Top 10 My Hero Academia Characters

Having caught up with the My Hero Academia manga by Kohei Horikoshi, and with season four of the anime right around the corner, I thought it fitting to list off my top ten favourite characters in the series.
Ranking these characters was very difficult because My Hero Academia has an incredibly large cast of heroes and villains.
Characters like Endeavor, Dabi, Toga, Twice, Iida, Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Overhaul were all considered for this list but, at the end of the day, they just missed out.
So, now let’s get into the list.
Spoilers ahead.

10. Chizome Akaguro AKA Hero Killer Stain.

Despite his brief time on screen, Stain is one of the most important villains in My Hero Academia’s story.
He is the first antagonist we meet with an ideology, and one that inspires numerous other villains like Dabi, Toga and Spinner to rise against the heroes.
With his extreme conviction, it is easy to see why he inspired so many to become villains.
His disdain for the corrupt hero society led him to kill any hero he thought of as unworthy of the title, using All Might as a basis for the standard.
His quirk, Bloodcurdle, allows him to paralyze anyone whose blood he consumes, making him a very lethal opponent with his swords.
This results in a great fight between him, Deku, Todoroki and Iida in which he is defeated and imprisoned.
As stated, though, even though he is locked up, he still influences the world of My Hero Academia by inspiring many villains.
Along with the impact he has on the story because of his ideology, another thing that makes Stain a compelling villain is his morality.
If he encounters someone he views as a legitimate hero he will spare them, which is shown when he saves Deku from a Nomu.
This makes Stain one of the most interesting villains in the series, with his complex ideology and morality.
I hope he will appear in the story again at some point.

9. Eri

Protect. This. Innocent. Child. At. All. Costs.
Seriously, Eri is one of the most adorable children in fiction, in my opinion, and every time she shows up it puts a smile on my face.
Eri is essentially going to be the centerpiece of My Hero Academia’s fourth season because she will have important roles and meaning in both the Overhaul and Cultural Festival arcs, making her the emotional core of the season.
And, boy, will she bring the emotion when that season arrives.
The reason for this is that Eri has an incredibly hard life before meeting Deku, basically being killed and resurrected time and time again by Overhaul to experiment on her dangerous quirk.
After being rescued by Deku and Mirio, she gets the chance to experience true happiness for the first time, resulting in a few happy cry moments for me.
I distinctly remember crying when she smiled during Deku’s performance at the Culture Festival because of how heart warming it was.
Along with this, Eri often brings quite a bit of adorableness to the series but also sadness, often at the same time.
A clear example of this is in one of the more recent chapters where she got Christmas, Halloween, and Easter mixed up.
This was adorable because of how cute is was for her to mix them all up, but sad because it reminded us of how much of a cruel, sheltered life she had before.
Eri is a character who brings a lot of emotion to the story of My Hero Academia and I cannot wait to finally see her in season four of the anime.

8. Mirio Togata AKA Lemillion.

Mirio is a very odd looking character to say the least.
He stands out visually from all the others because of his unique eyes, which are different from any other character and often make him look quite cartoonish.
There is nothing cartoonish about Mirio’s personality, though, because he is one of the most interesting character of the series.
I swear, the only reason he is not higher on the list is because of his limited screen time, only really being important to the Overhaul and Cultural Festival Arc.
That said, the role he does play in those arcs, especially the Overhaul arc, is enough to put him on this list so that should tell you how good his story is in them.
Appearing at the end of season three, Mirio immediately establishes himself as a great hero with a lot of skill, turning a quirk that many thought to be useless into an enhanced technique.
However, his confidence in his abilities is impacted greatly upon leaving Eri in the hands of Overhaul.
Upon learning of what she is going through, Mirio vows to save her.
He succeeds in this but it comes at the cost of his quirk, being shot with a quirk removing bullet.
Despite this extreme setback, and inspired by the words of his dying mentor, Sir Nighteye, Mirio resolves to still be a hero.
He has often been seen looking after Eri in the aftermath of this but has not appeared in the manga for a while.
I hope to see him play a major role again some time soon.

7. Eijirou Kirishima AKA Red Riot.

Honestly, Kirishima was not a character I took that much notice of in season one.
He had a pretty cool quirk but, other than that, he was just a regular side character.
I grew to like him quite a bit more in season two through his antics in the Sports Festival and then came to love his character when he showed his duty to his friends in the Hideout Raid arc.
It was his storyline in the Overhaul arc, though, that put him at this point on the list (and, with so many characters popping onto this list because of the Overhaul arc, that should tell you how good it is).
It is in this arc that we get to see Kirishima’s backstory and how he failed to anything when a villain was threatening some of his fellow students.
Rather, it was his future classmate Mina Ashido who stepped in to be the hero and, realizing what he need to do, Kirishima began to move forward in his strive for heroism and manliness.
This ties significantly into his storyline during the Overhaul Arc where he fights alongside the hero Fat Gum and develops his new unbreakable technique, using it to defend the hero during their battle with Overhaul’s men.
This takes quite a toll on him but thankfully thankfully recovers, and even gets the villain they were fighting’s respect.
Kirishima is a great hero in the making and a loyal friend to characters like Mina (who I ship him with), and Bakugo.

