your most hated and loved people in battletech, in game world.

[ckosacranoid]

I was thinking the other day and it seems that the witch seems to one of the most hated characters among the fans. Not sure if the fat man man is up there with putting Richard out of  everyone's misery. 
Victors sister and the dude that ended the star league.

As for my personal favs....
I really have trouble saying who my fave is over all.

As for hated...The witch hands down.

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

Victor is just a garbage character who was never the less the periscope focus of the universe for reasons that are completely nonsensical to me.

[Hydrofoil Goat]

Victor is just a garbage character who was never the less the periscope focus of the universe for reasons that are completely nonsensical to me.

I don't have any opinions on Victor as a character necessarily, but I find it hilarious just how much Stackpole points out that he's short in every book. It's constant.

[Mendrugo]

I don't have any opinions on Victor as a character necessarily, but I find it hilarious just how much Stackpole points out that he's short in every book. It's constant.

Victor gazed into the eyes of Carew, the genetically engineered aerospace pilot phenotype, and wondered what the weather was like up there.

[monbvol]

Least favorite?

I have to vote Alaric here.  Unless we do get something to prove a pet theory of mine he's just not interesting.

Favorite?

Hmmm.  I think I'm going to vote Jaime Wolf.  Where he basically declares war on Takashi was just awesome.

[DragonKhan55]

Favorite: Ulric Kerensky. Probably the smartest and savviest canon Clanner we know of.

Hated: Conrad Toyama. Self explanatory.

[Hellraiser]

Hmm, 

Katie & Stephan are certainly hate-able as the OP mentioned.
Toyama is another one as DK55 mentioned.
Alaric is on the hate list but who knows, maybe he'll end up being a favorite.  (Doubtful)

As a general rule of thumb, I'm not a fan of the "divisive" characters, those that sow chaos & bring down the unity.
So, Thomas "The Master" Marik for something a bit more recent & to not repeat the above.


Favs?
Hanse probably,  followed by Ulric.  Both were great leaders.
Victor wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't such a "Mary-Sue / Gary-Stu".

For the ladies out there behind the scenes.
Melissa S-D,   Lisa Koening-Kober,  & Isis Marik

[VensersRevenge]

Least favorite: Erik Groell for "contemporary" Battletech characters, Minoru Kurita for "historical" characters.

Favorite: Victor Steiner-Davion for "contemporary," Aleksandr Kerensky for "historical"

[Fat Guy]

Least favorite?

I have to vote Alaric here.  Unless we do get something to prove a pet theory of mine he's just not interesting.

I actually liked Alaric before Blaine got ahold of him. I hope against hope another author can someday salvage him.

Least favorite is definitely Victor all day every day, and twice on Sunday.

[Fat Guy]

Oh, and favorite is Theodore Kurita.

[butchbird]

Most loved...

As a kid, Justin Xiang-Allard was a big favorite, but also Candace Liao.  No offense to Lara croft who's poster adorned my bedroom, but Candace really radiated something.

As a teen, Sun-Tzu Liao caught my interest.

Here was a character wholly commited to a goal above and beyond himself (in a way, for he too IS the state)...but espescially, here was a character constantly restraining himself, testing himself, trying to "become more" then his lesser nature. Now I guess this won't strike much of a chord with most other readers as what I will reference is little known in the english world (heck, there's no wikipedia article in english on the book!), but Sun-Tzu was heavily reminiscent of the twins in "the notebook", a hungarian novel that was quite popular in some areas. The first tome of the trilogy was fascinating, mostly through the said twins. So yeah, the attractiveness of a character playing on the theme of going beyond one's mere human nature.

