#90- Gary Oak
Pokemon
Gary freaking Oak...the most wonderful rival Pokemon has ever given to us. I LOVE the development Gary has had during the course of the Pokemon anime. He starts out as being a total jerk to Ash, but he RELISHES in it; thrives in it; in being a jerk towards the main hero, it makes him all the more fun to root against as a "villain" in the show. His cockiness, confidence, and sheer high amount of skill in the early seasons made him a very fun character, and he wasn't always easy to root for but he breathed LIFE into the show whenever he came onto the screen. Gary stirred up excellent drama, and it makes the character all the more worthwhile to watch.
But, that wouldn't make him one of my favorite fictional characters of all time alone. Rather, he is on the top 100 is because he grows more mature and becomes much better as a person. Towards the end of the early era of Pokemon (the gen 1 and 2) era, he begins to turn over a new leaf once Ash FINALLY beats him in a major tournament. This causes his arrogance to die and he decides to become a Pokemon Scientist. He does make guest appearances in futures seasons (like in season 10) and his personality is much more positive! He's still naturally confident and passionate; got a lot of ambition. However, he's much more mature and no longer acts like a bully towards Ash. I love seeing this character growth out of Gary.
Also, Gary's the epitome of cool in Pokemon. Without him, the show just wouldn't be the same.
#89- Raven
Teen Titans
I need to re-watch TT, because this show is not something that is vivid in my mind. I did enjoy TT when it was on air, but it's not something that has stuck with me over the years as a whole. But the ONE part of the show that has stuck with me for years...is Raven, the intelligent yet cynical team member of the Titans. From the beginning, she plays well off of Starfire, the bubbly extrovert of the team. With her being Starfire's foil, comedic moments ensue. Due to such moments, it makes Raven all the more likable because of the dynamic that she has to her team. Along with that, she has a POWERFUL arc. She has an experience where she has to reveal that the main villain of the show...is her very own father. She has all this pressure on her shoulders to take down her own father, while also fearing what her friends will think of her while ALL THE WHILE trying to avoid becoming like her father. At least, that's what I remember about her story...and it's glorious.
Yeah, Beast Boy and Robin and Cyborg and Starfire have their positives for sure...but Raven has the best character development in the original show and is the glue that holds TT together for me. I would like to re-watch at least some episodes at some point, especially to once again see the ~Raven experience~.
#88- Beth Latimer
Broadchurch
Broadchurch is my favorite mystery show ever. The drama is palpable, the storylines are anywhere from quite entertaining to absolutely perfect, and the cast of characters is filled with wonderfully developed characters. And, my 2nd favorite character from the show (so there is another member from Broadchurch on this list) is Beth Latimer.
Beth is the most tragic character on Broadchurch. In season 1, her own son is murdered and it's up to David Tennant's character of Alec Hardy, and Olivia Colemon's character of Ellie Miller to solve the mystery and learn to work with each other as detectives with quite different ways of accomplishing police and detective tasks. In the middle of all of this, Beth is dealing with a lot of emotional trauma with her own son being murdered and emotionally implodes throughout the show, and her raw emotion is acted BEAUTIFULLY by Jodie Whittaker. I've seldom seen such great acting in a television show, and I would argue that Jodie Whittaker deserved some kind of Oscar for her work in Broadchurch, or some kind of reward. She's arguably the most likable character on the show because she's SO EASY to feel sympathy toward because she's gone through hell and back.
#87- Tomoya Okazaki
Clannad
Yes, I will be referring to the anime version of Clannad, but this franchise started out as a Visual Novel. Thus, I gave the Visual Novel reference within the hint section. Anyway, Okazaki...
Okazaki, similar to the character before him, had to deal with a lot of loss and tragedy during the two seasons of the show (After Story stands out, but even during season 1 there was some loss involved). Off the top of my head, Okazaki had the Fuko incident where he did his best to help her (and things worked out) but it was still a big weight on his shoulders to bear. He then has to deal with even greater tense situations when his SO Nagisa grows frail and not well...
And then the biggest weight yet in his life...Nagisa dies when giving birth to their daughter. THIS is when I felt for Okazaki's character and he became one of my favorites, at first just due to sympathy. He was someone who was a little quiet and aloof in his early life, but grew into a fine young man who was very caring and loving toward Nagisa and polite around her family too...and he gets repayed by having his wife taken away from him, DESPITE how kind he's been towards her for many years at this point.
And then...it gets worse. His daughter dies just a few years later...just when one thinks that the pain is finally over, the writers decide to punish the audience AND Okazaki even more by ripping away everything he has left. He's sunken to an even lower low than before, and considering how he became much more vulnerable to unhealthy drinking and also bouts of depression once Nagisa passed...he was even deeper than rock bottom.
Thankfully, Nagisa and Ushio get resurrected and we see the family happily living together once more in the final moments of the show...but dang, despite that happy ending for Okazaki and his family, he had to suffer through a ton in order to reach that point. Thankfully, he does reach that point...but it's not without growth in endurance, patience, and strength along the way.
#86- Richie Tozier
IT
Richie <3 His sass is wonderful, and that's the main reason why I love the character so much. Despite being seen as the "nerd" of the group, he's got the most courage out of the Losers' Club when standing up to the bullies in the mini-series, especially the bully ring-leader in Henry. When I first watched the mini-series, I instantly fell in love with Richie's never-ending snark and wittiness. He was just fun to listen to, and it made him more likable! I will also always treasure the moment when he spills soda on the bully group's heads.
Richie has no chill, and it's absolutely BRILLIANT. He was obnoxious towards his rivals, but in the best of ways. He had this sarcastic, showy personality about him...but it was portrayed in comedic yet glorious ways. Without Richie, the bullies would've probably had a slightly easier time with bullying them...but with the bold, aggressive, sarcastic personality in Richie...he's more than willing to defend his friends and shield them from any harm coming their way. He's the heart and soul of the group, in my opinion.
#85- Alphonse Elric
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Al was my original favorite character in the FMA franchise, along with Izumi. While Edward is (of course) my favorite right now, Al will always hold a special place in my heart for playing a wonderful foil to his older brother Ed. While Ed is passionate and fiery in personality, Al has this quiet yet sweet and kind persona about him. He's not as quick thinking as Ed is, but he's remarkably intelligent on his own. He also helps keep Ed grounded when Ed's temper gets the better of him, and it's pretty neat to see how Al feels like he's the true older sibling in their brotherhood despite Ed being older by about a year. Al's got this nice personality that makes him likable from the beginning.
He also suffers from tragedy in his life. After the Elric brothers' mom dies and their deadbeat dad moves out, Al and Ed try to bring their mom back to life...which thus commits the gravest sin in alchemy. As punishment, Ed loses half his body...but still ends up better than Al, albeit BARELY better. Al loses his entire body and Ed is able to place Al's soul within a suit of armor at the last minute. From there, Ed vows to get Al's body back. While Al and Ed do make a stupid decision at this point, we see where Al still shows undying love for Ed, DESPITE Ed being completely fine with going through with such a grave error. Al's loyalty is unmatchable at this point in his life, and while there are bumps in the road, he still loves his brother and that kindness that Al is known for continues to shine through.
The Elrics do get their happy ending in that their home city is saved, Al gets his body back, Ed gets one of his limbs back, and all is at peace in the land once again. And, I'm over the moon that the Elrics got their happy ending...after all they suffered through, they deserved it.
(One more point of clarification: I'm referring to the Brotherhood version of Alphonse. I actually have a few issues with '03 Alphonse which cause me to like the Brotherhood version of the character much more, but that's for another time).
Mythra sort of influenced me in a way.
