Favorite Iconics

[My Self]

Which Iconic is your favorite? Which is your least favorite? Which ones are honorable mentions?

Iconic List:

CRB:
Valeros, Iconic Human Fighter
Seoni, Iconic Human Sorcerer
Mersiel, Iconic James Jacobs (Elf Rogue)
Kyra, Iconic Healbot (Human Cleric of Sarenrae)
Ezren, Iconic Human Wizard
Harsk, Iconic Dwarf Ranger
Seelah, Iconic Human Barbarian
Lem, Iconic Halfling Bard
Sajan, Iconic Human Monk
Amiri, Iconic Human Barbarian
Lini, Iconic Gnome Druid

APG:
Alahazra, Iconic Human Oracle
Alain, Iconic Human Cavalier
Damiel, Iconic Elf Alchemist
Feiya, Iconic Human Witch
Imrijka, Iconic Half-Orc Inquisitor
Balazar, Iconic Gnome Summoner

UM:
Seltyiel, Iconic Half-Elf Magus (Formerly Fighter/Wizard)

UC:
Hayato, (Forgotten) Iconic Human Samurai
Lirianne, Iconic Half-Elf Gunslinger
Reiko, Iconic Liz Courts (Human Ninja)

ACG:
Jirelle, Iconic Half-Elf Swashbuckler
Quinn, Iconic Human Investigator
Oloch, Iconic Half-Orc Warpriest of Gorum
Crowe, Iconic Human Bloodrager
Enora, Iconic Halfling Arcanist
Hakon, Iconic Human Skald
Kess, Iconic Human Brawler
Zadim, Iconic Human Slayer
Shardra Geltl, Iconic Dwarf Shaman
Adowyn, Iconic Human Hunter

OA:
Mavaro, Iconic Human Occultist
Estra, Iconic Human Spiritualist
Rivani, Iconic Human Psychic
Erasmus, Iconic Human Medium
Meligaster, Iconic Halfling Mesmerist
Yoon, Iconic Gom-Gom Owner (Human Kineticist)

HV:
Lazzero Dalvera, Iconic Villain Human Cleric
Linxia Benzekri, Iconic Villain Human Hellknight
Emil Kovkorin, Iconic Villain Tiefling Assassin
Zelhara, Iconic Villain Human Torturer (?)

UI:
The Red Raven/Aric, Iconic Human Vigilante

Other:
Stephen, Quasi-Iconic Human Antipaladin

[Serisan]

Mechanically (at least for PFS), I love Crowe. Story-wise, Meligaster, Yoon, and Alahazra rock.

I'm not really a fan of the core iconics, though I appreciate the relationship between Kyra and Merisiel. It's kind of endearing.

[Deadmanwalking]

Quinn's probably my favorite. I'm a sucker for a Good aligned intellectual.

Lem, Imrijka, Arik/The Red Raven, Alahazra, and Lirianne, are also high on the list, though.

And, to be honest, I like all the Iconics quite a bit.

[Manly-man teapot]

Kyra. She is less useless than most of the iconics, and if playing her as a ditzy valley girl is wrong, I don't ever want to be right.

[Cole Deschain]

Adowyn is pretty cool.

Also partial to Feiya, Crowe, Jirelle (just seems fun), and Zadim (such a tangled mess!).

Least favorite? Eh, I still like him fine, but Ezren's "older gentleman who does arcane stuff" angle isn't exactly a shocker. Valeros worships my least favorite core deity, but it seems more a case of "eh, sure," than any real zeal that'd stick in my craw. Honestly, they've all got something to recommend them- even jerks like Alain or outright scum like Meligaster are well-written heels.

[Rennaivx]

Manly-man teapot wrote:

Kyra. She is less useless than most of the iconics, and if playing her as a ditzy valley girl is wrong, I don't ever want to be right.

Kyra always struck me as a hyper-serious, can't-take-a-joke type, even before I started reading the comics. The sort you'd always play pranks on simply because she'd be so reliably irritated with it.

Shardra's probably my favorite; her story draws on a lot of neat influences, I love the idea of mixing bowls gossiping to her like old ladies, and dwarf women have fairly consistently been my favorite in just about every fantasy setting I've interacted with. (Plus, look at that familiar. Look at it. Kolo is the best.) Her sister in the sweet-hat club Alahazra is up there as well - her story is an interesting expansion of the Laws of Man. And I enjoy older characters, as well as Galt, so Quinn's in the running too.

(And I'm now discovering that my favorite iconics and my favorite classes look really similar...by complete coincidence.)

There's none that I actively dislike, though there's a few that just don't thrill me - Lini, Enora, and Lem, to name some. (And it's not about disliking gnomes or halflings (I love both), they in particular just don't do it for me.) I find I tend to prefer the newer characters over the older ones, although I'm sure that's mostly because they've benefitted from Pathfinder's longevity and experience, where the older ones were created when the setting was in its infancy. Like Cole said, they've all got things going for them.

[non-dyslexic Valeros]

Well, I mean, I don't want to toot my own horn...

[Tacticslion]

Dang. I'm trapped between an iconic James Jacobs, an iconic Liz Courts, and an iconic Radney-MacFarland antipaladin. Sorry, fellas, I think I have to choose Liz... Merisiel is a dangerous rogue, sure, but Kyra's keeping her on a steady keel; and an antipaladin is terrible, yeah, but he's being kept chained in a dungeon with a slave-driving red dragon whipping him until he breaks emotionally and physically; whereas Liz is more likely to ninja me in my sleep.

So the iconic Liz is definitely my favorite, and it has nothing to do with bribery by cookies. At all. Not even a bit.

