Characters of the Decade: Part 1

I already have lists for my favorite things of the decade in each category archived on the site, but I decided to do something a bit different for a feature. The most important thing to a good story is interesting characters, and sometimes they're better realized than usual. Characters are often what we remember most about something, and I thought I'd recognize that with a list of the best. These aren't exactly my favorites in each case - I tried to stick with ones that stick out in some really important way even if they didn't totally resonate with me. Any number of things could have gotten a character here; being a great villain, a powerhouse lead performance, launching someone's career, or just making something worth watching. I narrowed it down to 60, which was made easier by trying to limit myself to one character per work where possible. The list is a bit TV heavy since they have more time to develop a personality, and it leans towards white males more than I would have liked, but I still think it's a good list of people (and some robots) that were fascinating to watch. It's ordered chronologically by first appearance, with characters that originated before the decade began placed at the first point they became relevant again.

Eric Cartman
Trey Parker - South Park


"Nananananana! I made you eat your parents!"

The moment above will forever live in infamy, but it's just one of many great ones in the life of Cartman, the world's worst child. He's one of those rare characters that's a completely irredeemable asshole that you still love because his schemes and insults are just so entertaining and unforgettable. And he gets his comeuppance often enough that he's allowed to keep being such a bigoted little jerk.

Tony Soprano
James Gandolfini - The Sopranos


"Anybody else would've had their fuckin' intervention right through the back of their head."

The star of one of television's most important shows, Gandolfini is notable for standing out despite the amazingly strong and deep supporting cast around him. He's part imperfect family man, part ruthless mob boss, and part just another troubled guy who isn't totally sure of himself. One of the most evil men to ever be rooted for, and that's mostly because his insecurities are presented just as effectively as his strengths and ill deeds.

Bender
John DiMaggio - Futurama


"Goodbye losers, whom I've always hated!"

I could have easily put Fry or Professor Farnsworth here, but Bender is the character that defines the whole show. He's the robot who drinks because alcohol fuels his system and smokes because it makes him look cool. Once in a while he gets a bit too lowest-common-denominator, but his narcissism is inspiring and he's the robot friend we all wish we had.

Tyrion Lannister
A Song of Ice and Fire series


"Those are brave men. Let's go kill them."

It's almost insane how many characters George R. R. Martin has managed to develop into genuinely fascinating people, but if one sticks out it's the smallest of the bunch, the Lion of Lannister. The whole series thrives off making its central conflict more interesting by not allowing you to want any one side to totally win, and Tyrion was the first time we saw that. Watching the wheels turn in his head as he tries to do his best with the cards he's dealt is endlessly enjoyable, and hopefully Martin finishes up the fifth book first so we can see what he's up to.

Captain Hank Murphy
Harry Goz - Sealab 2021


"But the secret ingredient is love. Damn it."

Voice actor Harry Goz unfortunately passed away while Sealab was still airing, and while I was still able to enjoy it afterward, it was never quite the same, which speaks to how good he was. As the driving force behind most of the plots, his unique brand of insane leadership paved the way for many bizarre Adult Swim shows to come. Every character on the show had their time to shine, but none provided laughs more than Murphy.

Master Shake
Dana Snyder - Aqua Teen Hunger Force


"I mean, is he gonna be able to chase us? Cause if I woke up looking like that, I would just run towards the nearest living thing and kill it."

You know a character lives off the actor's performance when it's as hard as it was to find a good quote that stands without context even though he provides laughs constantly. Snyder is probably the best voice actor to work repeatedly with Adult Swim, and this is the role that gave him a chance to shine. There's just so much humor laced in every syllable that comes out of Shake's mouth, and even if that week's gimmick plot is lame it'll probably be worth watching just for his next zinger.

GIR
Rikki Simmons - Invader Zim


"It's me! I was the turkey all along!"