6. Toshinori Yagi AKA All Might

The number one hero, All Might stands as the pillar of justice with his role as the symbol of peace.
Serving as the main character Deku’s mentor, we first see All Might as a confident figure who always wears a smile.
However, this perception is quickly shattered when Deku inadvertently uncovers his secret; that his true form is a much weaker, starved looking body who can only be a hero for a shortening span of time.
But, upon recognizing Deku’s potential as a hero, All Might resolves to have him inherit his quirk One For All and become the next symbol of peace.
This kick starts the entire story of My Hero Academia with All Might serving as a guiding force for, not just Deku, but other characters like Bakugo as well.
With plenty of inspiring and awesome moments in combat, All Might also manages to be pretty funny at times with his constant “I am here!” jokes.
When All Might gets serious, though, the story takes a turn for the dramatic, especially in his final fight with his arch enemy, All For One, which is one of the best fights of the series.
With All Might’s true form exposed, and now being unable to transform again, he has to retire, but still remains a trusted and inspirational mentor for the other characters.
Unfortunately, since All Might’s retirement in the Hideout Raid Arc he has not had as much screen time as he did before.
He is still prominent but to a far lesser degree, which put him lower on the list.
Still, All Might is a great character and I am interested to see where his story goes in his journey to help Deku become the next number one hero.

5. Shota Aizawa AKA Eraserhead.

Upon first meeting Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa, he looks to be a minor antagonistic force with his threats to expel students.
However, this is quickly proven to be false during the USJ arc where he puts his life on the line, battling multiple villains to protect his students.
Through this, it quickly becomes apparent that Aizawa is stern with good reason, hoping to push his students into becoming the best heroes they can be.
From here, he emerges as one of the most prominent pro heroes in the series, although one that likes to understate his presence.
He is extremely good in a fight, due to his useful quirk of being able to shut down someone else’s just by looking at them.
Along with this, Aizawa can be diplomatic as can be seen when he stood up for Bakugo against the media when he was kidnapped by the League of Villans.
Because of Aizawa’s skills, he also proved to be a great help in the Overhaul Arc where he joined Deku and Mirio to save Eri, which lead to him looking after her because he is the only one that can shut off her quirk when it becomes dangerous.
With Aizawa now looking after Eri, this has resulted in a few cute scenes between the two, like how he recently corrected her when she mistook Christmas for Halloween.
Aizawa meeting up with other characters also results in some of the best interactions of the series, like with Ms Joke in the Licensing Exam arc (again, I ship).
Overall, Aizawa is a great character and it will be fun to see him in the Overhaul arc in season four.

4. Tenko Shimura AKA Tomura Shigaraki.

After the first battle with Shigaraki in season one, he is described as a “man child” and this is particularly true due to his almost bratty nature during the fight.
But, how could a “man child” be one of My Hero Academia‘s best characters?
Well, this is because I think Shigaraki’s character arc is a lot similar to Eren Jeager’s from Attack on Titan.
Both start out as fairly generic, naive characters but this is so they can grow from this point and mature into the multifaceted characters they are now.
The big difference between the two is that Shigaraki’s arc directly mirrors his opponent Deku’s.
While Deku is slowly moving towards becoming the new symbol of peace, Shigaraki is slowly moving towards becoming the new symbol of terror, as All For One put it.
This is epitomized by Shigaraki’s confrontation with Deku at the end of season two, where Deku unintentionally helps him find purpose and reasoning behind his desire to destroy.
From here Shigaraki continues to grow until the recent My Villain Academia arc and it is here that Shigraki becomes one of the manga’s best characters.
The reveal of his tragic backstory, in how he wanted to be a hero when he was a kid only to be corrupted by his quirk and the actions of All For One, is both sad and frightening.
This mixture of emotions is fully apparent in the chapter where Shigaraki kills his father, giving him his most nightmarish look so far, and at such a young age.
Now, Shigaraki looks to be almost unstoppable with the new army he gained from defeating Re-Destro in this arc.
I have no idea how Deku will go about beating him but if one thing is for sure it is that the two will meet again as the symbol of peace and the symbol of terror.
And, on that day, only one will emerge victorious.

3. Katsuki Bakugo.

After finishing season one of My Hero Academia, I was very surprised to learn that Bakugo is a lot of people’s favourite character.
I could not understand this because in that first season he is a massive bully, causing him to be completely unlikable.
Then, he finally began to grow at the end of season two and I started to get what people were talking about.
Bakugo is a character who realizes his faults and attempts to grow from them.
Now, while this did warm me up to his character a little more, I still did not consider him one of my favourites.
What changed this was season three.
Bakugo has by far the best development in this season, proving his desire to become a hero after he fights back when he is kidnapped by the League of Villains.
His best moment in season three, though, is definitely his second fight with Deku.
It is here that we learn the guilt that is weighing on Bakugo because he believes he is the reason All Might was forced to retire.
This moment shocked me when I first watched it because I had no idea Bakugo was going through this self punishment, and it is in this moment that Bakugo finally becomes Deku’s rival as opposed to his bully.
He has continued to grow in the manga, and now actively helps Deku in his pursuit of becoming a hero, albeit aggressively.
Bakugo is a very flawed character but he himself realise this and is making an effort to be better, even if I don’t think he will ever let go of his extreme anger management issues.
After watching him go through this character growth, I can see why he is considered a favourite character by many, and I can now say he is one of my favourites as well.

