Five attractive qualities
From fannish5: Name five qualities you always find attractive in fictional characters.
I think the characters I like most fall into the following categories (sometimes more than one at once)
- geeky: I fall for the geeks, some of whom can be so socially maladjusted or eccentric they could fall into the alien category even if they're human. Examples (in order of acquiring): Spock, Data, the Doctor, Sam Carter, Seamus Harper (before Andromeda jumped the shark), Kerr Avon, Rodney McKay and Radek Zelenka, just about the whole techy team on Bones (before the graphic gore finally squicked me out), and Hiro Nakamura.
- witty: I can't resist dialogue that makes me laugh, whether it's good-natured or sheer cutting snark. Emma Peel and John Steed, Livia Drusilla Augusta, the Red Dwarf's crew, Jack O'Neill, Kerr Avon, Vila Restal, Gregory House, Earl and Randy.
- alien: I realised early on that many of my favourites were alien, perhaps because they got better characterisation in many shows than the humans, but also because I am fascinated by the Other. Spock, the Doctor, Data, the Holographic Doctor, Garak, G'Kar, Londo Mollari, Vir Cotto, and Teal'c.
- roguish: always a fun type, but not always well done; they have to be likeable too. Vila Restal, Marcus Didius Falco, Mickey Bricks and Albert Stroller, Earl and Randy.
- vulnerable: a small category because often characters just come across as annoyingly wimpy, and I realise I don't like it in women because it's part of the clichéd frightened little female who needs looking after; grrr. They also have to be courageous and likeable; indeed, if it's done right, these guys are downright lovable. Claudius, Vir Cotto, Vila Restal, and Hiro Nakamura.