Possibly the only character that can get away with just saying random crap all day, thanks to Simmons' fine voice work and his unending supply of adorableness. GIR is one of those animated characters who's fun just to watch do anything, and he's at that right level of idiocy that you have to wonder if he's actually just messing with Zim and the audience some of the time.

Nate Fisher Jr.
Peter Krause - Six Feet Under


"Everything's bad for something."

Nate's as flawed a person as there will be on this list, and that's part of why he works. He's just a human being worried about his mortality and trying to figure out what he really wants to do with his life. His story is a tragic one, but watching it play out made for some of the decade's best personal drama. Plus, watching him yell at stupid people is funny.

Gareth Keenan
Mackenzie Crook - The Office (UK)


"I told him once that I don't like jelly. I don't trust the way it moves."

It's hard to pin down with is Gareth's most hilarious feature. I love his supposed hardened military background despite his ridiculous, gaunt physique. I love his very unfortunate combination of overconfidence and ineptitude with women. I love the overly serious way he deals with the politics of working at a small branch of a paper company. One of the few characters I prefer to the US version's equivalent, and that's despite that equivalent also being on this list.

Dr. Perry Cox
John C. McGinley - Scrubs


“Jordan…the boy already lip-syncs into your tampons, must we put a final nail in his tiny gay coffin?”

Despite this being the ninth year of Dr. Cox being on the air ranting and raving, I'm still not tired of it. McGinley never broke out beyond a few small film roles, but every week he's good for a few solid put downs and probably at least one epically vicious dissection of why whoever he's yelling at is a bad doctor. But there's enough variety, creativity, and humor there that you never feel he's being too mean. At his heart, he's a good doctor who's trying to make others around him better at their job, and that's why he gets away with it.

Jack Bauer
Kiefer Sutherland - 24


"I don't care how it's interpreted from the outside. I just gave you an order and I'd like you to follow it."

The only character I know of who deserves - nay, requires a website to keep track of all of his kills in the line of duty. However you feel about torture, it's hard to be upset with Jack for doing what he thinks he needs to do to save America because he puts up with so much crap and never asks for anything in return. Also, it's just a TV show. His actions definitely speak louder than his words, but he's had his share of resonant emotional moments too. He's why I keep coming back despite the series' declining quality.

Gandalf
Ian McKellen - The Lord of the Rings series


"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

Maybe the greatest action hero who's also an old man in film history. Gandalf was always the most interesting character in the books, and that held true in the movies as well. It's actually sort of two roles, as the wise and resourceful but fallible Gandalf the Grey at first and later as the powerful but justifiably aloof Gandalf the White. Kind and caring, but terrifying when he needs to be. He's basically what you wish your grandfather was like.

Continued tomorrow.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Phantom Hourglass isn't without its faults, but it's still a fun entry in the long-running series. Maybe if I had played it when it came out I would have had the same complaints about reusing the same items and general progression that Zelda games have had for such a long time, but since I haven't played a full game in the series since late in 2006, it was just the helping of adventuring I wanted.

It features what I believe is the fifth instance in the series of the same Link from a previous adventure being revisited, and does the plot that's typical of that sort of thing, transporting him to some other location that may or may not have existed while being vague about the specifics. This is the first time he's brought Zelda with him, though she still spends most of the game captured or in peril, and it's Link's job to explore the world and visit a series of dungeons to collect doodads that will allow him to blah blah blah save the world. I actually enjoyed the story for the most part, as the complete absence of Ganon was refreshing (though I saw some possible family resemblance with another character), and the backstory was somewhat interesting and presented well with pages from a storybook. The game also features possibly my favorite NPC of the series, the ship captain Linebeck who helps Link travel the seas.

