Main Character Expectations

What expectations do you usually have for the main characters prior to watching the show?

Who am I, the director? :P I don't expect anything at first, I just hope I grow to like whoever the person is. Naturally, there are a few things that really piss me off.

-If the main character is a pussy. It's alright if he doesn't kick ass all over the place, but if you cry three separate times in the first episode, get the hell off my screen.

-If the main character is a complete jackass. This doesn't happen too often, but sometimes you get a guy who tries his very best to piss off everyone around him, which includes me, the viewer. You have to be at least somewhat likeable, or at the very least, be a really cool jackass with a suave appearance and good lines.

That's about the two main things. Other than that the main guy can do whatever he wants to as long as it's interesting.

It depends entirely on the show. I TRY not to expect anything, because I enjoy being surprised. Honestly, though, most of the time I pretty much subconsciously expect the main character to be one of several "types" that are always used in anime. Loner guy with a dark past, overenthusiastic guy who wins through "guts", serious but average guy who means well, etc... It's always nice when I'm surprised, though.

I don't really except anything except for that it's obvious that two of them will get together in the end. However I have excepted that and got surprised with opposite happening, it teaches me a lesson to never assume, well I Try to not assume what's happening.

Well despite saying that, I always try to except that at least one girl in the anime I'm watching is hot.

He or she is not a whiny bitch. That's all I see out of a main character.

I search for info about an anime that has caught my interest beforehand as I'm not the type who'd just watch something upon hearing its title. From there on, knowing what the series would or should be about, I can now formulate my own set of expectations, thus speculate if the series is really gonna be worth watching or not. There are some cases where I would even browse through its manga counterpart just to have a "sneak-peak" in anticipation of its upcoming anime adaptation.

I may have gone a bit off-topic but I'd just like to point out that I take everything into consideration when "expecting" an anime rather than focusing on characters alone. That being said, my expectations for a main character "solely" depends and differs on what the main theme of the series may be. For example, if the series is gonna feature gun-slinging "action" - I'd least expect the main character to be wimp of course :lol: He/She would/should most definitely be Badass! 8)

I'm open for surprises and usually don't have any precise expectations. What often repulses me (forcing the show to work hard to keep me following) is when a male protagonist (at the beginning) is a crying pussy getting humiliated and beaten by everyone and his mother.
But yeah - a badass character or a quiet and methodical one (using his brain instead of muscle from time to time) is a welcome addition.

For a female protagonist ... if she ain't hot then to hell with the show. I prefer either 'dark and seductive' or 'passionate and full of energy' kind of hot but yanderes and bitches also have some appeal at times.

exactly what i want to say 8)

I expect the story to revolve around said person.

Hm... What Kazuma from Kaze no stigma have. Cool, the world around me personality, Powerfull, has the power to deal with TSUNDERE. Hahahahaa

this is exactly what i do^^

pretty much same as you, I prefer the main character to stuck with the main theme. Even if the main character is the whiny-type as long as he/she stuck to the theme that's okay for me (but whiny and wimp character often make me upset)

This. And additionally, I expect the protagonist and his/her companions to be riddled with every possible archetype/cliche imaginable. It helps to lower my expectations.

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That right there sums it up. You can be anything but that. It really annoys me, so much, when the main characters seem soft and whiny. For some reason, the male protagonist of Zero No Tsukaima seems to fit the above description, but I grew to like him. Haha, but it's been so long since I watched the anime.. I don't even remember his name.[/h]

1:for them to act cool and win a lot with style and if they lose to lose with flair...Naruto fails at this.2:for them to die at the end or to have there love be lost to them or for them to not be able to be together....yes i said it im not heartless this happens alot.3:for the character to go through ALOT of bullshit before we git to the good bullshit....yes good bullshit.4:the epic owning of a stupid bad guy wannabe if you have ever seen the show orphen see the character vulcan polcanto.

That if they look like this, they're a whiny bitch.

Yeah he is probably the worst character ever, and all characters modeled after him deserve to die before their series begins.

I found that some people who complained about Shinji's character liked the main character from Chaos head. I can't help but find that odd...

Anyways, to answer my own question:

-Main character must come off as a innocent, hairless, virgin.

-They have to be young otherwise I'll be reluctant to watch. (It took me a long time to actually sit down and watch Berserk because of this.)

-I can't stand perfect main characters who are capable of doing just about everything. It won't keep me from watching a show, but the character won't be in my favorites. (As bad ass as Lulu was from Code Geass, I just couldn't find myself to like his character or sympathize with his cause.)

-They have to be capable of developing and maturing. If not that, then they better have a good reason (So far, Shinji was the only exception for me. Instead of my usual expectation of the main character gaining courage, I felt sympathetic towards him. I just hoped that later on in the story he gained some sense of happiness. The creator did a fine job of portraying him as a normal 14 yr old boy caught in a fucked up situation.).

Alas, whiny bitches still have a place somewhere, just not on my eyes.

When I'm reading a manga, watching an anime, or even reading a fantasy novel, there are some things I keep in mind.

1. Is the story interesting? If it isn't, there goes the main character. (This has happened quite a few times if I happen to browse a shojo manga, because the story makes me want to puke).

2. Is the drawing style captivating? I really do want to look at the main character and consider him/her interesting, but if it isn't well-drawn (enough), no thanks.

3. Is the protagonist worth caring about? If I were to meet him/her on the street randomly, would I recall that moment after a night's sleep? It matters not if they're good or evil, but they have to be quirky or memorable in some aspect.

4. Does the protagonist fail? As noted earlier, perfect main characters turn me off because there's no chance to see desperation, anger, sadness, hope, and all those bloody feelings if the main character wins every time. There has to be a shortcoming involved that limits the main character.

5. Does the main character live up to the expectations set for him/her/it set within the genre? If not, does the main character break these expectations and create a dynamic situation? Just my little quirk. I want to see the main character change and undergo conflicts, however small, that are still challenging.