Major Nelson from I Dream of Jeanie, although I wouldnt be as big of a dumbass as he was. . .what a waste

"Q" from Star Trek the Next Generation

Paul Mudib

The guy that invented the potion in the movie "Love Potion Number Nine"

Arthur

Highlander

Hmm... I think for me it would have to be one of the following:
Aoshi Shinomori - Anime series "Rurouni Kenshin"
Vegeta - Anime series "Dragon Ball Z"
Hiroaki Protagonist - The novel Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson

Ah shites!! I didnt read the beginning or was thinking about something else. For some reason I thought it was fictional characters we would want to be.

Major Nelson and "q" definately dont rank in my favorites, but I wouldnt mind being one of them.

Tough question.....Ford Prefect....or Zaphod Beeblebrox....hm...

Dick Dart, in Peter Straub's "The Hellfire Club".

He's just the meanest, most disgusting psycho ever seen. Plus he's witty as hell. He just keeps you switching back and forth from wanting him to get skinned alive, to wanting to drink beer with him. And then he goes right back and does something so sick that your stomach turns cold.

William of Baskerville, from Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. He's a Franciscan monk, a former inquisitor, and a better detective than Sherlock Holmes ever was.

"THE HULK" all the way my absolute favorite, what can i say im a comic book junky.

Re: Favorite Fictional Character?
 

I was going to say my current favorite is Miles Vorkosigan, but NOT if you insist on "someone who's life you'd like to live" because I wouldn't. He spends entirely too much time on the sick list, or getting ready to go back on the sick list.

Someone whose life I'd like to live? Maybe Doctor Dolittle or a member of the Long family other than Lazarus. The problem with the Real Heroic Characters is that they get beat on a lot. That's what makes them heroic. It's the old Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times. They're fun to read about, but not to live in. And it follows for the most interesting people, for the same reason.

I don't know about you people, but I think that, even with all my own problems, I wouldn't give up my life for anyone else's. You don't know how another person really is until you are them. For instance, I expect that Bill Gates spends a lot of his time stressing out about what to do next. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn't, but he built that fortune so I doubt he can stop thinking in the sense of continuing that way.

If you don't want to look that deeply at it, maybe Storm or ... (smirk) Mistique. Yeah. Mistique could be a fun person to be, even with all her anger. NOT Spiderman. Even with all his smarts, he acts like a total idiot too often for my liking.

I really like the idea of being one of the Long family other than Lazarus, especially Hilda. Yeah. Hilda's the bomb, though being Zed might be slightly better.

Hmm. "Sam" from Ronin. Tommy Vercetti from Vice City. Drizzt from the Dark Elf series. That covers movie, video game, and book. From comic I'll take The Maxx, because he's completely insane.

Ah, interesting idea. How would you like to be Duncan McCleod of the Clan McCleod?

You want to be a leper??

You want to be an uber-hacker. You're probably the most realistic person here.

Tasslehoff Burrfoot & Flint Fireforge

The hulk,wolverine,spiderman

Three words- Conan. The. Barbarian.:D

Clint Eastwood in his role as "the man with no name" in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", "Fistful of Dollars", and "For a Few Dollars More."

Smooth, confident, and a quick bastard with a pistol :)

Resurrecting an old forgotten thread..............

I would want to be Sheriff Andy Taylor, Bob (from either Newhart show), Richie Cunningham, Andy Travis from WKRP, Rob Petry... etc etc... I know it's boring and not exotic, but each of them were well liked by all, comfortable in their own skin and most of all were happy. In 30 minutes everything was solved for them, their friends all cared, and they were pillars of success in every way.........

nice find, pan.


monsieur hulot (my favorite film character, star of 3 of my favorite films ever)
divine (and john candy as divine as peter pan singing "i dont wanna grow up" while sweeping back and forth across a stage attached to a rope)

napoleon dynamite


ignatuis p. reilly (from confederacy of dunces)
mister palomar (from the calvino book)

pierre menard---to wit:

http://www.coldbacon.com/writing/borges-quixote.html

Agreed....especially about Andy Travis from WKRP in Cinnci...I still advocate that this is and was the all time best sitcom EVER!!!!....especially the on-air drunk testing of Venus and Fever episode....

That is very interesting....

I'm gonna add two recurring characters from two authors whose books I've just finished plowing through. My most recent guilty pleasures.

1. Jack Reacher...an ex Army MP...who is downsized out as a Major, and spends his years drifting around the US getting into all kinds of trouble and solving problems. He is a character created by Lee Child, and is the subject of all of Lee's Books.

2. John Corey....is a "partially disabled NYPD cop" and current AntiTerroristTaskForce Federal Agent in NYC....he's an all around smart ass and sharp as a tack detective. He is a Nelson Demille (probably my favorite author) and while not Demille's exclusive hero is his most frequently recurring. I recommend ALL of Demille's books...and all of his heros are excellent.

-bear

If it has to be one, I'd say Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird.

He's a thoughtful, loving father, tolerant and respectful of those different from him, and willing to do what's right because it's right, even in the face of great opposition.

Jane Tennison, Prime Suspect
DI John Rebus and of course a classic, Harry Callahan from the Dirty Harry movies.

Horatio Hornblower from the Hornblower series by C. S. Forester. Because he's pretty similar to me except he gets to sail around on pretty ships and wear shiny uniforms.
Mulan from the Disney movie. Kicks ass and gets the hot guy, what more can a girl want? :)

Elizabeth Bennet.

I adore her...and she got Mr. Darcy.