Before I get into the list, I want to mention that these are my opinions and I am limiting it to one character per book/series.
1. Jean-Loup from I, Kill by Giorgio Faletti – Jean-Loup was an amazing character that goes through so much development over the course of the novel. His character arc and the reveal at the end make him a character you love to hate.
2. Frank from In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami – If you have read anything by Murakami, you know that he loves dark, morally grey characters and Frank is the best of them all. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself and definitely doesn’t apologize for it. His relationship with Kenji is purely to benefit himself and Kenji’s reward for this is that he is allowed to live another day while Frank continues his murderous ways.
3. William “Bill” Arkwright from The Wardstone Chronicles by Joseph Delaney – Now there are many characters I could pick from in this series but I choose Bill because he has the most development over the course of the series. He started off as an abusive, drunk whose sole purpose in life was to make Tom’s life a living hell but he tackles his addiction and slowly becomes a character we can root for especially when he does something completely unexpected in book 6.
4. Humbert Humbert from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov – This is definitely going to stir a few people up due to the nature of the book but I really like Humbert as a characters. Despite his heinous deeds within the book you still sympathise with him and want him to succeed.
5. Viggo Croft from The Gender Game by Bella Forrest – Viggo is a character I simply adore as he starts off as a really closed off, grumpy character and as he gets closer to Violet we see him melt into this soft, caring character who we love far more than the protagonist and despite everything we want them to end up together.
6. Louis from Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – I was torn between putting Louis or Lestat on this list and while I love Lestat, it was Louis was captured my heart and made me love this series. He is such a broken person and he struggles to accept his nature and deal with having to kill in order to survive. His relationship with Claudia is heartbreaking as he tries to love her in the only way he can but fails to notice her mind maturing in her child’s body which ultimately leads to her demise and Louis and Lestat falling apart.
7. Morpheus from Splintered by A. G. Howard – Morpheus is honestly the sassiest, most adorable yet infuriating character I have ever read from. Every time he makes an appearance you want to hug him and strangle him at the same time. His rivalry with Jeb is divine especially since Ally ends up with them both in the end meaning that the annoying love triangle is resolved in the only acceptable way in my opinion.
8. Francis Dolarhyde from Red Dragon by Thomas Harris – Before we even meet Hannibal Lecter we are introduced to the OG serial killer, The Red Dragon who is for the most part is completely unassuming and we don’t suspect him at all until we see the most gory and bloody side of himself. Francis unlike Hannibal isn’t as introspective and sees the Dragon as something entirely separate from himself and tries to change his nature before realising that it is impossible.
9. Thomas Cresswell from Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco – Thomas is the most adorable character I have had the pleasure of reading from, he is sassy, funny, the most adorable dork in existence and I can’t wait to read more from him very soon as I re-read the first book and read the final two books for the first time.
10. Dalinar Kohlin from The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – A character from The Way of Kings needed to be on this list and for a while I was going to choose Kaladin but Dalinar was a character that really resonated with me and his arc throughout the first book was divine and I can’t wait to see more of him in Words of Radiance and Oathbringer.
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