Nowdays, I'd say back to Candace Liao. Looking back on the characters story, I can't help but feel how much we've seen a human evolve and how that's interesting. I mean, consider this relatively succesfull officer and mechwarrior. Then the scheming passed-on would-be heiress trying to turn the wolf's dragoons into a personnal army and lashing out violently and out of wanton spite upon the failure of her attempt (probably the first time she was spurned, which is an interesting story in its own right). Then the small time imperatrix and skillfull economist ruling over the national bank of the capellan state. To the women who mellowed through her love affair with the James Bond of the 31st century. An then the wise ruler of the ill-fated St-Ives Compact. To finish her days in a concilitory inner politics peacemaker role. Quite the biography there. Not the most flashy, but offering so many facets.

Most hated...

Well...I strongly dislike Andery Kerensky. I mean, I don't hate everything about him, some parts of the character are interesting...but he just...falls on my nerves. So much wallowing, so much self-pity...

I really liked the first two books of the "foundation of the clans" trilogy. It's a good read and the subject is quite the draw. But I only read the first two back-to-back. When I was set for the last part, I really needed a break from Andery. Haven't read the 3rd book yet. I'll get around too it as soon as I'm feeling the courage to read another e-book in a rapid fashion, it's a the top of my "pulp-fiction to read list"...but if it wasn't for Andery, that book would've been read a long time ago.

I'd like to say he makes me cringe but I'm not sure I'd use the term correctly.

[BrianDavion]

Fav: Hanse Davion. This is what a sucessor lord should be, and every attempt by the writers to emulate him has fallen flat, he's amrt, ruthklessly so, but at the same time can be kind and supportive to his friends. He's had massive sucesses sure, but it should also be noted he's had failures (3039) where he's made the wrong call.

Most Hated:
SunTzu Liao.

Remember when I said attempts to emulate Hanse Davion have fallen flat? STL is easily the worst example of that, the man it's a character he's a cheap "Mary Tzu" and utterly unintreasting. also let's call a spade a spade, the guys a simple garden varity fascist.

[Minemech]

I am more into archetypes than specific characters.
Some archetypes I like are the Successor Lord, who tend to have vision and represent rulers well (Think the big five, or even Jessica Marik and Daoshen), but who also have sharp failings and may even be reprehensible people but that does not mean that they are not characters who add to the experience. I also like figures like Anne-Marie Van Kreveld or Charles Seneca who may not be at the forefront but bring a lot of competence and character to the universe. I also like well-played secondary characters in general, which is a broad category.

 I dislike the midwits, or characters who may genuinely be very intelligent, but who are incompetent or lacking vision at the very least; they are often presented as geniuses in their fields but are no savants. Victor and Katherine are prime examples of this. They are often painted as sympathetic characters doing the best they can in life but in reality, they are not. Now a good author can change a midwit into someone well worth reading making for more interesting characters. They are how you might view your drinking buddy at best. I also disdain the ubers, who are often a category of midwit but are simply allowed to succeed at everything they do because.

 Clan characters tend to be complicated and have traits of both categories at once.

[bobthecoward]

When it comes to setting fiction in a game, I'm not sure how I am supposed to approach it considering I primarily interact with the setting as a MechWarrior.

In that sense, a lot of stuff I want out of a work of fiction is not what I would want as a role player in this world. I don't want my general to be experiencing personal growth in the conflict. Normally the people who are the best at something are boring and the most interesting thing about them is they are great at something.

From that perspective, I guess people like Alaric are my favorite? As a MechWarrior, I would much rather have my general be Alexander the Great rather than interesting.

[NeonWolf]

Least favorite - Joanna - such a one-dimensional character that and I cannot relate at all

Favorite - Henry "Hack" Kincaid. Integrity, professionalism, everything and gets more character development that Jaime Wolf.  This may change when (if?) Den of Wolves actually comes out.

[Cannonshop]

Least favorite - Joanna - such a one-dimensional character that and I cannot relate at all

Favorite - Henry "Hack" Kincaid. Integrity, professionalism, everything and gets more character development that Jaime Wolf.  This may change when (if?) Den of Wolves actually comes out.

Nah, Jaime Wolf was a plot device, in a sense one shouldn't expect him to have development, because he's just a plot device.

