Who are YOUR favorite Neopets canon characters, an NT survey

[Kat]

Hey everyone, so I got this idea to take a survey among various Neopets players to ask who their favorite canon characters are. I will be conducting this survey elsewhere - the massive Neopets discord, Reddit, the Neoboards, wherever I can reach - compile the results, and publish them on the Neopian Times. I want to get an idea of the characters in particular who have endured in players' memories all these years.

A character is canon if they exist in any form of the Neopets canon, be it the website, mobile games, or video games like The Darkest Faerie, and are listed as such in Jellyneo's Book of Ages. Staff members past or present, and characters that were overwritten by new ones (this is common with collectable cards) and no longer exist will not be counted. Characters with no definite names but who are still referred to by some designation such as the Court Dancer are included.

Please note that by answering this mini survey, you give me permission to publish your answers (but not your usernames) in the Neopian Times, and to paraphrase them to ensure that they are more acceptable to NT standards (for example, if you tell me you like a character because 10/10 you would date them, I will change that to "aesthetically appealing" or something along those lines. As much as possible, keep answers NT-friendly so I do not have to paraphrase).

And now, THE SURVEY!

Neopets Username: The username you go by on Neopets. As with most things on Neopets please do not use multiple accounts to answer this survey. I have Lens Flare and I am not afraid to use it.
Top 3 favorite characters: As much as possible, rank them. If you cannot in good conscience rank them, tell me so. If you can only list The One Character to Rule Them All, at least try to add two more that you really, really, really, really like instead of listing the same character three times. Don't mess up my study!!! You may indicate what plot/game/site feature the characters are from especially if they're a bit more obscure.
Reasons why you like them: Please don't just put "just because", emoji answers, or "Kat why are you asking you already know why". Try to go for a more detailed answer but keep it to 1-2 sentences per character. I will be looking at these as part of my study*

*this study is not sanctioned by Brightvale University or any other Neopian educational or research institution and is done purely for leisure and lols

Post your survey answers here, or PM it to me here on the forum, or DM me on Discord. Don't Neomail me as my NM inbox still needs some cleaning.

Please do not use my survey as an excuse to play the My Blorbo Is Better Than Your Blorbo game. I'm pretty sure the mods will agree with me on this. Everyone's blorbos are valid.

I will post the article here for everyone's perusal when I am done. Presently I do not have a deadline for this but once I announce one, get your answers in by then or they will not be counted in my article and that would be kinda sad.

[Moni]

no actually my blorbos are the very best blorbos. all blorbos will bow down to me. i will be the queen of all blorbos.

anyways my neo un is likelife96 (lmao) and my faves are jeran, lisha, and hannah
jeran and lisha: i like the meridell plots lol
hannah: i hate kanrik and in my opinion the next flash game should be one where the core mechanic is simply beating him with her bare fists. this is also why i like amira. also i love hannah's branding. girlboss.

bonus: dr sloth is so real tbh

[Geo 🇺🇦 🌻]

U/N: black_skull725

Fyora - She might be a “big good” but she has made and recognized her mistakes of keeping Faerieland a little too isolated. However, with the faeries still being somewhat of a mystery with all of their magic but trying to be more involved in Neopia, she’s quite an interesting character beyond her depiction of being a Big Good.

Hanso - it feels ironic that he’s now working for the very people he tried to steal from. It’s always funny to think about how Fyora handles his personality and undoubted antics and the fact that it seemed spontaneous that Fyora hired him.

Aethia - Another faerie? Of course! Except it’s very curious that she’s taking advantage of the whole bottled faerie system and dodged questions about it. Also she doesn’t have too many site appearances which makes her a blanker slate to go off of for writing.

[Gelquie]

username: gentle_lil_queen

Top 3 Favorite Characters:

1) Hannah - She's Hannah the brave, the bold, the quick, the adventurous, the clever, the braggart who's earned every right to brag! She's so good at her job that her plot had to curse her so she wouldn't immediately resolve every conflict.

