[Nocturnal]

I started talking with a few friends, who I finally managed to get into the series, about which character was the most interesting plot-wise. So, did you ever say "aw, you again, I don't want to know what you're up to when that one is currently doing this and that"... or something? It doesn't matter if it's your favorite character or not.

Please, keep it as much spoiler-free as you can.

[Defiance]

I was fairly disappointed with the lack of screen time for the Mhybe in Memories of Ice and her lack of subsequent appearances.

[Aptorian]

Not a good idea to ask for discussions on favorite characters and then have it be spoiler free but lets try.

In terms of least favorite, there's all those small characters that Erikson loves to spend tons of time focusing on their inner turmoil. Nimander, The Mhybe, Seren Pedac and a ton of b-list letherii.

In terms of favorites, I love the ones that have unique insights or bring change into the story. Udinass is probably my favorite character simply because I like his cynicism and ability to see through things and unearth their hidden truths. I also really like Bauchelain and Korbald Broach. They are delightfully sinister and removed from their own humanity. Lady Envy is another good one. She, along with the Errant, is one of my favorite Ascendants because she seems more like what I expect a hundred thousand year old godling to be than any of the other ones. She has little concept of weakness and she doesn't understand what it means to be mortal.

EDIT: Oh, must not forget Manask. the stealthiest of all thieves. That guy is brilliant. I would buy a book dedicated purely to his adventures.

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 27 May 2012 - 07:51 PM

[Aptorian]

Defiance, on 27 May 2012 - 07:41 PM, said:

I was fairly disappointed with the lack of screen time for the Mhybe in Memories of Ice and her lack of subsequent appearances.

She is lying in a coma in a coffin while her brain is being used as a depository for an old warren. She's a bit busy.

[Nocturnal]

There is quite a difference between favorite and interesting, y'know, Aptorius.

Well, it's much easier for me to pick out the least interesting, since there are less.
1. Apsalar and Crockus after the first book (everyone was fun in GotM since they were all being introduced), the romantic drama between them is too annoying for my taste. I did like Crockus with Iskaral, or with Fiddler and the rest in DG.
2. Karsa Orlong in HoC, he's so overpowered it's ridiculous. I admit that the Teblor were fun at the beginning of the book, but after Bairoth and Nom's departing I've lost interest in his story.
3. Ganoes Paran, god that man is dull! Didn't like his parts from the start, though since he was with Bridgeburners most of the time in MoI I didn't pay as much attention.
Also while reading through DG I barely withheld from skipping everything else and only reading Chain of Dogs' chapters, I was so into it.

The most interesting since the first book for me were the Bridgeburnes, especially Quick Ben and Kalam, they find trouble the easiest. After them the Tiste races, mostly Andii, but in HoC I've grown interested with the other two, especially Liosan. And also Murillo and Coll are such a great pair, can't wait to read more about them.

This post has been edited by Nocturnal: 27 May 2012 - 08:57 PM

[LadyMTL]

I know that I'm probably in the minority here but I could never stand Kruppe, especially in the earlier books. I warmed to him as the series progressed but yeah...at first I'd literally skip over his blathering, and I almost never skip over text. As for interesting (to me, at least) I've always loved Kalam Mekhar and Quick Ben because really, how can you not? Heboric Ghost Hands captured my interest pretty quickly too, come to think of it. Maybe it was just the name but yeah.

This post has been edited by Maia Irraz: 27 May 2012 - 08:25 PM

[Vaddon Ra]