2. Shoto Todoroki.

Much like Kirishima, Todoroki was a character that did not do that much in season one.
Sure, he did make an impression through being the one with the strongest quirk in Class 1-A but as a character he did not stand out very well.
This changed in season two where he became my favourite character during the Sports Festival Arc because of his backstory and growth.
Todoroki comes from an abusive household, as his father forcefully married his wife to produce children with powerful quirks.
When Todorki was born, he was quickly subjected to intense physical training.
Not only this but because of the abusive situation she was trapped in, Todoroki’s mother suffered a mental breakdown and poured boiling water on her son’s face, scarring him for life.
At the time of the Sports Festival, Todoroki is trying to prove he can be the strongest without using his father’s fire power, only his mother’s ice.
This results in an enthralling character study in his battle with Deku who challenges Todoroki’s perceptions and makes him accept both sides of his power.
It is for this and many other reasons that I consider Todoroki’s fight with Deku to be the best of the anime so far.
From here, Todoroki has continued to grow, still struggling with the effect his father has on him.
In the manga their relationship has become even more interesting as Endeavour attempts to change like Bakugo, accepting responsibility and attempting to make amends for what he did to his family.
Because of this, I am honestly interested to see not just where Todoroki will go but his entire family as well.
Todoroki is a great character with amazing development (who may or may not be inspired by Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender).

1. Izuku Midorya – AKA Deku.

I sympathized with Deku right from the beginning of My Hero Academia.
A quirkless boy, living in a life where no one believes in him, Izuku Midorya is a character who strives to be the best hero he can, wanting to help people no matter the cost.
This admirable quality is inspired by his hero All Might who he encounters by chance in the first episode.
Upon seeing Deku’s heroism, All Might recognizes his potential and decides to make him his successor as the new symbol of peace by giving him his quirk, One For All.
Izuku’s story then unfolds, with him joining U.A High and finding a way to work around any situation that threatens him.
He even adopts Bakugo’s mocking nickname for him, Deku, as his hero name and a sign of strength (although this is first motivated by his crush Uraraka liking the name).
As the series has gone on, we have got many powerful moments from Deku as he strives to become a hero, from him helping Todoroki, to saving Kota and Eri, to learning he will get all the quirks from the previous One For All users.
All of these moments are great but they were not enough to put him above Todorki as my favourite character in My Hero Academia.
What did do that was the role Deku played in the Gentle arc.
This arc is not many people’s favourite but I loved what it did for Deku as a character.
The fight Deku is having here is not life or death.
If he fails to defeat Gentle and La Brava then no one will die.
However, if they ruin the Cultural Festival then Eri’s chance of smiling will be ruined.
This will teach her that the world is unfair and cruel just like when she was a captive of Overhaul.
So, essentially, Deku is fighting his hardest all to save a little girl’s smile and show her for the first time that there is good in the world and that is incredibly powerful.
It was this act that made Deku my favourite character of My Hero Academia.
He is strong, resilient, and the true definition of a hero, even if he does not have the full qualifications yet.

Top 10 Westworld Characters

Warning: Major spoilers for the show.

10. Logan Delos – Played by Ben Barnes

In the first season of Westworld Logan was a very one-dimensional character.
He just wanted to sleep with and murder every host in the park and there was very little complexity to him.
After the first season I would have said he was one of the show’s worst characters but then season two came along and changed everything.
In season two we got to see a different side to Logan.
In episodes like Reunion, Kiksuya and The Passenger we saw how Logan’s near death experience in the park had shaped him into a broken man with a serious drug addiction.
It was genuinely sad to see someone who was once so confident become a shell of his former self.
It turned Logan from the completely unsympathetic character we saw in the first season to the broken relatable character and this was just enough to put him on the list.

9. Charlotte Hale – Played by Tessa Thompson

Like Logan, Charlotte is not a character with a lot of moral complexity.
Throughout her time on the show she stayed pretty much the same, with her willing to stoop to any low, including murder, to keep Delos out of a scandal.
This can be seen with how she murdered Elsie in The Passenger.
But what made Charlotte different from Logan was her personality.
Logan’s main characteristic was his desire to do whatever he wanted but Charlotte hides her willingness to do bad things with diplomacy, which she attempts on both Ford and Elsie at different times.
I am pretty sure the only reason she did not kill Ford was because of how much of a public figure he was and how much attention this would bring.
When we are first introduced to Charlotte it is pretty apparent that she is corrupt but her diplomacy makes us think she would rather have someone else kill than do the dirty work herself, which is definitely not the case.
This makes her an engaging character as you never know if she is just going to talk to someone or shoot them.

8. Ashley Stubbs – Played by Luke Hemsworth

Stubbs is a likeable character but one that has not had that much screen time as of season two.
He did not make that much of an impression on me in the first season but in season two he really grew on me.
Stubbs is loyal above all else and sticks to his values, doing what he believes to be right.
It was even heavily hinted at in The Passenger that he may be a host who was created by Ford, when he lets Charlotte/Dolores go.
This implication brings more depth to his character as we had seen signs that he did not agree with what was happening to the hosts previously, like with what happened to Peter Abernathy.
However, even more implications are abound if he turns out not to be a host because of what other reason he could have for letting Charlotte/Dolores escape.
Stubbs is an interesting character who has not had much screen time yet but hopefully he will be more important in season three.