2) Captain Dread - Now there's a villain who set up systemic problems and then followed through on his threats in ways that made history! He should have remained the villain of Curse of Maraqua, because he certainly made his mark.

3) Bruno is strong, Bruno is loyal, Bruno was in isolation after being driven out of a town that betrayed him and yet he still manages to be an emotional go-between most of the time! Maybe he knows what it's like. Maybe that's why he opted to keep his form, to retain that empathy while being able to help others by making the best of his cursed strength.


(It was so hard to come up with a third one. Was debating between Bruno, Sophie, and Ilere for a while. But I also keep feeling like I'm forgetting other ones. Maybe I'll edit this post one day.)

[Coaster]

Going to answer with minimal thought based almost entirely on "Vibes" and "I Want People To Remember This Character Exists"-itude. Answers would probably be different if it was for an audience not consisting mostly of active users who are engaged enough with the site to read an NT article. (Username: neo_coaster363)

1. Hoban. Blue hair. Fun outfit. Great pose on the avatar. Feels like some flavour of LGBT+ with absolutely no solid evidence to back it up.

2. Edna. Longstanding character that has shown up in probably more things than Sophie (including obscure stuff like NQII and Grey Faerie Chronicles) but doesn't seem to get nearly as much positive attention. Pulls off the classic witch look nicely especially after her glow-up. Zafaras are cool.

3. Bit of a toss-up with only 3 slots, but for the sake of not overthinking this silly Neopets poll and following a pattern I'm surprised I haven't seen reflected in the Top 3 lists so far despite seeing it a lot in Discord discussion: probably Zaira. Partially for the cool hair. Largely because I feel like she's underappreciated and will be showing up in my comics at some point.

To elaborate on the last one: Neopets has a habit of introducing characters with interesting designs and lots of potential but then not exploring them much, which frustrates people who just want to see more of This One Blorbo, but also fuels creativity to fill in the gaps and make the character feel more developed and more like their own. I don't have a whole lot of Times output, but Zaira fills this kind of role in what I'm working on currently. If I was working on the hypothetical written series that takes up too much brain real estate for what I've actually written down, this could be Katya. For anyone else, this could be Rohane, or Celandra, or Taelia, or Saskia, or the Library Faerie, or That Kougra Knight From The Champions of Meridell Comics, or Dead Chia, or Literally Any Techo Site Character, and I know as soon as someone else makes a post or a story highlighting a relatively obscure character as if they were as well-established and popular as Jeran or Hanso, I could remember another one to add to the list. They might not even make the actual Top 3 of the people who write with them, but they definitely have a bigger place in creative work than they got in canon.

Heck, even the more prominently featured characters like Kass, Fyora, Hanso, Jeran, Baelia, and TDF tend to get so little actual characterization that you could argue the same thing happens when people latch onto them.

[Stephanie (swordlilly)]

username: swordlilly


1. Taelia the Snow Faerie - I like that she's a bit of an odd one out among the faeries. She doesn't live in Faerieland, but she has faerie magic anyway and uses it to help Petpets on Terror Mountain. She also doesn't randomly ask strangers for quests; she only offers quests to Neopians who specifically visit her. I imagine her being very intelligent and hardworking but kind of withdrawn, preferring to keep away from drama.

2. Hannah the Usul - I loved playing the Hannah games growing up. I have three Hannah game trophies ^u^ Hannah is agile, smart, adventurous, and easy to team with - there's really nothing to not love about her.

3. Sophie the Ixi - She went through so much trauma in her childhood, when her whole family and village fell victim to the curse. But she was resilient, quick-witted and never gave up. I find her character really inspiring.

