Usually, my favorite characters tend to come from works of fiction that I consider to be genuinely great (or at least, very good), which I think make a lot of sense. However, even works that I either dislike or am ambivalent towards can on occasion produce some genuinely compelling characters. The characters below are all examples of these and while the works they're from may be of varying quality, each of them made the work of fiction they hail from a bit better with their presence.
Alejanda Coldthorn (Las Lindas)
I should first like to say that I can't stand most of the cast of Las Lindas. By and large, the characters can be divided into two categories: Annoying or bland. Alejandra Coldthorn (and to a lesser extent, her assistant, Tootsie) was the exception to this rule, being the only genuinely good character to come out of this web-comic. The antagonist of Las Lindas, Alejandra was introduced as a cold-hearted corporate villain with a grudge against the main character, Mora, she gradually developed into the only genuinely sympathetic character in the comic. However, even back when she was merely the villain, I couldn't help but root for Alejandra and sympathize with her far more than her rival and hoping in vain that she'd score some small victory that would knock Mora down a peg.
Benjamin Linus (Lost)
Lost is a show that seems to have suffered some backlash since it ended and quite frankly, I can't say its completely undeserved. Now, I watched the show all the way to the end when it first aired, but even then I can't deny that it was very hit-and-miss and I don't really have any desire to re-visit it. One thing about Lost that was consistently great though was Michael Emerson's portrayal of Benjamin Linus, introduced in the show's second season. The Man In Black may have been the ultimate big bad of the show, but for me, Ben will always be the villain of Lost, as far as I'm concerned. The leader of the Others, Ben was a devious, ruthless and complex character and I always enjoyed watching him plot his schemes.
Erza Scarlet (Fairy Tail)
Pretty sure that if it wasn't for this kickass redhead, I would have ended up dropping the Fairy Tail anime way earlier than I actually did.
Shizuka (Queen's Blade)
Believe it or not, but Queen's Blade, an anime famous (or infamous) for its amount of fan-service, actually had quite a few characters that I genuinely liked. If I had to pick one though, I'll go with Shizuka. If you've seen the show, this may seem like an odd choice. After all, Shizuka is not really a central character and her main purpose in the plot is to serve as a cataclysm for another character's (Tomoe) growth. However, she plays that role very well and her more realistic outlook on life and down-to-earth persona serves as a great compliment and contrast to Tomoe's idealism and naivete. Plus, she's at the heart of what is, to me, the most emotional scene in this anime.
Silver (Treasure Planet)
While far from one of Disney's worst movies, I'd definitely classify Treasure Planet as one of the lesser films to come out of the House of Mouse (at least, if we're limiting ourselves to the so-called canon). That said, its take on Long John Silver was great and easily rank among the best depictions of Robert Louis Stevenson's greatest character. The movie did a terrific job capturing Silver's ambiguous personality and his dual-role as both a father figure to Jim and a villainous pirate, thus providing him with a level of depth rarely seen in a Disney-villain (let's face it, while there are plenty of good and even great villains in Disney's animated features, few of them are what I would call complex, not that they really need to be).
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