Favorites: Caradoc 'Doc' Trevena.  He got one book, half of it didn't include him, but he stole the show from the likes of Prince Victor, Marthe Pryde, and Vlad Ward-that is, you actually gave a shit about him by the ending.

Ty Wu Non.  Yeah.  I liked this guy, he was part of an abhorrent, crazy, evil polity, but he was at least interesting enough to actually care about.



Least Favorite: Oh boy...such a long list.  Melissa Steiner-Davion was a limp dishrag.  Katherine was a stereotype, Victor a Caricature.  Sun Tzu could've been interesting but he was...well...a plot device.

[bobthecoward]

I thought of another one.

I personally don't love characters written as those who succeed by bucking an extreme society. Those are the Aiden Prydes of the settings. I think it is a greater challenge to do a good job describing a character that succeeds from within these scifi societies....like a Vlad Ward

[BrianDavion]

I am more into archetypes than specific characters.
Some archetypes I like are the Successor Lord, who tend to have vision and represent rulers well (Think the big five, or even Jessica Marik and Daoshen), but who also have sharp failings and may even be reprehensible people but that does not mean that they are not characters who add to the experience. I also like figures like Anne-Marie Van Kreveld or Charles Seneca who may not be at the forefront but bring a lot of competence and character to the universe. I also like well-played secondary characters in general, which is a broad category.

 I dislike the midwits, or characters who may genuinely be very intelligent, but who are incompetent or lacking vision at the very least; they are often presented as geniuses in their fields but are no savants. Victor and Katherine are prime examples of this. They are often painted as sympathetic characters doing the best they can in life but in reality, they are not. Now a good author can change a midwit into someone well worth reading making for more interesting characters. They are how you might view your drinking buddy at best. I also disdain the ubers, who are often a category of midwit but are simply allowed to succeed at everything they do because.

 Clan characters tend to be complicated and have traits of both categories at once.

VSD was alright, he was well meaning if not the best leader, and a lot oif his mistakes where "forced by plot" KSD though was just aweful. I hate it when they insist it's a grey universe and try to push out these two dimensional mustashe twirling bad guys. KSD really suffered in that she appered right along SunTzu, who I utterly dispised but at least had some depth beyond "I'm evil, muhahaha politics!"

[Caesar Steiner for Archon]

I thought of another one.

I personally don't love characters written as those who succeed by bucking an extreme society. Those are the Aiden Prydes of the settings. I think it is a greater challenge to do a good job describing a character that succeeds from within these scifi societies....like a Vlad Ward

When Vlad "deduced" that he survived because he was the main character of the entire universe, it was honestly a good way of showing what kind of person the Clan system aims to produce.

[butchbird]

Most Hated:
SunTzu Liao.

Remember when I said attempts to emulate Hanse Davion have fallen flat? STL is easily the worst example of that, the man it's a character he's a cheap "Mary Tzu" and utterly unintreasting. also let's call a spade a spade, the guys a simple garden varity fascist.

"Mary Tzu" is a bit much and I fail to see how emulating Hanse was the point, they merely filled the same "niche", but with widely differing means and opportunitys.

But on mary-tzu, the BTU is a universe dominated by the Battlemech. Being able to excel in the cockpit is somewhat mandatory for those whom would be "top dogs". I do think I recall Hanse Davion being not too shabby himself.

Sun Tzu doesn't have that. Now I haven't read everything and might've missed something, but I've always been under the impression that he could pilot a 'mech, sure, but wasn't anything worth mentioning. He's gimped in this world and while it might not seem to affect him much, how could it not?

In a sense, isn't his cruel little pleasure (from an animal right's point of view it's downright barbaric) of fighting fish a way to have these "personnal battles through proxy" (proxy whether by equipment or procuration)? A form of compensation in the sensory sense. Having your trained animal fight a battle you impose upon it would, I suppose, for that kind of person, feel much like shooting a game animal with a firearm with which you have a strong affinity and emotional attachement. Projecting power that is an extension of yourself (and providing much better quality meat), much like a mechwarrior does with his 'mech.