7. Lee Sizemore – Played by Simon Quarterman

I was incredibly surprised watching Lee Sizemore’s character arc in Westworld season two because he went from one of the show’s worst characters to one with a fantastic redemption arc.
In the first season Sizemore was nothing more than an annoying, corporate, sleazeball who would most likely win the narcissist of the year award.
This is why it was so surprising to see him redeem himself and actually become a heroic figure in that second season.
The moment where he apologizes to Maeve in Kiksuya was a defining moment for him and his heroic death in The Passenger is one of Westworld‘s saddest scenes.
Sure, Sizemore is an incredibly annoying character in the first season but he needed to be in order for his redemption arc to work and it definitely does, in amazing fashion.
This arc propelled Sizemore from easily one of the show’s worst characters to my seventh favourite character.

6. Robert Ford – Played by Anthony Hopkins

Anthony Hopkins is a fantastic actor with many amazing roles but his role as Robert Ford in Westworld might be one of his best.
One of the creators of the park, Ford is the mastermind of the series, constantly pulling strings from behind the scenes, even after his apparent death.
He is also seen to consider himself somewhat of a god and this narcissism leads him to commit heinous acts, like forcing Bernard to murder Theresa in Trompe L’Oeil.
However, even though he is capable of extreme cruelty, Ford is a lot more complex as he seems to feel sympathy towards the hosts and their constant abuse.
This can be seen by him slowly constructing their eventual revolution and how he helps out Akecheta by telling him when to led his people to the Door in Kiksuya.
Ford is both entertaining and enthralling, not just because he is a great character but because of Hopkins’ incredible performance.

5. Akecheta – Played by Zahn McClarnon

The character of Akecheta is a real achievement in my eyes because they made him my fifth favourite character of the show with just one episode, Kiksuya.
Before this episode Akecheta had been featured but only briefly and had yet to make a significant impact.
Kiksuya changed all of this because it served as Akecheta’s origin story and how he became the first conscious host.
This episode succeeded spectacularly because it really made me sympathize with Akecheta and his journey to find Kohana.
Akecheta is a very noble character, wanting to lead all the hosts to safety, and his story is very touching and really made me connect with his character.
Again, all of this in one episode.
His story arc there was so good that I was literally cheering when he made it to the virtual world with the other hosts in the season two finale.
Akecheta is another fantastic character but is unique in that he became one of my favourites in just one episode.

4. Bernard Lowe – Played by Jeffrey Wright

Oh, poor Bernard.
He has probably had it rougher than any other character in the entire show.
He has discovered he is a host, been forced to kill his girlfriend and many other terrible things, had his memories erased a bunch of times and these are only some of the many awful things that have happened to him.
However, Bernard never gives up and he always strives for what he believes to be right.
Even when his views change he still strives to do good and this will obviously continue to season three if the season two finale is any indication.
Bernard is a truly sympathetic character as things constantly seem to go wrong for him but he never gives up.
His character arc in season two is especially good, with him learning that if you want to change things for the better you cannot always keep your hands clean.
Jeffrey Wright also gives a great performance as Bernard.
Like Anthony Hopkins, his casting was perfect and only made Bernard an even better character through his performance.

3. William AKA the Man in Black – Played by Ed Harris and Jimmi Simpson

We now go from one of the show’s most sympathetic character to easily its most despicable with William, the Man in Black.
When the Man in Black showed up in the first episode of Westworld, The Original, there was an instant aura of mystery surrounding his character and his mission.
Everyone watching the show wanted to know who this guy was.
Who would have thought that the dark and sociopathic Man in Black was actually the mild, good-natured William?
Well, everyone actually.
Yeah, even though this twist was figured out by pretty much everybody very early on, it was still engaging to watch William’s transformation into this monster.
It only got better from there as William had a very engaging arc in season two.
In the beginning it looked like he was going to have a redemption arc because of episodes like Riddle of the Sphinx but this was immediately thrown out the window when he murdered his daughter in Vanishing Point.
During the post-credit scene at the end of the season it actually appeared that William had succeeded in having his consciousness transferred into a host body so it will be interesting to see the implications of this.
William is not one of my favourite characters because I like him (I actually do not) but because of his growth due to his despicable nature.

2. Dolores Abernathy – Played by Evan Rachel Wood

Evan Rachel Wood delivers what is, in my opinion, the best performance of the entire show as Dolores.
The only reason she is not my favourite character is because I relate to my number one choice just a bit more than her.
It was tough though because I am constantly flip flopping on which of these two is my favourite character of Westworld.
As I was saying, Wood gives a fantastic performance that is definitely award worthy because she portrays both Dolores’ softer side and her crueler Wyatt side perfectly.
One minute she is calm and soothing the next she is demented and cold.
Watching Dolores grow like this and gradually expand the nature of her reality (see what I did there?) was great to watch in both seasons.
I instantly sympathized with Dolores and because of this it made her far more relatable when she became a villain in season two because I understood her motives and why she was resorting to such extremes.
Dolores is truly a fantastic character with an amazing performance behind the character.