Right here goes a nice long nerdy answer from most to least :DDDD

MOST INTERESTING FOR ME
1. Anomander Rake in GOTM and MOI, I loved him, I did, he was the first character I really got obsessive about (you know in a healthy adult way I loved how he was ruthless and I loved how when you first read GOTM, going from less advanced forms of fantasy you suddenly go...oh, who's the bad guy? wow, no one, Rake is harsh and hard...ancient and outrageously powerful. I loved him until he was given too much thinking time in TTH and he became a bit too broody...despite that the finale for TTH when he's described by karsa and samar always gives me chills.
2. Karsa Orlong. I know a few threads will hate on karsa, and I do understand that. He starts as a mass murdering barbarian...and I guess for readers who like their main characters to not be invincible then Mr Orlong is constantly IMBA. I, embarrassingly, love that especially as fodder to fuel my need to hit the gym. Despite the obvious though it's when Karsa gets older and you get the insights into his determined political (or lack thereof) stance and he focus that I think his character becomes very very deep and very involving. He is so much more than just a big hard giant and for that I am so so looking forward to his next appearances.
3. Kruppe. Yes, i know, hate on him all you want. But hey I'd love to have a few more tiny hints as to how powerful he really is
4. Lady Envy. So very enigmatic
5. The seguleh. I know they were done over in OST but up until last week theirs was my most favourite culture and the one I wanted to see more of the most. I know some people dont like ICE but he puts in quite a bit of seguleh screen time and I am always eager to see that
6. Kellenved and Dancer...My word I'd pay for another series on the founding of their empire. I love the references, I love the parts of NOK when they appear, oh and as an aside I'd like to stress that the most interesting group would include their old guard...The Crusts...OHHHHH the Crusts

Least Interesting...

pfft..crokus..
Tiste Andii Brooding and whining...especially the children of rake oh...MY...DAYS!
The watch and all of their large story parts from DOD and TCG urgh dull.
SOME, not all, but SOME of the marines, when the hundreds of characters get a little blended and there's not so much original flavour...I think in RG it got a bit mad because there were so many...and the first third of TCG spent too much time on individual marines waking up and feeling sad. I know why he did it of course, but I got a little bit bored.
I never really got into felisin and heboric. I loved HOC for Karsa and the malazan marines, but her story just got a little dull.

Having said that, there's really more interesting than not. And I reread MOI earlier and it is just a wonderful creation all round.
I also think Tayschrenn, particularly before OST, is fascinating, cos you know he's Badass, but your never too sure

[worry]

I liked everybody.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

I'm a first-time Malazan reader at the tail end of HoC. Icarium remains my favorite character so far, but his sparse page count frustrates me no end. The most interesting characters to me are the nonhuman (or less human) ones. My eyes perk up whenever there's a T'lan Imass onscreen, for example. I look forward to less human-heavy POV's in future books...if such a situation exists...knock on wood.

[Drae]

By far I am most interested in the tiste back-story. The shattering of Emurlahn and the andii civil war are topics that always suck me in; thus players like Tulas Shorn, Silchas Ruin, Scabandarii, Anomander etc. as well as most of the shake characters are captivating to me.
Soletakens and D'ivers in general are a close second. Information about the first heroes makes my eyes stick to the page.

Least interesting for me was the bargharst, I tended to glaze over those parts after MoI.

[Sinisdar Toste]

worrywort, on 28 May 2012 - 08:06 AM, said:

I liked everybody.

[Soulcrusher]

I'm almost finished Bonehunters so far ^^
Like:
Karsa Orlong; There seems to be alot of hate for him, But he's just so damn awesome and OP and grows every time I read about him. I really didn't have a problem with him slaying all the people when we were introduced to him.

Kellenved and Dancer; They are freaking amazing and hilarious, they're arrogance was epic xD
Stormy and Braven Tooth; Stormy had me in tears in Bonehunters when he was telling Quick Ben and Kalam not to worry about Shadowthrone because they'll take on everyone, also his general attitude and persona towards everyone, Braven Tooth is just all around funny, especially some of the stories being told about him so far by other characters.
Quick Ben & Kalam; The dynamic duo, I find I'm always wondering what Quick Ben is up to and his willingness to take on all comers astounds me. Kalam has always been a solid, respected character too.
Tehol; His intelligence and planning were awesome in Midnight Tides and I was always looking forward to his scenes.
Kruppe and Iskaral Pust; Iskaral and Kruppe are two characters who always make me wonder aloud or laugh, Iskaral's random muttering during sentences and Kruppe standing up to Brood has to be some highlights

Dislike:
Felsin; I don't think I've ever hated a character more than her, whining, annoying gah! I get why she was the way she was but still /rage
Mhybe; I never really liked her in any of her scenes, I think her 'ending' was quite nice, but yeah, not a fan ^^

[Nevyn]

It really kind of changes based on what you've been reading.

I mean, some awesome characters (Tehol Beddict, Karsa Orlong) come at points in the series where you are used to following the Malazans and invested in what happens next to them. So, for me, while I ended up liking those stories and characters, at the time it was "come on, enough of this, how does it relate to the rest?"

