The most Memorable Character in all of literature?

[Lord Macbeth]

Sherlock Holmes was the first thing that popped into my head. We don't think about him very often because the image of Holmes has been so engrained in our society that it's actually a cliché, but really - the cocaine addled manic depressive genius with an aptitude for chemistry, boxing and the violin who's arrogant little jibes at his friend of average intelligence are always somehow unexpected and hilarious, that is a memorable character.

YES! HE'S MY FAVORITE, HE AND HAMLET AND GAWAIN!

I used to idolize Holmes as a kid and still do, my best friend and I argued so much, she taking the humanistic side and me being analytic, our English teacher once referred to us as Holmes and Watson, and we've sort of kept those titles to this day when we talk to one another...

I actually really AM a lot like Holmes; flip Holmes' math and science prowess for literature and philosophy and you have someone whose personality is actually very much like my own--built like a wire, hair slicked back, usually wearing a black jacket--the famous deerstalker-and-coat look is actually the lesser-used of the two looks in the book, as, well, he's usually dealing with society folks in one manner or another, so he usually dresses in a black suit and often with a cane, like in the Jeremy Brett series--very analytic, prone to huge bursts of energy followed by a huge down period of some depression or boredom, arrogant with a capital A, a best friend who's his opposite who he can bicker with and yet remain friends with...even the stimulant thing, I never do any drugs but I'm a HUGE caffeine addict, usually at least a couple litres every day...

If I'm not drinking something I'm either in a place its not allowed, asleep, or in a VERY bad state of affairs...and probably wanting some damn caffeine already!

I ws going to pick Holmes as my name and avatar here, but I went with a creation of my overall author...

But not a day goes by that I don't think of those two, Sherlock and Shakespeare; the former's in my head and the latter governs the heart (however small it may seem, analytic *** that I might be...)

[Big Dante]

Yeah I would say Sherlock Holmes. He's become such a well known character that even people who have never touched a book in their life know who he is.

[kelby_lake]

Yeah I would say Sherlock Holmes. He's become such a well known character that even people who have never touched a book in their life know who he is.

Have you seen the recent BBC adaptation?

As for vivid characters, Humbert Humbert and Lolita, amongst others.

[Alexander III]

I would have to say three of my favorite and most well crafted ones are Milton's Satan and Aeschylus' and Shelley's Prometheus.

[Patrick_Bateman]

I'm going to offend you by asking this but, who is Patrick Bateman?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho

[ladderandbucket]

Captain Ahab (Moby Dick)
Mr. Kurtz (Heart of Darkness)
Judge Holden (Blood Meridian)
Long John Silver (Treasure Island)

These are the most vividly imagined characters I can think of and all seem to conform to an archetype. I think there is only room for one such character in a novel, although I am thinking they would make for an interesting dinner party

[Seasider]

Mr Rochester...the ultimate in romantic heroes...moody, handsome, mysterious and eventually tamed.

[Emil Miller]

Bertie Wooster... the ultimate in silly asses... moneyed,impressionable, unpractical but still manages to avoid the marriage trap.

[Wilde woman]

Bertie Wooster... the ultimate in silly asses... moneyed,impressionable, unpractical but still manages to avoid the marriage trap.

Brilliant! He reminds me a bit of Lord Henry in Dorian Gray.

Why haven't any female characters been named? I can think of a few:

Medea
Ophelia
Rosalind
Lady de Winter

[Seasider]

Female characters ?? Lady Bracknell The Importance of being Earnest Jane Eyre, the eponymous heroine of Charlotte Bronte's novel. The Wife of Bath from Chaucer's prologue, Portia from The Merchant of Venice Cleopatra fromAnthony and Cleopatra MillamentThe Way of the World by Congreve, Hedda Gabler from Ibsen's play. And much much more but I'm tired and on my way to bed.

[Syd A]

John Yossarian - now there's a character!

[IceM]

Finally a Yossarian nomination!

Yossiarian from Catch-22, Lord Henry Wotton from Picture of Dorian Gray, and Iago are all very entertaining.

Enlightening characters: Siddhartha from Siddhartha, Stephen Dedalus for Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man, and the narrator from Notes from the Underground.

[MarkBastable]

The Mad Hatter, perhaps. I'd also nominate Bertie Wooster.

But, if pushed, I'd go for Ebenezer Scrooge.

[manolia]

The count of Monte Christo is the first that popped to my head.

Then Rashkolnikov, Becky Sharp (Vanity Fair), Gatsby, Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the rye), the musketeers, Lolita, Alex (clockwork orange), Oskar (Tin Drum), Anna Karenina, Jane Eyre, Herzog..the list is long.

[mal4mac]

Surely Dickens produced the mos memorable characters - try an experiment - take any major author, but Dickens, and name their main characters. Now name major characters from Dickens.

Dostoevsky has been mentioned twice, but without naming one of his characters