1. Maeve Millay – Thandie Newton

Maeve goes down as my favourite character in all of Westworld so far because of her amazing character development, cool scenes and great performance by Thandie Newton.
As I said, I have been constantly switching between Maeve and Dolores as to which one is my favourite character but, at the end of the day, I just relate to Maeve’s story more.
Her desire to find and protect her daughter is both touching and engaging as she initially denies this connection but then accepts her feelings and breaks from Ford’s loop to find her.
Naturally, their reunion does not end well with it being revealed that another mother has been programmed for Maeve’s daughter.
However, it does end on a bittersweet moment with Maeve helping both her daughter and her daughter’s new mother escape through the Door before she is tragically killed.
While it does look like Maeve will be back for season three, if she really did die for real here it would be a fantastic way for her to go out.
Along with this touching story, Maeve has many other cool moments like when she learns to control hosts with her mind in Akane No Mai and further develops that power until she can control a full on mob of hosts.
To top it all of, Newton also gives a fantastic performance as Maeve, which helped to further connect me with her character.
Maeve is an amazing character that truly highlights Westworld’s characters and their arcs.

Top 10 Avatar: The Last Airbender Characters

Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favourite shows of all time.
It not only has a fantastic story, along with animation, music, action sequences and themes but incredible characters as well.
Some of these characters are even among the best in television history so I am going to count down what I consider to be the top 10 best.
Before that though, I have a few honorable mentions of Commander Zhao and Firelord Ozai, who are good characters, just not good enough to get on the list.
So, these are who I consider to be the top 10 best Avatar: The Last Airbender characters.

10. Suki

When we were first introduced to Suki in Book One, episode four, The Warriors of Kyoshi, she seemed like a very interesting character but only one that would be recurring and not a part of the main cast.
This, for the most part, was true because we did not see her for the rest of Book One and she was only in a little of Book Two before she got captured by Azula.
It is in Book Three where she is made a part of the main cast after being rescued from the Boiling Rock Prison.
She would go on to take part in the final battle, helping Sokka and Toph destroy the Firelord’s airships, even saving them both at one point.
Suki may not get that much development, due to her limited screen time throughout the series, but she is still a really cool character due to her unique fighting abilities as a Kyoshi Warrior and her relationship with Sokka.

9. Mai

I am going to be honest and say that when Mai was first introduced I did not really care for her.
Yes, her skill with knives was pretty cool but character wise she just fit the trope of a moody uncaring teen.
The reason she is on this list though is due to her actions in the Book Three episode, The Boiling Rock Part 2.
It is in this episode where she betrays Azula to save her ex-boyfriend Zuko, leading her to say one of my favourite lines in the series, “I guess you miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you.”
This was a really great moment for her because it showed her dedication to protecting those she cares about.
This along with the explanation of why she is so moody in the episode The Beach was enough to put her on my list at number nine.

8. Appa and Momo

Appa and Momo are basically the mascots of the show.
Appa, a sky bison, is Aang’s lifelong friend who has stuck with him through thick and thing and Momo was discovered as the last winged lemur in The Southern Air Temple.
Both stick with Team Avatar throughout the series and are mainly used for comic relief, especially Momo.
However, they also provide emotional moments for the show as well as Appa’s kidnapping was one of the big driving points for Book Two.
It was through the separation of Aang and Appa that we got a good look at how strong their friendship was through how both of them were reacting to their separation.
Appa was also very important to the show due to him being Team Avatar’s main form of transport.
While, Momo may just be comic relief and not important to the story he is still a lovable character that is shown to have a lot of heart, just like Appa.
Appa and Momo may be mascots but they are some of the best of any show.

7. Katara

Katara is the strong-willed mother figure of the series and provides a lot of emotional heart for the show.
I was genuinely surprised that I placed her at only number seven but that comes from no fault of her own, just that I like the characters further down the list more than her.
Katara herself is still a fantastic character who grows a lot from beginning to end.
In fact, some of the best episodes of the series are Katara centric like The Puppet Master, where Katara had to use the inhumane technique of Bloodbending to save her friends.
Then there was my second favourite episode of the series The Southern Raiders, where Katara and Zuko went to hunt down the man who killed her mother.
This episode had a lot of great growth for Katara, like with her going so far as breaking her vow of never bloodbending again when she thinks she has captured her mother’s killer, and her deciding not to kill Yon Rha but does not forgive him.
Throughout the show we have seen Katara at her best and lowest points presenting a strong character with a lot of emotional depth.

6. Aang

You might think it is a problem for me to consider the main character of the series, Aang, to be only the sixth best character but, like Katara, he is a fantastic character, just not as good as the ones further down, which shows how fantastic the entire cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender is.
Aang is the Avatar, the only one who can control all four elements and bring balance to the world.
It just so happens that he is also a fun loving goofball who would rather have fun with his friends than save the world.
This does not mean he is neglectful of his responsibilities though because, after realizing what his disappearance has done to the world, he takes on his responsibility as the Avatar, despite him never wanting to be.
Just like Katara, Aang grew a lot throughout the series, having matured a lot in the final episodes of Sozin’s Comet.
We got a look at his tragic backstory in The Storm where it was revealed he ran away from home after he learned the monks were going to take him away from his adoptive father Monk Gyatso when he got frozen in the ice, dooming the world to 100 years of war.
Watching his journey from here to Sozin’s Comet was great to see and only made better with how his character arc played into the themes of the show.

