Favorite Male and Female Fantasy Character?

Who are your favorite (Or among your favorite, if picking one is too difficult) male and female fantasy characters, and why?

Tyrion Lannister is probably on top for me at the moment, for living by his wits and his fearless comebacks. That's one character I don't expect George to kill off.

Uh-oh, I've gone and typed that for the whole world to see. Now he's in trouble.

Males : Anomander Rake in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. A bit ambivalent about the whole Jesus vibe he acquires as the story goes on. On the one hand it probably conveys/foreshadows what the character's about in an extremely powerful and economical way to many of the likely readers, on the other hand you had a wonderful almost but not quite alien race and they had to be saddled with myth that's so oddly familiar ?

Females : Ista in Paladin of Souls. Maybe in part for the effect of seeing her growing from a shadow to a mature and fairly badass (if not in a physical combat sense) character.

Also : The Fool in the Farseer/Liveship Traders series. Much more fun and interesting than Fitz, most of the time...

Tyrion is on the top of my list as well for male characters. He is ingenious and wonderful. A very well written and fully realized character!

You should probably knock on wood!
However, I do agree that I doubt Martin would kill him. I'm of the opinion that he is one of 3 main characters and primary plot drivers of the entire series!

I have only read the first of the Malazan books, and Anomander was only a small part in the first installment, so I have little knowledge of him to say if he would be in my top.
Similarly I have only read the first book of the Farseer series as well. Again, the Fool is not a prominent character in that first installment, so I can cast no judgment.
I intend to eventually finish both series, so I'll have to come back at some future point and let you know if these become favorite characters of mine as well.
I don't know the Paladin of Souls series. I will have to look into that.

>5 Kiddboyblue: Paladin of Souls isn't a series, it's the middle book in the Chalion trilogy though they're all rather standalone.

Thank you for the clarification! I can't say I've heard of the Chalion trilogy. But I will certainly look into it!

Ged from A Wizard of Earthsea is my favorite male character. Lyra from His Dark Materials is my favorite female character.

Ironically, my favorite male character was written by a female author, and my favorite female character by a male author.

I am quite partial to Cazaril in Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion and to Liath in Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series. I like almost all Kate Elliott's heroines.

9: Cazaril is one of my favorites as well. I adore his mentorship of Iselle; any male character who can forge a strong emotional bond with a female character (not a relative) that has NO sexual component at all is a winner with me. He's a gentleman in the truest sense of the word who treats all those around him with respect, unless of course they don't deserve it. We need more strong, grown-up men like him in fantasy (and fiction in general).

My favorite female character tends to fluctuate. I'm particularly partial to Starhawk (The Ladies of Mandrigyn), Snake (Dreamsnake), and Terry Pratchett's Witches. One character I've met recently who has joined my favorites is Shai, the protagonist of the novella The Emperor's Soul. I love her because 1) she's creative, 2) she has a conscience even though she denies it, and 3) she's a badass mage who saves the day in the end.

Another vote for the fabulous Cazaril - he's joint favourite with Sam Gamgee from LOTR. I obviously have a thing for loyalty which they both have in droves. I also have soft spots for Mhoram and Foamfollower from "First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant".
Favourite female characters would be Blackthorn from Juliet Marillier's trilogy - she's so human in her struggles. Followed closely by Beauty from Robin McKinley because I'm just a soft romantic at heart and her enthusiasm for a huge library and books!

Ceda from the Song of Shattered Sands series by Bradley P. Beaulieu may be new, but is an incredibly strong female lead, and I really fell for her character fast. I think she ranks really high for me.

And a fairly lesser known male character that is on the top of my list is Imriel from the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. His story arch see's his character grow and develop in ways that only Carey can write.

In thinking about this question, I tried to think of books where both the female and male main characters are favorites.

In that category, I'd have to say John Aversin and Jenny Waynest in the Winterlands are the characters that I most admire and would love to spend time with.

Tough one. I think I'll cast another vote for UKL's Ged. For the female, I'm really torn between GGK'a Jehane (Lions of al-Rassan) and Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next.

>10 kceccato: I like all of those women!

>13 2wonderY: I like them too! I was kind of angry when Barbara Hambly had Jenny succumb to demon(s) because of her insecurities as a woman rather than her insecurities as a witch. From the outset it is her lack of power that frustrates her, not any feeling that John won't want her - she may think she's bad for him, but not that he isn't dedicated to her.

>16 quondame: I hadn't thought of it that way. You're right; but also, her gender is important because of how the menopause affects her magical abilities. I love that bit.

>17 2wonderY: I don't know the book, but I hope it doesn't make her powers less? One of the problems I have with Anne Bishop's Dark Jewel books: a woman can't use her magic when she's menstruating, and the first time she has sex, she can be broken in such a way that she loses most of her powers. Men of course have none of these problems.

Fitz in the Farseer Chronicles is my all time favorite. I hope Robin Hobb writes another series featuring his youngest daughter. Michael J. Sullivan has a great female heroine, Persephone, in his newest series, The Legends of the First Empire. She has no magical powers, just strength of will and a vision for the future.