Ones I still did not care for even after time to consider:

-The children of Rake until you get pretty much right to the end
-Heboric Ghost Hands - I know SE likes to be cryptic and has nightmares about spoon feeding his audience answers, but half of what Heboric says goes far over one's head until books later, and is annoying in the meantime. Which of course forces a re-read once you get some perspective.

[Vaddon Ra]

Interesting

Karsa Orlong
Quick and Kalam
Rake
Tehol
Tayschrenn
Kel and Dancer
Draconus
Tavore
Icarium
The Crusts
Hood
Gothos

Uninteresting
Crokus/Cutter
Broody folk

but NOT Brood

[Gnaw]

Maia Irraz, on 27 May 2012 - 08:22 PM, said:

I know that I'm probably in the minority here but I could never stand Kruppe, especially in the earlier books. I warmed to him as the series progressed but yeah...at first I'd literally skip over his blathering, and I almost never skip over text. As for interesting (to me, at least) I've always loved Kalam Mekhar and Quick Ben because really, how can you not? Heboric Ghost Hands captured my interest pretty quickly too, come to think of it. Maybe it was just the name but yeah.

I liked him at the first. Intelligent, clever, mage maybe; but human. But the more of him I saw the less I liked. The Brood hammer thing was the turning point for me. By TtH he was downright annoying.

I think I'm one of the few who liked the Crokus/Cutter character start to finish. Yeah, he was tawdry and small at points. But overall I really liked the arc from talented thief who becomes someone capable of playing at the same level of power as many of the others. But he turns his back on all that and decides that he'd rather go live quietly with Sorry.

Tehol was hilarious. The letter he sent in tCG was falling out of the chair funny.

Loved Beak. Heartbreaking without being dreary about it.

Disliked Toc the Younger. He could have been an interesting (to me) character, but he just kept getting shit on endlessly. At some point he stops being a character and is just a thing to be used by others. Which makes him probably the least interesting character in the series for me.

[Overactive Imagination]

There seriously haven't been any characters/POV's that I really disliked and wanted to skip. I pretty much liked them all.

Hairlock is one badass character that never gets mentioned enough in these ''best character'' type threads. popping in and out of his warren blasting great ravens was awesome

[Ruthan Good]

Interesting:
Ganoes Paran - damn we needed more of him
Shadowthrone
Iskaral Pust
Cotillion
Malazan marines, soldiers and officers throughout all the books, even in OST until the oft-mentioned last bit
Trull
Udinaas
Silchas Ruin
Karsa on my first and second reread
Traveller (I appreciate that his story is concluded but damn I wanted more of him; did that read weird to you too?)
Yedan Derryg - tops the lists on ultimate badasses (or badarses, to be grammatically correct) in all the books, to the point of ridiculousness even, the Watch storyline and the ending of it in TCG really got to me
EDIT: Oh, and Rake, of course

Honourable mention:
Tehol & Bugg - always a delight, but I think if it lasted for any longer than what we've seen it would be too much
Quick Ben & Kalam - always enjoyable, but never quite had the same love for them as other character pairs
Anomander's children - a bit annoying at first, but I really got invested in them, and enjoyed their stories in TTH

Not interesting:
Karsa on my first read
About half of new RG characters - miscellaneous bad guy Letheriiii, all of Redmask storyline barring Toc. I appreciate what SE was trying to do there, but could make it at least more relevant
Heboric - throughout my first read and the first reread couple years later (books 1-7) I really struggled with him. Didn't have an effing clue what's going on there
EDIT 2: Oh, and Felisin. Both of them. OMG. Give me Kiska anytime
Quite a few characters in ICE's books I glazed over, but Kiska has to be the (EDIT:) second worst one in all the series

This post has been edited by Ruthan Good: 24 March 2013 - 12:56 PM

[Khestrassa]

I think i'll remain alone with this, but my utlimate favorite is Hellian. She is simply awesome!

But becasue she's back story is pretty clear, I would like to know more about Whiskeyjack, begin with his real name, and of course about Quick Ben's real history.

Least interresting and most irritating was poor Karsa in the beginning of his story. But it changed around TtH.

[Ruthan Good]

We got Whiskeyjack's real name, and I'm with you on Karsa

[Nevyn]

Khestrassa, on 26 March 2013 - 06:23 PM, said:

I would like to know more about Whiskeyjack, begin with his real name

Spoiler

Iskar Jarak