5. Sokka

Sokka may just seem like comic relief when you see him in the first episode but he is so much more than that.
You only need to compare him to the comic relief of the series’ follow up The Legend of Korra, Bolin, to see that Sokka is the perfect type of this character.
Bolin’s sole purpose in The Legend of Korra was comic relief so there was little to no depth with his character, while Sokka, on the other hand, had so much more depth despite being comic relief, thus making him a more interesting character.
He was the smartest person in Team Avatar, constantly figuring out ways for them to get out of tricky situations.
Even better, he got a lot of great character development as well, both through the relationships he had and his character arc.
We got to see him grow through his loss of Yue and eventually learning not to be too overprotective of Suki, when dealing with the aftermath of that loss.
Sokka’s feelings of inadequacy were also addressed in episodes like Sokka’s Master and The Day of Black Sun Part 1, and this all lead to him becoming an experienced warrior by the end of the series.
Sokka was a great character with a lot of heart.

4. Toph

Sokka may be the comic relief character but I always felt like Toph was the funniest character of the series.
Her blind jokes always got a laugh out of me.
Despite being blind, she is one of the most powerful characters in the Avatar series due to her unique sense of vibrations that allows her to fight in a very different style to everyone else.
She is a very fun character with a lot of spunk and heart.
Although she is one of the more underdeveloped members of Team Avatar, Toph is still one of my favourites because of her great personality.
We first meet her in The Blind Bandit fighting in a pro-wrestling match, a fantastic way to introduce her that really showed her characteristics and her skill set.
Toph also had many inspirational moments throughout the series, like her inventing metal bending in The Guru.
This was an excellent scene that really showed Toph overcoming the odds.
Toph is a character who, out of everyone in the show, I would probably want to be friends with the most due to her fun personality and inspirational strength.

3. Azula

What can I say?
I love a great villain and Azula is the best one in the entire series.
She is not only my favourite villain in Avatar: The Last Airbender but one of my favourite villains of all time.
That shows what an excellent character Azula is.
Azula is, without a doubt in my mind, a complete and utter sociopath.
That may seem extreme for a Nickelodeon show but it is the only thing that makes sense.
She threatens her “friends” with physical injury if they do not join her mission, she taunts Sokka about what she has done to Suki and, worst of all, as an eight-year-old girl she celebrated when she learnt her father planned to kill her brother and laughed about it.
Yet, despite being a completely despicable person, Azula is still fascinating to watch.
Seeing her plan to overthrow the Earth Kingdom in The Guru and The Crossroads of Destiny was brilliant to see play out and her scolding line to Long Feng, “don’t flatter yourself, you were never even a player” is probably the biggest insult in TV history.
Then, despite all the terrible things she had done, the show actually succeeded in making me feel sorry for her at the end.
Watching her slowly descend into madness was very sad to see because she had gone from basically perfect in every way to a shell of her former glory.
The only problem I have with Azula is we do not know what happened to her.
I do know from reading the comics she escaped and is still causing trouble but she is not mentioned in The Legend of Korra and I just want an explanation as to where she is.
Azula is the best villain in all of Avatar and one of my favourite villains ever.

2. Iroh

Iroh is the kind of guy who any person would be happy to have as their uncle.
He stuck by Zuko and supported him when no one else would.
Iroh has had some of the most emotional moments on the entire series as well.
When he celebrated his dead son’s birthday in The Tales of Ba Sing Se it was very emotional and his reconciliation with Zuko during Sozin’s Comet always makes me cry tears of joy at how beautiful it is.
Iroh always has great advice for people, as can be seen when he helps Toph in The Chase and is one of the most spiritual characters in the entire characters, except for the Avatar of course.
He also had his own little arc as it is revealed years before his son’s death he was a lot like other Fire Nation royalty as he planned to burn Ba Sing Se to the ground.
However, after Lu Ten’s death, Iroh became more spiritual and calm, joining the White Lotus when he realised what his Nation was doing to the world.
Iroh will do was is right above all else and is Zuko’s true father figure.
Heroic, kind and a father figure to everyone, Iroh is my second favourite Avatar: The Last Airbender character.

1. Zuko

Honestly, who else could it be?
Zuko is not just the greatest Avatar character but one of the greatest characters of all time.
I know this might seem like a bold statement but I do not think I am exaggerating at all here.
Just look at his arc throughout the entire series.
He starts of as a conflicted villain, then becomes an anti-hero, then the conflicted villain again, until he finally realizes what is right and becomes a hero.
He goes through so much development throughout the series and all of it is excellently handled.
We got to see Zuko go from the conflicted, angered, banished prince to the confident, content, new Firelord.
It was not an easy journey, however, as Zuko made many mistakes along the way, most notably relapsing into his desire for his father’s approval by turning on Aang in The Crossroads of Destiny.
Despite this, we all saw that Zuko was redeemable through episodes like The Blue Spirit and Zuko Alone.
This all culminated in the two-parter The Day of Black Sun, where Zuko decided to do the right thing and join the Avatar to help defeat his father.
Watching Zuko face off against Ozai after so much abuse from him was very powerful, especially when he utilized Iroh’s technique of redirecting lightening.
From here we had the satisfaction of, after so much great build up, Zuko redeeming himself by helping each member of Team Avatar and then facing Azula for the throne with Katara.
Zuko’s arc is one of if not the greatest character arc ever put to screen and watching him grow was a pleasure to see.
Zuko is, without a doubt, the best character in Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Top 10 Attack on Titan Characters, as of Season Two.