So yeah, Sun Tzu wasn't a good mechwarrior and that makes him less of an individual then other "big time" leaders, in a certain angle, considering the setting. He has that glaring weakness, on top of things like the Romano's ghost and other minimal quirks.

I had a linking comment on the fighting fish fetish and "garden-variety fascist", an expression I had never encountered before and gave quite the chuckle, but upon research it has nothing to do with vegetables.

[marauder648]

Tough one, Jaime Wolf or Cranston Snord for my favorite characters with Hanse "Why yes I do have plot armour" Davion coming in for contendership.

Least favorite.

Alaric. He's not a character, he's an inciting incident with a scowl that pushes the plot along and if he wakes up in the morning and so much as smiles, then everything will go his way and he will win at whatever the universe throws his way. He's called a Gary Stu/Mary Sue for a well deserved reason.

I liked Dominions divided until I suddenly didn't when he pulled his moves in that one. The Bears, by all rights should have gone "You know what, screw you." for that insult and if he goes "But I'm the ilKhan!" its a case of "Yes, with what military forces? We have the largest untouched military in the Inner Sphere and could slap you silly if we so chose. So please Alaric, try us."

And then you had the bears going nuts over something that's basically been defunct and you'd have thought after over a century of integration wouldn't be an issue, suddenly was. Why? Because Alaric HAD to win. Again.

He'd be more interesting if he had to struggle for his goals, and had adversity, or actual problems, but no, the sun shines upon him, childeren sing in his presence (not just because of the guards pointing their guns at them) and all is right in his world.

In short, he's boring and about as inspiring a character as a bowl of cold porrige.

MAYBE ilKhan's eyes only will change this, but I severely doubt it, i'm sure he'll just win and everything will come up Alaric. Why? Because.

Unfortunately Alaric reminds me of the early to mid 2000's thing of having a LGBTQ+ character in games, but them being like the worst possible steriotype of what they want to represent. Where the only thing about them is them being LGBTQ+ and i'm saying this as a gay man. It was their sole personality trait, and without that, these characters were nothing but tokenism. Fortunately the gaming industry has gotten better at representation since then but Alaric reminds me of these early years.

I'm reminded of the god aweful trans character in Mass Effect Andromeda where she stormed up to you and basically goes "HELLO! I AM CLAIRE BUT I USE TO BE DAVE BECAUSE I'M TRANS!!!!" And they talk like a trans person never would (namely deadnaming themselves) and I half expected to get the achivement [Signaller of Virtue] for speaking with her.

With Alaric the only thing about him is that he wins, that's his personality and all he is, take that away and he may be as broad as an ocean, but he's got all the depth of a puddle.

[Church14]

Hanse Davion might be near my top because he just nails the magnificent bastard to me. He treated those he cared about well, but he was not a good man. He had zero problem negotiating using the lives of children. His wedding was the most drama queen possible way to declare a war. Just… he was fun.

I enjoy Devlin Stone similarly. As you piece the lore together (since it’s scattered across a bajillion sources), he was a charismatic leader who built a coalition of the unlikely, but behind all of it was someone willing to be almost as bad as the Word of Blake to get the job done. The huge difference between public image and reality was an engaging idea. 



Least favorite?
Alaric tops the list, but really just RotR/CoK/HotW Alaric. Before those, he was a clanner who figured out that just murdering people out of combat was way more effective than public trials and had the usual Clan Wolf unwarranted successes. So not a good character, but also not a garbage one. RotR/CoK/HotW was an author trying to turn him into the greatest general in history, the greatest warrior in the history, and a paragon who swept all who met him along on his quest. But, he ended up writing an incredibly unlikable person and failing miserably at making him a soldier or a leader.

Ignoring, Alaric, maybe KSD. I can’t think of a single plot line with her that I enjoyed. But I also found FCCW an incredibly boring era, so that definitely affects my take on her.

[Swankmotron]

My most hated might be Malvina Hazen. She is like... the most mustache twirling awful person and I just hate her.