[Liou]

Neopets username: liouchan

Top 1 favourite character: The Darkest Faerie

Reasons why I like them: im gay

/ I support women's wrongs
/ "okay okay listen, listen. Women. Women, right? :3 But wait, wait wait. Women....... who can kill you. *o*"

I like taking very over the top campy villains and trying to give them depths without removing the villainy. She's a very very blank slate despite being one of neopets' most iconic character designs. I never had access to the game, I was starstruck by the TCG art for her. The Altador miniplot and the mysterious underwater statue gave her a sort of ominous absence on the site that arguably made her more impressive to me than if I had first "met" her in the game where she looks, uh, different, and doesn't do that much. I guess she is my horrible irredeemable indulgent blorbo. She overtook Jhudora as my favourite edgy faerie because erm, she's not a darker faerie, she is the darkest.

Top 2 favourite character: Queen Fyora

Reasons why I like them: im gay

"women who can kill you" also applies here. Except in an even more high femme, not a hair out of place while she steps over you way. No, I don't think she WOULD kill anyone. But she COULD! and that's what matters~

I used to be only into the edgier faeries, I'm not usually into the big goods as it's hard to develop them while finding good reasons to nerf them. But I do enjoy the whole "has immense power, must accept that they cannot abuse it to magically fix every problem because other beings have free will and there is Magical Balance etc."

I truly got into Fyora when I realised I could 'ship her.

Brain process went thusly:
- but why is Fyora purple
- hey, you know who else is purple that we don't think about much?
- Aethia
- what if they're similar
- what if they're MARRIED
- noble lady / lady knight, noble lady / lady knight, noble lady / lady knight <3 <3 <3

and lo and behold the OTP was born

Top 3 favourite character: Aethia

Reasons why I like them:
- I have a thing for wholesome lady knights and lady jocks. Out of these three, she is the one that I can best use as a relatable, personal point of view character for myself.
- (Aethyora OTP)
- The Battle Faerie concept is an intriguing challenge for balancing wibbly wobbly magic with using non magical fighting techniques, and an interesting base for faerie/pet interactions.
- but why is she purple

[PFA]

Neopets username: petfriendamy

Character 1: Hannah
Hannah and the Pirate Caves was my absolute favorite game on the website. Hannah herself kicks butt and has a go-get-'em attitude that I really like, especially at the time when I first encountered her. She's also the only canon character who I wrote a full short story about (the first thing I ever had published in the NT), so that probably says something, lol.

Character 2: Tormund Ellis
Also biased because of the game! Being able to merge my love of Neopets with my love of console gaming was a pretty magical experience for me as a kid, though, and even though the game itself was a bit rough around the edges, you could really feel the love poured into it. And with Tor being the character you spend most of the game with, I grew pretty attached to him. He's a lovable goofball with a big heart. Also knights are cool.

Number 3 is a hard one, but I think I'm gonna go with...

Character 3: Mirsha Grelinek
I liked Team Shenkuu before it was cool.
But really though, I feel like there's a lot of team loyalty when it comes to the Altador Cup, where people get attached to the characters of their own team despite them being blank slates for the most part. It's neat that Mirsha managed to break that mold and become a proper character with family and loved ones. Would love to see other Yooyuball players get that same treatment.

[Breakingchains]

Ooh I'll look forward to seeing your article.

Username: Breakingchains

#1: Aethia. Who doesn't want to be a big strong chick with purple hair and a sword? Come on now.

#2: Hannah. I have a soft spot for characters who are super cute, but tough as nails in action. I wish I was a fearless adorable treasure hunter

#3: The Darkest Faerie. I find there's a lot of intrigue to her downfall, her relationship to Altador, and what possibly could have gone on between her and the rest of Altador's founders.

[Huntress]

Username: ssjelitegirl

Okay, to start with, Coaster already made the most excellent point that I was also going to make, namely that just about all Neopets characters have received so little characterization (or what they have received tends to be uh, kind of trite. Big Noble Trope Queen Fyora, Big Noble Trope King Altador, etc.) that they're all little more than blank slates to overlay our own ideas onto. Some are just slightly less blank-slate-y thank others. Which means that my favorites are favorites due to the way I've chosen to spin them, not so much because of the way the site presents them - whether or not that actually messes with your articlewriting might be for you to decide.

