Your top 5 VN Characters (non-protagonist)

[Clephas]

Who are your top five VN characters (other than the protagonist)?  I went ahead and posted this thread because using my evil thread necromancy to resurrect the original zombie thread seems in bad taste, lol.

1.  Kamio Ami- Semiramis no Tenbin's main heroine.  Calculating, manipulative, and you can never tell when she is wearing a mask and when she is being honest.  Her sheer intelligence and gut-level understanding of human nature combined with her somewhat hedonistic personality make her a fun heroine to pursue.  While she represents the 'devil' (Eru being the 'angel') of the three main heroines (Touko being the 'human' of the three), ironically her path leaves most of the side-characters much better off than Eru's path, where a lot of horrific things happen to several of the protagonist's friends.

2. Welsheranto D Anoyance- Otherwise known as 'Belche', a three hundred year old vassal vampire turned by the protagonist's father.  She was formerly a barmaid in Dublin, though she remembers very little about the time when she was human.  She is Jun's guide, his surrogate mother, and the overseer of his vampire heroine.  Her love for him is as pure as it gets, despite the fact that she is anything but pure in nature.  She is terrifyingly powerful, even by old vampire standards, able to slaughter hundreds of humans in seconds if she wills it.  When it comes to strangers, she is cold and distant, often ruthless if she thinks she can use them to better the circumstances of her vampire family.  When it comes to her family, she often shows the face of a put-upon mother, despite spending most of her time in her smaller form.

3. Kuki Youkou- A brilliant martial artist and first-rate teacher who fell to his own hatred after his son was raped and killed by a serial killer with powers.  He is both teacher and antagonist to the protagonist of Ayakashibito, while being the tortured protagonist of Chrono Belt.  While we mostly see his bad side in Ayakashibito, Chrono Belt gives us a chance to see the man behind the vengeful demon so familiar from the original game.  He is perhaps one of the most complex and deep characters written by Higashide during his time with Propeller, and it is worth playing Chrono Belt to see him come to life, even if only temporarily.

4.  Christopher Valzeride - The hero and Fuhrer of Adler and the prime antagonist and cause of most of the conflict in Silverio Vendetta.  Despite his supreme power and absolute heroism, he is not very talented.  However, he is a supreme hard worker, turning a mediocre level of talent into a monstrous level of power by being utterly ruthless with his own body and enduring things that would drive almost anyone else insane.  However, his seeming perfection of personality comes from a simple inability to understand the idea of giving up and doing evil, even if he can comprehend it logically.  He is devoid of weakness, which is in itself his greatest weakness.  As he once put it 'I am not an ally of justice, I am a slayer of evil.'  He is self-aware enough not to hold others to his standard and he is in a constant state of rage toward himself and self-hatred due to his absolute hatred of evil.  Unlike many would-be 'heroes' in stories, he doesn't think of himself as good but rather as the worst kind of trash due to his inability to find a perfect way to his goals that don't require the sacrifice of others.  If he had it his way, the only sacrifice would be himself.  "I will live and die for others.  Know that my heart beats for only that purpose."

Spoiler

 

5. Marie- Dies Irae's main (if not true) heroine.  A young woman born at the foot of the guillotine during the French Revolution, whose life passed without ever once knowing the touch of another human being due to the guillotine's curse.  At the end of her life, she spoke something other than the song of the executioner's grounds for the first time, only to state 'I will always be here', becoming eternal at the moment of her death, inspiring the events that led to the 'war'.  If there is a heroine one could say is 'pure of heart' with a straight face, it is her.  A tragic figure who, in the end, turns her tragedy and innocence into compassion and an all-encompassing love for humanity.  "I am watching.  I'm at your side.  I will never abandon you.  I will embrace you.  ... No, please allow me to embrace you.  Oh precious everything, I wish to watch over you forever.  Amantes Amentes, Omnia Vincit Amor.  Everyone, please someday find happiness."

[Sparteh]

Good choices. Though I doubt there is much to argue about Marie being true heroine, if we go with the fact that K3 and soon Avesta will exists.

Since I started with commenting about Dies Irae, next I would need to list something from it, don't I?

Reinhard Heydrich would be my first choice then. Antagonist of Dies Irae and probably the one of the most charming antagonist of all VNs I have read. There is a reason why Clephas stayed with him as a profile picture for years. What I particularly like about him is that he does not change. Now most of the time antagonist go "impossible, I couldn't lose" crying mode as soon as they are defeated. However, Reinhard does not change. He keeps his believes and actions to the end, no matter victory of loss.

Tenma Yato - would be my next choice. For me he is the guy who felt more of the main character, than most of the main cast. For me, he is a bit similar to Kuki Youkou in a way, seeing how you sort of see a different side to him when you read.

Vendetta would be my third choice. First, she is the main heroine with an actual character. She is both a complicated love interest and a guide, who in the end provides a different approach to the old myth.

Beatrice - the witch of Umineko. Hard to say anything about her without spoilers, 

Makise Kurisu - everyone knows her, do I really need to explain more?

Edited September 2 by Sparteh

[LostPomegranate]

Not going to write long explanations about why other than I really like them or I find them cute, and they're in no particular order. I also am clearly more of a moege / charage guy than plotge, although I do enjoy plotge I just don't get as attached to them.

 

Kisaragi Mizuha from Gin'iro, Haruka

Tsukishima Kyou from Hatsukoi 1/1

Narusawa Rikka from Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai (I pretty clearly / admittedly have a thing for tone work's's visual novels)

Arcueid Brunestud from Tsukihime

Tsujidou Ai from Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road

 

[alexfang452]

Man. That's a good question. My choices are not ordered. 

Jinpou An from Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms 

Yuuri from Kunado Chronicles 

Tooyama Sakura from Master Magistrate 

Ange from Mashiroiro Symphony - The most entertaining character from that VN and it is not even close. 

Ibaraki Rino from Parquet - A memorable character who has entertaining interactions with the protagonist. Also, she has an interesting backstory.

 

As for the other three, I like them because of how the story changed my opinion of them. With Jinpou An, I thought she was annoying in the common route. Then, her heroine route changed my mind thanks to what I learned about her as well as her interactions with the protagonist. With Yuuri, I thought she would be rude to the protagonist 24/7. However, she warmed up to him which led to an amazing moment for her near the end of the common route. Also, her route is my favorite from Kunado Chronicles. I enjoyed watching her train with the protagonist. As for Sakura, I assumed that she was going to be the only opposing force to the protagonist's actions during trials. However, I learned that she has more sides to her as I read more. She takes her job seriously and likes sweets. Also, Sakura gets a lot of focus in the chapter that I would say is my favorite from the common route of Master Magistrate. 

Edited September 2 by alexfang452
added more in the paragraph