My most loved? I can't choose. Maybe it's a tie between Katie Ferraro and Alexis and Jiyi Chistu.

But I'm biased on those.

[Lone-Wolf]

Hanse Davion might be near my top because he just nails the magnificent bastard to me. He treated those he cared about well, but he was not a good man. He had zero problem negotiating using the lives of children. His wedding was the most drama queen possible way to declare a war. Just… he was fun.

Do you mean his own children?

You know, I am reminded of Game of Thrones, where Tywin is skinning an animal while talking to his son, the Kingslayer.
I think he says something like "In 100 years will they remember you?" or so.
And thats what a father/ mother of a ruling family must do. To preserve the dynasty. To make sure that the family still rules in 100, 200 or 1000 years. To make sure they are still there, powerful and not extinguished and forgotten.

In rulership there is no place for love (ok, you may have luck and you find a match that is both good for the dynasty and loves you) but the dynasty comes first, second and third.
This is what someone should have told KSD in the beginning: "No, ruling isnt about wearing nice dresses. You have to work and if you work against the family, e.g. VSD, you may end up loosing everything. Then Ryan will be ruling and you will just be a duchess of a minor planet. Yes, your surname still contains Steiner but you can bet your posterior that Ryan Steiner will make sure, you will never ever come close to the Archons throne. And neither your children or their children."

So, my choice is:
Good: Hanse, Katrina and Takashi
Bad: Maximilian, Sun Tzu, Thomas "Master" Marik

Janos Marik is somewhere between. On the one hand cutting off the children who disobey, but then not re-integrating them, when their choices are beneficial (Therese Brett-Marik).

[Church14]

Do you mean his own children?

I was thinking about him potentially ordering NAIS to refuse service to the Marik kid.

But that said. You’re right. He would have absolutely have married his kids off if he thought FedCom would gain and he could get away with it.

[Minemech]

I was thinking about him potentially ordering NAIS to refuse service to the Marik kid.

But that said. You’re right. He would have absolutely have married his kids off if he thought FedCom would gain and he could get away with it.

Line politics are supposed to be important in Battletech, but sometimes seem sidelined. This may have more to do with the limited space available to the authors than bad writing. It is hard. 

[ckosacranoid]

Many characters I have not heard of that much. Some that a lot of sense in this list
Hansen seems to the biggest loved character that really was bad ass...I mean going to war at your wedding...talk about balls.

As for the best setup someone talked about....Jamie dropping the swords at the dragons feet after walking in though comstar crap....

As for worst, crap suit is one, Kathy is the other. Not knowingbmuch about the current ear and people at all.

Thanks for the comments so far.

[Mendrugo]

My favorite is Kevan “Kronerhound” Ortman, author of “Profiting From the Suffering of Others - A Ten Step Guide.”  The quintessential amoral, profit oriented Merc.  He ain’t evil, but he does have bills to pay.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I'm reminded of the god aweful trans character in Mass Effect Andromeda where she stormed up to you and basically goes "HELLO! I AM CLAIRE BUT I USE TO BE DAVE BECAUSE I'M TRANS!!!!" And they talk like a trans person never would (namely deadnaming themselves) and I half expected to get the achivement [Signaller of Virtue] for speaking with her.

In a game that was heavily plagued by bad dialog, that scene stood out.

Anyway, on topic, not really sure who I'd say my favorite character is.  There are numerous characters that I like but none that I can really think of as being particularly outstanding.

Most hated?  Easily Malvina and Alaric, for reasons other people have already put more eloquently than I could.

[Iron Grenadier]

My first glimpses into Battletech lore were the notable pilots from TRO 3025. I've always found those short paragraphs more interesting than the novels concerning the ruler's.

That said, my favorite/liked characters are Marcus GioAvanti and Richard O'Cieran. I found these two the most interesting for various reasons. Both of them just say "Battletech" to me.


Most disliked - Phelan Kell and Aleksandr Kerensky.