Go ahead. We'll wait.
A couple of rules:
BOOK CHARACTERS ONLY! I don't care how much you love those wacky movie-only characters; they don't belong here.
No extreme fandom! Posts with statements that you think "so-and-so is hot!" or "I want to marry this person" will be deleted.
Try to come up with reasons for why those characters are your favorites. While you don't need to come up with a reason for every single character on your list, keep in mind that posts that only contain a list of characters may be deleted.
Just a side note from FK here... For those that are interested, here's the results of the previous thread on the old forum.
1. Aslan - 1224
2. Edmund - 1166
3. Lucy - 1158
4. Reepicheep - 795
5. Peter - 772
6. Puddleglum - 599
7. Jill - 518
8. Caspian - 502
9. Eustace - 448
10. Susan - 433
11. Shasta - 364
12. Aravis - 316
13. Tumnus - 282
14. Digory - 260
15. Tirian - 217
16. The White Witch - 144
17. Trumpkin - 137
18. Polly - 136
19. Bree - 124
20. Hwin - 112
That's out of 196 entries!
Now, here's my list.
10. Gwendolen - Surprise choice! This minor character from Prince Caspian is easily the best one-shot character in the series: a girl who sees a lion outside her school, points it out, sends the rest of the school running for their lives, and joins up with the lion out of pure faith (well, okay, maybe having rescued her from that school had something to do with it). She'd probably be great friends with Lucy.
9. Eustace - This boy goes through some radical changes during his first trip to Narnia, and he comes back the better for it... namely, he uses his snark and "dreadfully-matter-of-fact"-ness for good instead of evil. And who can forget when he tried to face up to that sea serpent with Caspian's second-best sword (albeit breaking it in the process)?
8. Reepicheep - Two words: absolutely hilarious. If this were a "funniest character" poll, he would win hands down. As a poll with more dimensions than that, he'll have to settle for 8th. Still, his wacky adventures make Narnia all the more exciting in the books he is in.
7. Lucy - "What? Lucy is only in 7th? Blasphemy!" Ah well, the girl widely agreed to be the best female character in the books is still a great character. Early on, she is the one with "faith enough for each of us", though admittedly, because of that, she comes off a little too perfect. That was corrected in her future appearances, when it becomes clear she's a bit too concerned with how others think of her. Still, sweet and kind best describe this young lady. Oh, and she's an active archer in HHB. That's awesome, too.[/b]
6. Aravis - If Lucy is the sweet and demure "Betty", Aravis is the feisty, energetic "Veronica". Funny how they become such fast friends at the end of HHB. At any rate, she's not going to let the fact that she's a girl stop her from making her escape into Narnia. Her best trait, though, is her loyalty: note that as much as she disliked Shasta in her early part of the journey, she would never abandon him. Now that's agape love.
5. Jewel - For every great King is a great companion, especially if that companion can run at high speeds and impale enemies on his horn. Jewel would have easily placed in the top 10 just by being a unicorn, but add in his important role in Narnia's final days and he ends up in the top 5.
4. Shasta - This boy went through a lot. Discovering his "father" wasn't really his father and was going to sell him off, learning about Talking Horses, meeting up with a temperamental girl, getting confused by the Narnians for his twin image... and that's just the start! Yet, he somehow makes it through (with the help of Aslan) and ends up king of Archenland. He goes through a lot of growth in his book and is a character that is easy to relate to.
3. Puddleglum - Who knew pessimism could be so awesome? Puddleglum might not be the best being to have around a party, but for a dangerous adventure, nothing quite beats his deadbeat antics. However, his true crowning moment of awesomeness comes from underground, when he breaks free of the Lady of the Green Kirtle's spell by declaring that, maybe, even if it's not the truth, what we want to believe is better than the truth. (Bonus points for stomping onto a fire and getting the room smelling of burnt Marshwiggle.)
2. Edmund - Ah, Edmund. What's to say about him? Starts out as a traitor, becomes repentant, has an awesome moment when he breaks the White Witch's Wand of Petrification, and from then on, is always the one who believes in others, especially in the ability to turn over a new leaf. He's also a great swordfighter, a great strategist, and can settle matters such as the trial at Deathwater. Don't mess with Edmund.
1. Jill - So... how can this girl possibly be #1? Well, let's go over what she goes through. First, she trusts a stranger of a classmate about going over to Narnia (it helps that said classmate somehow turned from prick to nice guy over the holidays). Once there, she finds herself on a dangerous quest, nearly blows the whole thing over inattention to the signs, but saves it all at the last moment. Then she comes back... and she's a resourceful young woman who seriously helps out in those last moments, but not without her emotional trials. Her growth across SC and into LB is really awesome. Oh, and she's an archer. And archers are awesome. That, combined with her character development, makes her what I feel is the best character in the books.