Either way I've never thought about this that much so my own answers are surprising for me here:

1. Marina. Yep, the Healing Springs Faerie With A Canon Name So Little Known That It's Frankly a Travesty.
Why? The classic long-suffering RPG healer with buckets of sass. Mercurial, volatile, unpredicable and quite possibly a bit of a hot mess as long-suffering healers tend to be. The site art and dialogue try to present her as sweet and airy but the number of times she's given you a poison snowball when you crawl to her all beaten up after a battle beg to differ. Has the overall air of "will you all stop taking damage for FIVE MINUTES?!" about her and the older I get, the more it speaks to my soul >>

2. Taelia
Why? Even aside from the fact that she has by far the coolest fashion sense of all Faeries (geddit?) (and that's with full awareness of the Battle Faerie's drip) here we have someone who lives in the cold isolated far reaches of Neopia but still has a strong sense of community. Also a lot sneakier and with more influence that might seem at first - how, exactly, did she become the court healer during the Wraith Resurgence? Behind the scenes dealings, that's how. Which also goes to show that she's more versatile and with a wider skill profile than might seem at first. Probably runs a bunch of businesses on the side. Probably a pillar of the community of the sort one can always rely on and also never mess with.

3. Kanrik
Why? Well, for starters, one cannot really sidestep the impact of rolling out a broody becloaked bad boy character back when I was a teenage girl. I'm not making the articlewriting easy for you, am I?
But to add a bit of depth to the tropes, I see him as the leader who's very well connected and sort of grey-cardinal-esque in that he stays in the shadows, pulls the strings that needs to be pulled, keeps things running and overall is smart about it the way his overthrown predecessor wasn't. Probably kind of weary, kind of eternally exhausted but determined to continue doing what needs to be done in his position. Major behind-the-scenes force in his own right, etc etc.

[Kat]

(please keep the answers rolling, regardless of what your answers are they will be good to pop into my article)

Huntress, I do in fact agree with Coaster on that point of most canon characters actually being blank slates and occupying simple archetypes. I'm not going to answer my own survey (now THAT'S messing with data collection) but the fact that I probably already have over one hundred NT pieces featuring Rohane in some way whether as a throwaway reference or as a main character and that's not counting storytelling entries and published poems, is extremely telling.

He's number one because the gears in my mind were suddenly whipped into a frenzy and it has reached a point where the line between canon Rohane and Rohane as depicted in Kat's stories is very blurred and even I have to remember that much of his characterization as I recall is likely my doing.

Carry on, folks.

[Duke Pikachu]

Username: Pikachu315111
Top 3 Characters:
1. Jeran
2. Hannah
3. Aethia
Reasons:
Aside from the number one pick, the other two were harder choices, I don't really "tier" characters I like and Neopets has plenty of them. So take my #2 and #3 choice with a grain of salt as I more picked them more as representation of something as for being a character I liked above others.

Jeran is my favorite Neopet character. Admittedly two reasons are because he's my favorite Neopet species, Lupe, and he's a main character from my favorite Neopian land, Meridell. But there's more to Jeran than just that. When I think of a hero, especially for on Neopets, a character like Jeran is who I picture. He's your classical knight in shining armor, brave and chivalrous. He may not be the strongest character on the site, but he'll always do what's good and just. It's just nice to have a character whose goals are "to do good". Jeran isn't without character depth, his backstory is tragic, triumphed, and heartwarming. Having been separated from his family in a strange land for many years, he became the land's greatest hero and than was reunited with his sister under tense circumstances. But in the end Jeran and his sister Lisha (and her close friends) are now living happily in Meridell. Jeran has risked his life many times to protect everyone, most notably when he was wounded by Lord Kass (note Jeran was saving Morris from falling when Kass struck him from behind) and thrown off the Darigan Citadel (though is luckily saved by Psellia). He is the hero which tales and legends are written of, someone that everyone can look up to, a character that teaches to be good and the best person you can be through their actions.

