Greatest Anime Heroes of all time

[rocklobster]

I'm thinking of doing a countdown of anime heroes for an upcoming blogpost So, which anime heroes would you consider the greatest ever? Here's the ones I'm including, in no particular order:
1. Astroboy (might as well go with the original!)
2. Edward Elric (Full Metal Alchemist)
3. Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)
4. Vash the Stampede (Trigun)
5. Rosette Christopher (Chrono Crusade)
6. Motoko (Ghost in the Shell)
7. Heero Yuy (Gundam Wing)
8. Setsuna F. Seiei(Gundam 00)
9. Ayato Kamina (Rahxephon)
10. Kenshin Himora (Rurouni Kenshin)
11. Maka (Soul Eater)
12. Dr. Tenma (Monster)
13. Saya (Blood+)
14. Sailor Moon
15. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy 7. They made a couple animes out of it, so I'm counting it)
16. Balsa (Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit)
17. Nausicaa (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)
18. Shu (Now and Then, Here and There)
19. Duck (Princess Tutu)
20. Inuyasha (Inuyasha)

[GrubbTheFragger]

What does gretest mean?

Anyway
Vash
Edward Elric

[rocklobster]

it means my darn "a" key got stuck:P

[samurai10]

Definitely NOT Naruto Uzumaki. He's more like the dumbest anime hero.

Anyway
Edward Elric
Himura Kenshin

[rocklobster]

I put him on my list because he inspires others to be heroes as well. Hinata, Shikamaru, and Konohamaru wouldn't have been heroes if it weren't for him.

[Neane]

Hmmm. Out of the ones you have listed, I vote:

Astro boy
Ayato Kamina
Nausicaa
Shu
Dr. Tenma

[Tancos]

The current poll on my website is "Who is the most heroic character in anime?" Right now, the standings are:

1. Balsa (Seirei no Moribito)
2. Simon (Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann)
3. (tie) Kenshin Himura (Samurai X; Rurouni Kenshin); Homura Akemi (Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica)
5. Vash the Stampede (Trigun)
6. (tie) Nanoha Takamachi (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha); Nausicäa (Nausicäa)
8. (tie) Rem Saverem (Trigun); Togusa (Ghost in the Shell); Allen Schezar (Vision of Escaflowne); Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Also receiving votes:
Yoshika Miyafuji (Strike Witches)
Alphonse Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke)
Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
Eboshi Gozen (Princess Mononoke)

The poll is still open, by the way. Feel free to vote.

[GrubbTheFragger]

Oops forgot Spike

[KhakiBlueSocks]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"][color="RoyalBlue"]In no real particular order:

Ginko from "Mushi-Shi"
Chrono from "Chrono Crusade"
Kaneda from "Akira"
Hachirota Hoshino from "Planetes"
Gene Starwind from "Outlaw Star"
Haruko from "FLCL"
Kohta Hirano from "Highschool of the Dead"
Balsa from "Moribito Guardian of the Spirit"
Goemon from "Legend of the Mystical Ninja"

Now, granted, I know my list is a little ecletic, but I have a strange definition of the word "hero".[/color][/SIZE][/font]

[Atria35]

Kamina from TTGL
Rokurouta from Rainbow
Medicine Man from Mononoke
Alto from Macross Frontier
Akira from Eden of the East
A number of the kids from Bokurano

From Rocky's list,
Dr. Tenma
Balsa
Nausicaa
Edward

[Vii]

No particular order here:

Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
Simon (Gurren Lagann)
Kamina (Gurren Lagann)
Ahiru/Duck (Princess Tutu)
Ginko (Mushi-shi)
Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke)
San (Princess Mononoke)
Naruto Uzumaki (Naruto)

[Popyman]

Gon from Hunter X Hunter is my absolute favorite. My other top anime characters (Naota from FLCL and Kyon from MoHS) don't really count as heroes.

[Atria35]

I put him on my list because he inspires others to be heroes as well. Hinata, Shikamaru, and Konohamaru wouldn't have been heroes if it weren't for him.

Yeah.... that's not really anything new for a main character in a shounen.

[the_wolfs_howl]

I agree with all the ones I'm familiar with on your list! My only addition would be...well, this is probably controversial, but I think one of the greatest anime heroes is L from Death Note.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

I agree with all the ones I'm familiar with on your list! My only addition would be...well, this is probably controversial, but I think one of the greatest anime heroes is L from Death Note.

Why would that be controversial? "L" would definitely meet many peoples definition of "hero". Now if you had said "Light", then THAT would've been controversial.

[the_wolfs_howl]

Why would that be controversial? "L" would definitely meet many peoples definition of "hero". Now if you had said "Light", then THAT would've been controversial.

Well, I was under the impression that quite a large portion of the audience thought that L was misguided, heartless, manipulative, at times cruel, etc. Not exactly traits you'd normally think of as heroic

I'm not sure, but the people that frequent CAA might look a lot more positively on L than average anime fans, because I feel that we tend to frown upon Light's actions and decisions a lot more.

[rocklobster]

L's what you call a "Guile hero", meaning they use cunning to defeat their enemies. I like those kind because let's face it, the villains don't play by the rules anyway. So why should the hero?

[seaglass27]

Dr. Tenma of Monster.

And get ready for controversy, 'cause I think Light rocks.

[Atria35]

L's what you call a "Guile hero", meaning they use cunning to defeat their enemies. I like those kind because let's face it, the villains don't play by the rules anyway. So why should the hero?

In literature, we tend to call them 'Byronic heroes', since they aren't the traditional white knights. I'm often more fond of them than the traditional ones, but both have their benefits.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Well, I was under the impression that quite a large portion of the audience thought that L was misguided, heartless, manipulative, at times cruel, etc. Not exactly traits you'd normally think of as heroic

Nah. I wouldn't say "L" was heartless at all. His heart is in the right place. Granted, some of the decisions he made was morally questionable [Such as the whole "Lind L. Taylor incident at the beginning of the series], his goal, his purpose was always the same: catch Kira before he kills again.

[Rewin]

Son Goku (need I say more?)

Surprised nobody else said this. Although he certainly isn't my favorite character in DBZ, he really does represent many of the traditional hero qualities like self-sacrifice and kindness.
From rock's list Kenshin and Edward Elric were the ones that stood out the most to me of the ones I know.

[TWWK]

Some excellent characters - I would also add Ashitaka (Princess Mononoke) and Simon and Kamina (Gurren Laggan). Here are others that I don't think I saw:

• Madoka (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
• Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)
• Kino (Kino’s Journey)
• Sousuke Sagara (Full Metal Panic)
• Hitomi (Escaflowne)

[KeybladeWarrior]

Not in any particular order:

Astro Boy
Himura Kenshin
Simon (Gurren Lagann)
Saber (Fate/Stay Night)
Alphonse Elric (FullMetal Alchemist)