Mmmm... an animation character? Well there are many  that can claim the favorite seat, but the one that wins by a longshot is Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach. A friend of mine recomended me the anime. After a while he lost interest in Bleach, but I continued to watch it. That was 5-6 years ago, and  I am still watching it (and reading the manga (or, comic, for the ones that dont know the difference), and is one of my favorites.

Ichigo himself is the protagonist, and starts as a not-so-normal (he can see ghosts) high school student, but one day, he meets Rukia, a strange girl that says she is a Shinigami, or a Death Reaper, a spirit that help people who have died to pass on the next life. But then a strange monster with a white mask attacks his family (he is scaringly protective of his family, specially his sisters) and Rukia gets hurt trying to defeat the moster. But then she ask Ichigo to take her power to defeat the monster. And so starts Ichigo's story.

Why is he my favorite character? Well, he is helluva protective of his family since his mother died (that plot point is VERY important, as he meets his mother's killer). He remains strong even is he is losing. But the best trait he has is his cause of fighting. He fights to protect people, and even as he growns more and more powerful, he never has nor will seek power for his own gain or use his power to oppress other (unless they, well, are stupid enough to try to harm is friends/family). He despises people who do that, and takes brotherly bond pretty seriously. But even if he says that he doesn't enjoy fighting, he does, and he constantly has to fight his own darkness (that manifest itself as a convenient Super Powered Evil Side, that gives him more power) that claims he does.

My favorite episode is the one that stars the fight of Ichigo vs Grimmjow (the one rival of his that manages to make him accept that he enjoys fighting) aside from the spectacular fight, Grimmjow another endeavoring character himself, and the interactions between the two are pretty good.