This is a difficult question, mostly because characters can be favorites for different reasons, and that makes comparing them very challenging... Still, I'll give it a shot. Kellhus from Bakker's two trilogies, Tyrion and Arya from Martin's SoIaF, Mat from WoT (pre-Sanderson turning him into a lout that cannot even spell), and... Severian from The Book of the New Sun.

Oh! And how could I nearly forget him? Kvothe.



I'm gonna have to divide this by characters, since as I said above the reasons are different for each one.

Kellhus is just walking awesomeness. He isn't a good guy, he isn't really a bad guy... He walks in a very shadowy in-between instead. Kellhus does some pretty amazing things, and for that I love reading about him, even though I do side with Achamian against him.

Tyrion is a brilliant character because he's so believable and real. He has had problems his whole life, and yet he doesn't whine or complain about them (not more than would be natural, anyway). He's funny, he's tough, and he is intelligent.

Arya is a great character because she's so much fun to read about. She has my support all the way, and beyond that I can't really think of much to say concerning her...

Mat is one of my favorites because he has a good sense of humor, has the trickster/slacker persona, and yet when the time comes he can pick himself up and push through whatever is happening. I have a great fondness for that sort of hero.

Severian because he is full of so many amazing thoughts and observations. He is fascinating to read about, and a character that you truly feel like you get to know. Not just like Jordan's characters, for instance, where you know them in the sense that you'll know exactly what they'll do in a given situation and the two thoughts they'll be able to process in their minds. With Severian it's more like you won't know what he'll do, but you will have a fairly good idea of the thought processes that will go through his mind. So I guess what I'm saying is that the reader gets to know him well, but he stays mysterious enough to be interesting and surprising, as indeed any person should be.

And Kvothe, because like Kellhus he is awesome and has done amazing things, like Tyrion and Mat he is hilarious, and like Arya he is infinitely likable, at least to me. I wouldn't like him nearly as much if Rothfuss wrote his trilogy as a regular story, showing Kvothe from beginning of his story to end. Then Kvothe would appear too perfect, and while still very funny, and still likable, he would have that looming like a shadow over him. But because Rothfuss shows a completely different future Kvothe as well, that increases his likability instead of decreasing it.



I don't even know. Maybe it's because I haven't read any real Literature for a while (except for Greek mythology, but there are no good characters there, lol) or maybe it's because such characters are just less likable than Fantasy/Sci-fi ones.




Consistency, as you said, definitely. But not just the character staying consistent throughout, but the character being consistent with the world and the time in which the story takes place. And when the character grows and develops, as the character should, that should also be consistent with the world and the experiences the character has gone through. It has to be believable, and real.



Jordan, also like you said. His characters, even though one of them is high on my list of favorites, are very one-dimensional and boring. It doesn't feel like there is anything more to them than what has been shown, and they continuously repeat the same things, think the same thoughts...



They're both really, really important... But the story is probably more important. Characters of any kind need something to do, and that is where story comes in.