The main change this game makes to the series is obviously the controls, as the whole thing can be played entirely with the stylus, though a few button shortcuts make things a bit easier. A fair bit of the puzzles while running around above ground focus on playing with the DS' features, like asking you to take notes and draw stuff on your map to figure out a pattern or using the microphone to get someone's attention. It's a bit gimmicky, but didn't seem obnoxious. There's a fair bit of dungeon exploring to do, with about seven you have to finish in addition to the Temple of the Ocean King, which proves to be the game's worst element. The regular temples are pretty fun to complete if altogether a bit easy, though I felt rewarded and interested in continuing the whole time I was in them. The boss fights tended to be easy, though they were generally at least fun to beat up.

That Ocean King temple though... it's rough. Basically, it's a timed stealth section that you have to return to repeatedly, and there's only one place in the whole thing where you can save your progress without having to repeat places you've been to. Return trips are always faster thanks to the new equipment you've gotten since last time, but it's still more of a chore than an interesting challenge. It really just doesn't seem like a well thought out idea. The game's successor revisits the same concept, so we'll see if they got it right. The game also didn't quite have the sense of reward to it I hope from in Zelda games, as there just isn't enough land mass to hide the right amount of secrets. All of the optional heart containers I knew about are hidden behind frustrating minigames, and the ship parts and extra time in the Ocean King temple felt like poor rewards for all the treasure maps I sought out. Also, locking out the fairy rewards until you collect enough doodads seemed lame. While not quite a classic, it was still a solid Zelda game, which makes it a pretty darn good one overall.

Up

Pete Docter was the first guy at Pixar to direct a film that John Lasseter wasn't in charge of, and his return to the job is a successful one. I didn't like it as much as Wall-E or The Incredibles, but it was still strong throughout and showed the studio's increased maturity and ambition to do something besides make kids laugh for an hour and a half. It's actually very deliberate about tugging at the heartstrings in the beginning, as we get a glimpse of protagonist Carl's entire life to explain why he decides to take off with a bunch of balloons in the first place. It honestly felt a bit manipulative, but it was still a well executed and fairly moving sequence. There's another scene later on that revisits the same idea that I actually thought was more effective.

But this is a family comedy, so most of the time is spent with Carl and young Russell the wilderness explorer floating on a house/airship and wandering through a strange jungle. If there's one thing Pixar can do, it's breathe new life into the simple slapstick humor of old cartoons. Normally a character like Kevin the bird would be only funny to little kids, but its movements are just so perfectly timed that I found myself laughing out loud at its antics repeatedly. And I loved the execution of the talking dogs. They could have been too silly, but the fact that they remain 100% dogs the entire time that they're acting like henchmen and servants just works perfectly.

And really, only maybe Hayao Miyazaki's films can match Pixar's for its incredibly inventive, unique, and exciting action sequences. It seems weird talking about an adventure movie starring an old man with a walking stick, but that's really what it is. The villain could have been developed better, as he goes from Carl's friendly childhood hero to murderous psychopath without much transition. I guess you can see how decades spent fruitlessly searching for something could make a man desperate and unstable, but some of his actions made me think "Really, you're doing this?" Oh well. Carl and Russell are likable characters with an interesting dynamic to their relationship, and overall the movie is quite funny with several moments of brilliance. Somewhere between the studio's fairly successful early work and their more genius stuff a bit earlier this decade.

The Raveonettes - Beauty Dies

So I ordered a few CDs on Amazon, and they gave me three dollars of digital music credit. I wanted to use it on something that couldn't be bought physically, since that's how I prefer to own my music. One of the things that came up most looking for digital-only EPs was The Raveonettes, who I knew I liked from one song I'd heard, and had released a series of four a couple years ago. I gave the most popular one a shot and it didn't disappoint. There's only four tracks here, but they're all pretty nice. There's heavy bass, some high-pitched twanging guitar, heavy noise and electronic elements, and some interesting, occasionally haunting harmonies from the Danish duo. They both have their own moments to shine, but the band seems at their most interesting when they're singing together and letting a groove or melody last for as long as it can carry itself. The EP is short and sweet, and it has me fairly interested in checking out more of their work.