Shadow saves the world out of Maria's desire, isn't it? I remember that, though a bit vaguely. I think they butchered his character afterwards. He was meant to die, to sacrifice himself in a heroic, selfless act. Once they brought him back, the meaning of that was lost... and that's how you not write a compelling story. But then again, the Sonic canon is incoherent convoluted mess anyway.
But that is not the reason I like Dark Pit better. He's a character that thinks for himself and looks at the world with his own eyes. It's a trait I find positive and something I kind of relate to as well.
Another character I wanted a lot in Smash was Robin, as you know. I like him as a character for more or less the same reasons as I like Dark Pit. His theme/story is basically about finding one's own identity and place in the world, something I can also relate to. He also shares the whole changing fate thing with Lucina, a theme I also liked in that game.
Anyway, speaking of Robin and looking at my current avatar, Grima is a really scary villain. He wants to wipe out humanity by putting the world through hell. Typical villain plot here, right? But the scary part is that his motivations are unknown, but they're definitely not out of pleasure, to attain power or to exact revenge. He just wants to do it for whatever reason that isn't completely understood.
And yes, I tend to look deeper into characters' personalities and motivations. It makes them more interesting.