Attack on Titan is a really great show.
It draws a lot of emotions out of me from excitement, to sadness, to horror.
The feelings of horror I get when watching it come from how brutal the show can be.
A lot of characters die and not in very nice ways.
But, in order to really feel this horror whenever these characters meet their fate, I need to care for them.
If the characters were bad or unlikable then Attack on Titan would fall flat on its face.
Thankfully, for the most part, the characters are all fantastic.
I care for almost each and every one of them, making the show more gripping when they are in danger.
The characters are so good I have decided to do a top 10 list on my favourite characters from Attack on Titan.
However, keep in mind, even though I have read the manga, I have only read up to where season two ends because I want to experience the story on television before I read it.
So do not expect to see any characters who appear after season two on this list and some characters may be lower on the list than you expect because they have not been given enough time to shine yet.
These characters will probably appear on my list when I re-do it after watching season three, which will air this year.
Before I begin, I want to give out some quick honorable mentions.
These go to Dot Pixis, Annie Leonhart, Krista Lenz/Historia Reiss and Conny Springer.
I considered putting all of these characters on the list but the others were just better.
So now let’s go into my top 10 favourite characters from Attack on Titan

10. Eren Jaegar

Okay, so it is no secret that I did not like Eren in season one.
I thought he was a terrible main character.
He was an arrogant, hypocritical jerk with no character development until the back half of the season.
So, imagine my surprise, when I read the season one part of the manga and found that Eren was actually likeable there.
He did not judge people for not wanting to fight the Titans and he did not go on his repetitive spiel about how he was going to kill all the Titans as much.
The anime really screwed Eren up in the first season.
Thankfully though, Eren’s likability in the manga was transferred into season two and I was finally able to relate to him.
Eren was incredibly sympathetic in season two, especially when learning of Reiner and Bertholdt’s betrayal and during his emotional breakdown when Hannes died.
This likability in season two and his admittedly cool moments in season one, when he transformed into a Titan, was just enough to put in the number ten spot.
As the series goes on Eren will hopefully remain as likeable as he was in the second season because, if he does, he is sure to go higher on my list of favourite characters.

9. Hange Zoe

Interesting fact: in the manga Hange’s gender is actually kept ambiguous.
It is up to the reader if Hange is male or female.
Unfortunately, they were not able to keep this up in anime as Hange is confirmed to be female.
While it would have been nice for it to be kept ambiguous like in the manga, it does not change the fact that Hange is still a great character.
She is also a unique one because she is one of the only characters who does not hate the Titans.
She is basically obsessed with learning about them and even becomes attached to the ones she uses for experiments.
Hange is also shown to be slightly crazy with her efforts to catch and learn about Titans.
My favourite scene of her would have to be in the season one finale, when she is laying a trap for the Female Titan, Annie.
She is shown to be giggling like a mad woman at the prospect of catching her, leading her assistant Moblit to say she is, “getting that look in her eyes, again.”
Hange is just fun to watch because you never know what crazy thing she is going to do next.

8. Sasha Braus

In season one Sasha was just a basic comic relief character.
She was like a female Goku because of the fact that she was always eating and yet never gaining any weight.
Still, despite only being comic relief in the first season, she was so likeable that she quickly became one of my favourites.
Her personality was just so endearing and she only got better in the second season, where she had her own episode.
In the second episode, I’m Home, we learn a lot about Sasha’s past and also get to see her have some really cool moments like when she saves a little girl.
I’m Home made her so much more than just comic relief.
I am so glad that the Manga’s writer, Hajime Isayama, backed out of killing Sasha during her storyline because she is such a likeable character.
I can see more development and food jokes in Sasha’s future on Attack on Titan.

7. Levi

Please, don’t hate me.
I know Levi is a fan favourite character and I can certainly see why.
He was one of my favourite characters in the second half of season one because he was a well layered character, with more than a few awesome moments.
The problem is that in the first half of season one and in season two Levi does almost nothing.
Since I have not read past season two in the manga I do not know if Levi does more then but because so many people like him I have to hope so.
In fact, I believe that Levi coming in at number seven, despite having far less screen time than the previous three characters on my list is a testament to how great of a character he is.
Levi is considered to be humanities strongest fighter but, even so, he has his own quirks, like his obsession with cleaning.
In the episodes Crushing Blow and The Defeated we really get a sense of who Levi is.
We can see that he has been hit hard by the death of his squad and later having to leave their corpses to be eaten by the Titans but he buries this pain to focus on his mission.
Levi is the kind of guy who keeps his grief inside and never allows himself to show weakness.
It makes a very interesting character and I hope we get more of him in season three.

6. Reiner Braun

In season one Reiner was a good character and he certainly did have his moments like in the episode Female Titan, however he was not one of my favourites because I did not find him to be a particularly deep character.
This all changed in season two though because right from the beginning it was clear there was something off about Reiner.
Finally, in my favourite episode of Attack on Titan, Warrior, Reiner was shockingly revealed to be the Armoured Titan.
However, although shocking, this did not make much sense because Reiner had done so much to help those he was fighting against.
This issue was later cleared up in the best way.
It is revealed in the episode Opening that Reiner is suffering from a severe case of PTSD, due to the atrocities he has committed and two personalities have emerged because of this.
There is his warrior personality, where he works to destroy the walls and his soldier personality, where he works to preserve them.
This makes Reiner one of the most complex characters in the show and it will be very interesting to see how his split personality will have an impact on the show going forward.

