I've been reading your posts on characters and they made me think: are there any characters you like that are good/great people? ('Great' not in olivander sense, more 'aspirational' and not morally corrupt)
I’m going to assume you don’t mean solely from the world of Harry Potter, because Harry Potter is such a garbage pit that I can really only list a few characters and the best I can offer is “from what we see of them” and even then the one I strongly stand by I’ll admit I made up pretty much all the evidence I’d use (we just don’t see enough of them otherwise).
I think like truly evil villainous characters, truly noble and good characters are few and far between. You get a lot who are presented as such, but they rarely manage to prove it. More, there are other characters I would consider good, but have to take very difficult and questionable paths in life for a variety of reasons.
These are the best of the best. Those who are so blinding in their innate nobility that you go “MY EYES, I’M BLIND” when you stare at them. People who are so profoundly good, that even the other characters have no idea what to make of them.
Shuzo Matsutani from “Now and Then, Here and There”
This is one of my favorite animes of all time but I will warn that it is some dark shit. It’s thirteen episodes and it is fast and furious on the emotional sledgehammer it throws down upon you. Anything I say would essentially be a spoiler but I will say that Shu proves the nobility of his spirit by not only enduring unimaginable circumstances but holding true to his beliefs in pacifism and friendship in spite of them.
Utena Tenjou from “The Revolutionary Girl Utena”
Utena is young and does have some flaws, in the beginning she is noble for the sake of being noble (she likes the idea of herself representing this archetype). Similarly, she sometimes projects the way she feels people should be onto them. But despite that she is deeply loyal, going above and beyond for her friends and even her enemies, and just has this glow of pure goodness about her.
Oscar Francois de Jarjayes from “The Rose of Versailles”
Oscar is at times hot-headed but always approaches her actions with an inherent nobility and goodness to her that her enemies can find no reproach with. She bears the discrimination against her often silently, despite her struggles in the world, and stands by her beliefs for the good of the people no matter the internal crisis it causes both her and her world.
Madoka Kaname from “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”
Madoka, while a relatively ordinary girl, is inherently kind to everyone around her and ends up sacrificing not only her life but her entire existence for a world that everyone can believe in and is capable of miracles.
Duck from “Princess Tutu”
Duck struggles with her sense of self, what she herself wants from life and the world, and so on but always does the right thing and more does it with such an ease you’d think it was the only choice she could ever have in the world even though you know it’s tearing her to peaces.
Carlisle Cullen from “Twilight”
Carlisle Cullen is a pacifist the likes of which the Twilight world has never seen nor heard of. The entire world thinks he’s crazy, even his own coven never quite gets him or his ideals, and he has such a deep respect for life in general that he has chosen to suffer for centuries rather than consume human blood despite everyone giving him a moral go ahead to do so.
Lily Evans from “Harry Potter”
To be fair, this is the one I’ve mostly made up. We really don’t see enough of Lily from canon to be able to tell. BUT GODDAMMIT I’M GOING WITH IT. We do know that Lily is often viewed as this Madonna style figure and one who sacrificed her own life to save her son. I choose to extrapolate that to put her in the ranks of these fine people.
Akane Tsunemori from “Psycho-Pass”
Akane’s belief in the law and optimism in mankind is such that within the show and the many horrifying trials she goes through she is incorruptable. As it is, SYBIL becomes so impressed with her that it both desires to assimilate her as well as treat her as an outside human consultant. Something that previously was unthinkable for the entity.
Dr. Elizabeth Shaw from “Prometheus”
Elizabeth is one of those characters who’s so unnervingly good that she convinces people that aliens actually exist, can be found, and inspires an expedition to find them. More, despite the many horrifying things that happen to her, she takes an action of exceeding forgiveness and mercy and embarks on a journey based solely on faith and optimism in mankind.
Obi-Wan Kenobi from “Star Wars”
I know, you say, this guy? The truth from a certain point of view guy? Yes, well, I stand by it. Obi-Wan has a very difficult life but he chooses to defy everything he’s ever known in order to take Anakin as a padawan. This is when he knew Anakin was to be his own replacement, that Qui-Gon was all but ready to throw him out, and when he had no experience as anything other than a Jedi Padawan himself.
His and Anakin’s relationship is strained and complicated, but I believe Obi-Wan truly does love him and tries to do the best he can by him. Which, in the strangest of ways, makes Obi-Wan one of the most Jedi of all Jedi.