I picked Hannah as she best represents the adventurous parts of Neopets. I like Hannah as a character as she's a cunning adventurer who seeks out treasure and glory. She's not as chivalrous as Jeran is, but she has plenty of personality and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. But despite her ego she's also kindhearted, she'll fight against evil pirates and robots who try to stop her and help where she feels like she can (or is given enough incentive, like gems). Hannah started as a game character who was popular enough they made her a star of her own plot (which also gave her a sequel game), and after that got two more games which put her in more wild scenarios like exploring Kreludor or going on secret agent missions. Though she loves treasure, Hannah is an adventurer at heart and, being she's a normal Neopet, you can imagine your Neopets going on similar adventures.

I feel it would be remiss of me to not include a Faerie. Of all Faeries, my top pick would be Aethia the Battle Faerie. Neopets does a good job having varied depictions of Faeries, not all of them cutesy. Aethia is one of the more extreme examples, whereas most other Faeries wearing dresses and prefer to use magic, Aethia is dressed in leather armor and wields melee weaponry into battle. She is powerful and physically strong, as you'd expect from the chief general of Faerieland's army and one of Queen Fyora's trusted advisors. While she can be strict and quick to temper if disrespected outside of battle, while battling she's a force to be reckon with using strength, strategy, grace, and keeping a cool head. If Hannah is to adventure, Aethia is to action. And though she doesn't have a training school (lore does say she trains young Neopets, though she's probably more busy with training Faerieland's army), she is in charge of Faerie Abilities and her Faerie Quest reward is several big stat increases, helping and encouraging players to try the Battledome. While the Battledome hasn't been significant in years, I still feels its a major part of the site and the more attention to it the better!

[dcathartiq]

omg why is just 3 characters tho 😭 gonna try my best to pick a top 3 jkshkdjv

Username: dcatharsis

My top 3 neopian babygirls & blorbos:
1 & 2: Jeran & Lisha
3: Taelia the Snow Faerie

Jeran:
- He's a Lupe and I love Lupes
- The GOODEST boy and CEO of healthy masculinity
- Even if he follows the Knight in Shining Armor trope he still has depth when it comes to his backstory, and isn't OP or demi-godly. He was the kind of character than had no control or power over his fate (even becoming a knight was something that came up kinda abruptly to him) and this only changed when Lisha time traveled and found him. 
- His design isn't complex or flashy but is still recognizable and properly fits his personality. I also like his sword's fancy pattern lol
- Very random thing, but I LOVE when he does that annoyed/cringing face (like that Caption Contest pic with Tomos and Tor) HAJSDHSH. Idk, I think details like that make him feel so genuine.
- inb4 SneakyKnight 🥴🥴😳😳🥵🥵🛐🛐

Lisha:
- She's an Aisha and I love Aishas
- Girl so ahead of her time being a nerd and a girlboss at the same time, UGH HER MIND
- Always gotta love a character that seems inoffensive or weak but isn't, a pint-sized (magical) powerhouse, someone who breaks expectations
- She's a high-schooler with cardboard armor and a toy wand that traveled through time, changing the previous timeline, discovering a previously unknown land AND both finding and saving her long lost big bro in the process. If that's not badass then i don't know what it is. 
- I enjoy the dynamic she has w/ her friends Kayla, Morris, and Boris; they're an iconic friend group tbh. And of course her sibling relationship with Jeran is pure wholesomeness 🥺💛💙

Another thing regarding the siblings (this is more personal and biased, wouldn't call it a fully valid argument so I'm putting it under spoilers)

SPOILER: Click to show

I wanna mention this since it's something important for me. So, I started playing Neopets when I was a depressed 12 y.o. who was going through frequent physical and psychological bullying in school, in a sexist and ableist enviroment. These were the times geeky/nerdy/(basically anything outside the norm) types weren't respected AT ALL, and the fact I was an undiagnosed neurodivergent femme at the time made things even more complicated; what can I say, back then my self-esteem just didn't exist, I had no respect for myself or for the things I created and I was barely capable of connecting with anything or anyone.