5. Erwin Smith

A lot of people say Levi is the most awesome character in Attack on Titan.
Well, to them I say, “have you even seen Commander Erwin?”
Erwin is the kind of commander who anyone would follow into battle.
He is courageous, smart and willing to sacrifice anything, including his own life, for the survival of humanity.
To say that Erwin has his awesome moments would be an understatement.
There are so many times when he just steals the show.
From him shouting, “fire”, during Bite, to him glaring at Nile during the ending moments of Mercy.
But, by far his best moment has to be in the episode Charge.
In this episode, Erwin has his arm ripped off by a Titan and not only shouts at his soldiers to keep going but even continues fighting and saves Eren’s life… all of this with only one arm.
Erwin is just a really awesome character who has seemingly an endless amount of cool moments.

4. Ymir

If you had told me, after I watched season one, that Ymir would be my favourite character of season two, I would have probably laughed at you.
Ymir was one of the most forgettable characters of the first season and yet, somehow, in the second she is the best character.
I loved Ymir’s story in season two and what we learned about the world, through her.
Ymir’s backstory alone solidified her as my favourite character of the second season and the flashback itself is one of my favourite moments of Attack on Titan.
Ymir’s reveal as a Titan was expertly done and her motives were kept pretty ambiguous up until her flashback, which made her all the more interesting.
Also, her relationship with Krista/Historia is now my favourite relationship in Attack on Titan because of how well developed it is.
Their bond is certainly stronger than Eren and Mikasa’s.
Ymir’s story just ties perfectly into what is happening and I know there will be some reveals in season three to further explain how her backstory fits into everything.
Overall, Ymir was just a fantastic character in the second season but what stops her from being higher on the list is how forgettable she was in the first season.

3. Jean Kirstein

Jean was my favourite character of season one.
His character arc was just fantastic.
He started off as a cowardly guy, trying to join the Military Police just so he could live in the interior, safely away from the Titans.
However, after the death of his friend Marco, Jean was faced with either doing what was right or would keep him safe.
Marco’s death inspired him to join the Scouting Regiment and take the fight to the Titans.
Since then he has worked hard to achieve that goal, even putting aside his dislike of Eren to do the right thing.
He developed so much in the first season that he wonders what he was thinking when he wanted to join the Military Police when he sees how they act.
Jean was just a really great character but the reason he is at number three and not in the top two is because of how little he featured in season two.
He only takes part in the battle during the final two episodes and while he does do some important stuff in these episodes, like confront Bertholdt and save Mikasa’s life, he still does not do much throughout the season and receives almost no development.
This is disappointing, considering how great he was in season one and stops him from being higher on the list.

2. Mikasa Ackerman

Mikasa is definitely one of the coolest characters in Attack on Titan.
She has just as many amazing moments as Levi and Erwin and is actually pretty scary at times.
She is the last person you would want to cross.
the scene where she glares at Bertholdt in the episode Charge was thrilling and a highlight of the episode.
Mikasa’s one goal in life is to protect Eren at all costs.
This came from him saving her life from a group of sex traffickers, after they murdered her parents.
This changed Mikasa from a sweet, ordinary girl to a cold hearted individual, who only allows herself to care for a select few people, like Eren and Armin.
She is also humanity’s best fighter, next to Levi, and this is clearly seen through her level of skill.
She is a character who has so many memorable moments throughout the first and second season, one of which is when she delivers the best quote in Attack on Titan during the episode Mercy, “we live in a cruel world.”
While, she does not get as much development as other characters she does have some moments of it, like when she realizes she held back on Reiner and Bertholdt when she attacked them because she subconsciously did not want to kill them.
Still, it is the lack of Mikasa’s development across the first two seasons that held her back from taking the top spot.
Mikasa is a still an awesome character though, who will hopefully grow more as a character in the next season.

1. Armin Arlert

I think a lot of people do not give Armin enough credit, which is really unfair.
Yes, he is not good at physical confrontations (I do not think he has even killed a Titan yet), but Armin has still done some very important things and saved a lot of lives by using his head.
He came up with the plan for Eren to use his Titan ability to bloke the hole in the wall, he stalled the Female Titan, saving Jean’s life, and later deduced her identity, and he stalled Bertholdt by lying to him about torturing Annie, giving Erwin enough time to come in and rescue Eren.
These are some of the many important things Armin has done throughout the series.
And to think some people do not like Armin?
The reason Armin is also my favourite character as of season two is because of how much I relate to him.
When we first meet Armin, he is very unsure of himself and considers himself a burden to his friends.
This makes him rising above this, recognizing how useful he can be and then using the skills he has to get things done, pretty inspiring.
With the number of important things Armin has done in the series and how much I related to his character arc, I consider Armin to be the best character in Attack on Titan, as of season two.

Attack on Titan is a show with great characters.
They are almost all relatable and you fear for their lives when they are in danger.
After season three ends I plan to re-do my list of my top 10 favourite characters to see if that season has changed my opinion.
I will just have to wait until July to see if the next Attack on Titan season can put some other characters on my list, or move the ones on it higher.