Favorite Screen Character Blog Hop

Good day! Surprise, there's an extra post this week!
Aimee Meester at To the Barricade! basically extended an open invitation for anyone and everyone to do this thing (thanks for that, because I think it will be interesting to actually figure this out). You should check out her blog because it is no joke the funniest blog I've ever read.
Basically, I have to list my top ten favorite characters from the screen. This means book characters will be left out, but they're in a separate level of amazing anyway. I also would never be able to choose just ten of those.
These are listed from roughly least favorite to favorite (out of my favorites, if that makes any sense). A lot of swapping of places on the list went on though, and I'm sure they'll continue to switch around.

Hey look, I have gifs now!

10. Maleficent from Maleficent. 

First of all, she's a prime example of a villain that we're capable of empathizing with. We totally understand why Maleficent hates the king so much (wouldn't you be just slightly angry if your boyfriend cut off your limbs and ran away with them?).  Maleficent has a heart, even after going bad though. And her sass. Just yes.

9. Magneto from the X-Men movies.

Imagine the concentration needed to manipulate two objects at once. It has to be complex; so cool.

Basically I like him because he's powerful but he isn't dumb. He can lay a plan; he knows what to interfere with and when in order to achieve his goals (totally messed up goals, but right now that is beside the point). Add in his tragic history and awesomely powerful mutation and yup, I like him. And who wouldn't like a villain as well-dressed as he is?

8. Khan from Star Trek: Into Darkness.

He really was.

Aside from the fact that he's played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Khan is amazing because one, he's a legit genius; two, he's sassy; and three, he's loyal. Yeah, he wasn't loyal to everyone - he totally back stabbed Kirk - but the amount of devotion he showed to his crew was so touching ("Is there anything you would not do for your family?"). Plus his plan-laying masterminding was so epic I can't even describe how much I love it.

7. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader from the Star Wars universe. 

Nevermind the fact that this is the fourth villain in a row. Anakin is sassy in The Clone Wars and Episode III just about killed me. I always spend the entire time screaming at Anakin from my couch, dumbly hoping that the outcome will somehow change. When he is evil he's sort of awesomely powerful and intimidating. but he's redeemed in the end. George Lucas did such a good job crafting Anakin's tragedy that it broke my heart.

Yes, except I'm pretty sure even I am a better actress than she was in that scene.

Plus, his name is an anagram of mine (I've had two people actually call me Anakin for a total of three times) which is awesome! I'm practically named after this guy!

6. Ender Wiggin from Ender's Game.

Cool, calm and controlled genius.

Just like most, I assume, I really love Ender from the book more than I love him from the movie. However, Asa Butterfield still did a good job of showing off Ender's character - the genius and the heart. I relate to him a lot, even if I'm not a child general.

5. Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold from Once Upon a Time. 

The Rumple = "Meeah heh heh! Magic always comes with a price, dearie!"

Isn't that guy's name a headache to spell! I don't like him as much as I used to but I still admire just how intricate (and generally successful!) his plans are. He is the epitome of evil genius. Seriously:

I applaud his schemes. If only I had scheming abilities on Rumpelstiltskin's level.

4. Sherlock Homes from BBC's Sherlock.

"High-functioning sociopath. With your number."

Who doesn't love him? Yes, he's an insensitive jerk a lot of the time but he's got a heart (actually, despite his line he isn't really a sociopath, which is actually the same as a psychopath, so sorry to bust the myth). Plus the way he can tell someone's entire history is . . . well, I so want that skill. I can have dreams.

3. Frank William Abagnale, Jr. from Catch Me If You Can.

This guy was so smooth. I'm impressed. He passed himself off as a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer all before his nineteenth birthday and had gained so much money from his scams and forgeries and cons that I can't even remember the number. His ingenuity, intelligence, and ability to talk his way out of anything (I suspect ENTP) earned my admiration. He even escaped the FBI by pretending to be from some other governmental investigation organization, without any sort of badge. And he was a real guy. Yeah. Epicness. (As a side note, he ended up working with the FBI so I don't count him in as another villain on this list).

2. Neal Caffrey from White Collar.

"Boop!"

Another conman. What can I say, smooth-talkers impress me with their talking skills. Plus Neal is such a child most of the time. It's adorable. And the loyalty Neal shows Peter even though Peter is the one who caught him is so lovable. Gosh, I just love everything about this character and I haven't even finished season 1! Oh, and . . .

His hats.

1. Merlin from BBC's Merlin.

Poor guy.

He's actually contesting with Neal right now, but I know Merlin better so he got #1. Merlin is sort of the oddball on this list of villains, geniuses, and con-men because there isn't really a bad bone in his body. He doesn't lay intricate plans, he's a terrible liar, he's an unrecognized hero. And he's adorkable.  I could spend hours just quoting all the funny dialogues between him and Arthur. Plus the sass levels . . . no one can compete. He sasses the king, for goodness's sake! (And Arthur likes him enough to keep him around anyway).

That's my list. I wish I had room for more gifs . . . now that I've used them, I like them. I also wish I could just write a entire post filled with Merlin quotes, but you can all just take a visit over to Pinterest for that. 

So, what can you learn from your favorite characters? What traits do they all (or most of them) share? Think of this as a writing exercise and make a list of the traits which make good characters. By spotting it in the characters you watch and read you can be more conscious of putting it into your own.

I'm going to go with Aimee's example and not tag anyone in specific. Open invitation, everyone. I had fun doing this and you probably will have fun too. Warning, it may be difficult to figure out which characters make the list and which don't. 

 If you do this, leave a link in the comments. I'd love to take a look at other people's preferences in characters.