Naturally, I got interested on the website because of its artwork and character designs (not the only thing that interested me of course but the first one, I'd say); its visual identity ended up becoming an actual influence in my art style. I also liked that its universe/lore/etc. didn't feel paternalistic like your usual children media and that it had a more "ironic" sense of humor (something most of us southamericans really appreciate lol).

Ok sooo, gotta play the flash games, feed my pets, try saving NPs for a paintbrush and all that. Gotta explore the lands...oh, what is this...Battle for Meridell? Is it a comic? 👀

Oh, man......
Do you remember its first chapter, where they introduce Jeran and there's this panel with him fighting some tentacled monster, drawn with this extreme foreshortening and bold linework, and his sword shows a reflection of the monster's face? The first time I saw that panel I was like "WHAT THE HEEEEEEELL OOOOOH MY GAAAAWD NO WAAAAYAYAAAAAAY" but in a positive way LMAO that illustration lives rent free in my brain since then. That was THE thing that kickstarted my love for the website, for that plot, and for Jeran as a character. Then Lisha appeared and dude, I instantly loved her too!! After reading BFM, with my (back then) barely existing english skills I checked the Champions of Meridell plot and omg, even if I couldn't appreciate the story with full detail it was exciting to learn about their backstory, how Lisha was able to find her brother and help him survive. And it was SO refreshing to see 1) a nerdy female character that wasn't weak and/or unpleasant, and that also wasn't a walking female cliché and 2) a caring, good looking male character that wasn't mean, immature or pretentious. I might be biased here, but I think most of users haven't noticed or reflected about these two (and other canon characters such as Hannah and Lord Darigan, for example) were ahead of their times when it comes to their design and/or characterization, even if they happen to be quite simple and archetypical. "Less is more" applies in these cases for sure.

All that is part of the inspiration and good vibes I received back then, and that helped me survive school, to learn how to appreciate my ideas and creations, and to heal my inner child as an adult. And of course, it also helped me in my way to becoming an illustrator.

It's incredible how art & media can help you while going through bad times. I'll love and stan these two forever. 🛐🛐🛐💖💖💖

Taelia:
- LOVE LOVE LOVE her gothic y2k look!!! 😩💯👏
- I also like her "default" look, it looks cozy but stylish and the color scheme is pleasing to the eyes. Her wings' design is cool as well. For me she's one of the most beautiful and iconic faeries.
- Idk why but I like that she lives in Terror Mountain because she wants to...and that doesn't mind living alone but at the same time will always help whoever arrives to her place. For having ice powers she seems to be quite warm to others; I like those kinda "oppossite" traits being part of the same character idk haha
- She frequently appears with Snowbunnies, and I LOVE Snowbunnies too 😭💖 (I'm a rabbit person)
- I love those Advent Calendar scenes she has with Armin (also a precious blorbo), they're so sweet they give me diabeetus ong 😭😭💖

Bonus babygirls & blorbos: Sophie the Swamp Witch, Zafara Double Agent, Armin, Mira the Space Faerie, Princess Amira.

[doctortomoe]

Username: dr_tomoe

Top 3:
1: Mr. Krawly
2: Krell Vitor
3 Dr. Landlebrot

Reasons:

1: Tale of Woe is my favorite plot, still, to this day, and Mr. Krawly was a big part of it.

2: Favorite player on my favorite AC team.

3: I have my own (mad) science Lutari and it's fun to think of him as his greatest rival and nemesis in a venture bros. style arch-nemesis style.

[Kat]

hi guys I promise I haven't forgotten this - I just haven't had the spoons to gather the data

So if you haven't posted here, please do it and yell at me to do my article