Aragorn, is what I'd like to know. He is the reluctant hero/unknown king stereotype. In fact, barring the Bible, he practically invented this stereotype in modern literature. He's just... awesome.

6. Cyclops/Scott Summers (Marvel)

Oh, Scotty. He's a sad guy. His father was abducted by aliens, his little brother was lost to him for years, a head injury prevents him from ever controlling his lethal superpowers, his friends have several times abandoned him, his first wife was murdered after turning dark side and wrecking havoc on his loved ones, his mentor has betrayed his trust too many times to count, his people have been persecuted for years, he's now a member of an endangered species, he's now responsible for the protection and leadership of every remaining member of that species, he's been regularly going into potentially lethal combat situations since he was, like, fifteen, he's had to watch teammates die, he's had to watch his son die, and most recently he's being forced to go up against the force that lead to the death of his wife. And he's still sane, though not exactly healthy, and he still keeps fighting. Scott Summers is a tank.

7. Hellboy

He makes his own choices and lives his own life, destiny and fate be damned. What's not awesome and admirable about that?

8. Gabriel/Loki/The Trickster (Supernatural)

A minor character, but one that leaves a powerful message on this show, though he's only in like, four episodes. Maybe five (?). In Supernatural, the biggest themes of all are brotherhood and family; Gabriel's character starts out as a nameless trickster, and then is later revealed to be Gabriel, the arch angel, in hiding on earth as the pagan Loki ever since his brother's went to war in Heaven.

When confronted with the impeding repeat performance in this war in the form of the Apocalypse, he at first tries to run, to hide, but eventually finds his feet. He not only defends the Winchesters from the pagans, but defends them against Lucifer himself. To quote his dying speech "Play the victim all you want, but you and me, we know the truth. Dad loved you best, more than Michael, more than me. Then he brought the new baby home and you couldn't handle it. So all of this is just a great big temper tantrum. Time to grow up."


9. Jackson “Jax” Teller (Sons of Anarchy)

Jax is a compelling character, very much like Hamlet. He's caught between his duty to his family, the group he's pledged his loyalty to, and his own happiness and love. He's caught between the ghost of what things are, and what they were meant to be. Inner conflict is at the core of his existence, as he tries to do the "right thing" though he's never quite sure what "right" is in his world.

10. Bobby Singer (Supernatural)

Another call to Supernatural, Bobby is awesome. He's one of a rare Hunters who's actually survived into middle age and is the gruff mentor/father figure to the Winchesters. He also has a sad, tortured past. He killed his abusive father when he was still a child, and later was forced to watch his die, not once but twice, due to supernatural means he was helpless to stop. He is (was) the seasoned warrior that guided the younger heroes, and he fought until (and beyond) the end of his life.