[Tacticslion]

So, that settled, more to the other iconics. I've actually got a few.

Kyra, Sajan, Alahazra, Feiya, Lirianne, Quinn, Crowe, Enora, and The Red Raven/Aric.

Unfortunately, while I like their look and the concepts, I don't know the OA iconics enough to really get into them; and while I like a lot more, this list is my favorite... for now. Until I change it.

EDIT: But my real favorite, is...

[Mythic Tacticslion]

Old Mage Jatembe, the Iconic BEST EVER, SON; YOU BETTER LEARN TO RECOGNIZE

[Eliandra Giltessan]

Quinn is my very favorite, with Imrijka and Erasmus as honorable mentions. In general, though, I love all the iconics!

[lareman]

Oloch, because he's actually good at combat.

[Val'bryn2]

I actually enjoy Ezren's story, and Seltyiel is fun. I like most of the core ones, even Harsk though he's obnoxious to try and play as, he took the wrong crossbow.

[My Self]

I'm also fond of Quinn's story. The last paragraph or so about how Quinn is LG without being a paladin really sealed the deal. Oh, and his cameo on Aric's story. Also, it's nice that he's not the typical adventurer or grizzled veteran of a thousand combats- he's more in the vein of Sherlock Holmes in that he supports the law, yet is not an enforcer of the law.

[Kevin Mack]

Lini definetly Lini.

As for least favorites have to say reading the comics has soured me to harsk a fair bit (Well to be honest all of the main cast to at least a certain extent but harsk most of all)

[Larkos]

Best Backstory: Meligaster

Best Looking: Andowyn

Best Love-to-Hate: Alain

Most Memorable: Shardra

Best Pet: Droogami (pet of Lini)

Best Subversion of Stereotype: Zadim

[Scavion]

Zadim is my favorite due to the ambiguety of his backstory. Is he bad or good or neutral? Who knows?!

[Gravefiller613]

Imrijka all round.

[Alleran]

Feiya, Quinn, Alahazra, and Adowyn.

Also Thean Tagonist the Antipaladin. Because this artwork made me fall out of my chair laughing when I first saw it. I still can't look at it without snickering.

Probably in that order, more or less. Honourable mention goes to Alain for how good he is at being an ass, and to Seoni for being very different in characterisation (in the comics) to what I initially expected.

Least favourites... hmm. Probably Amiri, Hayato, Shardra, and Rivani. Nothing personal, or necessarily an active dislike, they just don't interest me.

[Set]

Mersiel is a favorite for how dynamic and kinetic her various appearances can be, as she's always flipping and jumping around.

Seelah's origin story is one of my favorites, with the actions of her childhood leading directly to her current role as Paladin.

Alhazra is beautiful, with cool non-European vaguely Egyptian clothing and jewelry. Plus the shout-out to the Mad Arab al-Alhazred makes me laugh.

And Balazar is just delightfully absurd. Love the big purple hat!

[GeneMemeScene]

From a character design standpoint, I like Seltyiel for capturing perfectly the image of what I think of when I think of a Magus. The Elric of Melnibone comparison helps.

Besides him, I really like Seelah's story and character, and Valeros seems like a cool guy to drink with.

[Vrog Skyreaver]

Out of all of the iconics, I like Seelah's story the best. The motivations of pretty much everyone involved make sense: The bandits bandit, Seelah becomes a thief, steals a paladin's helmet who(in the most paladin like way I've ever seen written) knew she took it and let her have it so that she wouldn't starve to death.

After the paladin's death (because Golarion can't have decent human beings in it) Seelah decides to commit suicide by climbing up on her funeral pyre.

[My Self]

Vrog Skyreaver wrote:

After the paladin's death (because Golarion can't have decent human beings in it) Seelah decides to commit suicide by climbing up on her funeral pyre.

... because she's a decent human being?

[Vrog Skyreaver]

Ya, but we all know she's not long for that world, iconic or no.

[Deadmanwalking]

Huh? Golarion has plenty of decent human beings in it who survive. They die sometimes, but no more often than anyone else.

[Cruel Illusion]

I love many of the iconics, but if I had to class my favorites by order of preference it would be:

1)Seelah (Most likable paladin of all times. Made a mistake, owned up to it, strove to beome better. Love.)
2)Amiri (I like strong women and they don't come much stronger and braver than her.)
3)Alhazra (Confident, determined, poised, gorgeous. What's not to like?)
4)Feiya (Lived through hell, kept a good soul. Wonderful.)
5)Ezren (I love how he decided it wasn't too late to follow his dreams and do good.)

[Weirdo]

Seelah, for helping make paladins awesome again. Interesting backstory, functional yet elegant armour, and a woman of color to boot.

Runners-up: Alahazra (Oracle), Feiya (Witch), Imrijka (Inquisitor), Shardra (Shaman), Quinn (Investigator), Estra (Spiritualist), Meligaster (Mesmerist), Zadim (Slayer).

Don't really have a least favourite, I'm just not all that keen on those not listed above.

[Morag the Gatherer]

I like Jirelle.
Not because of any mechanical benefit but she just looks like a fun person. Also, she is one of few female iconics whose armor does not feature cleavage.

Morag

[My Self]

Morag the Gatherer wrote:

Also, [Jirelle] is one of few female iconics whose armor does not feature cleavage.

Take a good, long look at Alahazra's iconic picture. Flowing robes, with cleavage, belly, and legs all showing.

This is +2 studded leather armor.

I mean, seriously, would it destroy her build to have some sort of magical fake-armor, like those available to half of the other mysteries? The art and story are beautiful, just... yeah.