Poll: Favourite Shonen Protagonist out of...

[Korenith]

Now I'll hold my hands up and say I know there are loads of others I could have put in the poll but I'm interested in these characters in particular because I think they represent a particular type of shonen hero: The naive, childish but amusing and kind of endearing(to me anyway) hero which Anime does rather well. There's bound to be somebody I missed with those qualities so I left you lovely folks an Other option.

For me Luffy wins by a mile for one reason and one reason only: he's consistent. My problem with Naruto, Ichigo and Goku is that I find their comedy bits way too at odds with the serious stuff. Naruto is the worst for this because he's supposed to be some redemptive figure for the entire ninja world and yet is very unconvincing as somebody capable of fixing as complex a problem as the hate between warring factions. I also find Goku's transitions from clown to hyper serious warrior in DBZ pretty jarring and Ichigo lacks any form of personality in my eyes.

Luffy on the other hand is basically an oversized child who does what he does because he feels that's what's right, totally incapable of thinking about the consequences and so naturally is likeable and funny in the process because of the stupid scenarios he puts himself in. Plus his power is PERFECT for his character. Ridiculous, versatile, very very resistant to damage and able to bounce back in a fight. It's a nice synergy. This is true of Natsu as well but to a less extent so he's my second choice.

None of these characters are particularly deep or clever but for some reason this kind of anime is my version of TV junk food. I know it's no good for me but I love it anyway.

So who do you find yourself routing for most when they're in a fight?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I only know Goku from that bunch, so I guess it's him, even though I was never a big fan of DBZ.
Spike Spiegel has my sword, bow and axe any other day.

 

[Random Argument Man]

Does Full metal alchemist count as Shonen? If so, Edward and Alphonse Elric by a mile.

 

[Korenith]

Does Full metal alchemist count as Shonen? If so, Edward and Alphonse Elric by a mile.

They do but I don't think they have the same vibe going on. They tend to be a bit more along the serious end of things, or at least I certainly wouldn't think of them as childish clowns.

 

[Zak757]

Ryuko Matoi above all of those by a mile, a lot more likeable than the examples you listed above. She checks several points off the "shounen protagonist", but tones a lot of those features down to make her more believable. She loses as much as she wins, her determination has its limits, she doesn't eat like a pig, doesn't steal the spotlight from more interesting characters, she is simple but not stupid, and usually wins battles through smart tactics rather than ass pulls. She does have a few ass pulls with the whole "Senketsu can evolve" thing during the Elite Four battles, but this is was foreshadowed a little and a plot point that leads into episode 12. And she can now use her evolved forms on demand, so at least those new powers stuck around and added variety to later battles. Oh yeah, and she has more significant character development in 17 episodes than the rest here get in 100. On a more shallow level, the fact that I find her design and voice sexy also helps.

If you consider Satsuki Kiryuin to be a secondary protagonist, than she would be my favorite.

Does Full metal alchemist count as Shonen? If so, Edward and Alphonse Elric by a mile.

Yes, and I'd also put them above the ones listed in the poll too.

 

[Ratty]

I'm not a huge fan of any of any of the mangas or shows in the Dragonball franchise but...
Picked Goku from Dragonball, which imo was much better than DBZ. In that series Goku's naivety could be rather charming and partly laid down to inexperience, having been raised in the middle of nowhere by a hermit. Whereas in DBZ he was just sort of a dumbass who embodied physical perfection.

 

[Coakle]

Gon from Hunter x Hunter gets burned again. Ouch.

Goku, for a couple reasons.

1. He's the most relatable and easy to emulate Shonen protagonist.

You know how Goku gets strong? He does curl-ups, push-ups, weight training and eats well. Bam! Want to be more like Goku? Do what he does and get results. He doesn't put a lot of emphasis on "manipulate his inner energies" or a visually interesting, but impractical training routine. He just works hard.

2. He got married and had sex

3. He's large and in charge

Goku started out with a pretty clean slate value wise. He wasn't raised to defend his village, he wasn't a child of destiny or trained by legendary dragons. He, like most children, only had a child's sense of justice. It was Goku's follow through that allowed him the opportunity to be trained by dragons, defend people and become a man of destiny.

Goku worked to be in charge of his own destiny at every step of his long journey. I got to admire a guy like that.

 

[Elfgore]

The only series I watch out of those listed is Fairy Tail, so it has to be Natsu. His magic is pretty cool and I like his friend mentality, but other than that, he is the typical hot-headed, OP, friendship power spewing shounen protagonist.

 

[Crowns18]

I hated most of them except Goku and Luffy at some point while watching those series, so I'll go for Goku for nostalgia points.

 

[sextus the crazy]

Does Full metal alchemist count as Shonen? If so, Edward and Alphonse Elric by a mile.

I'm glad that one of the first posts is already the correct answer.

Also, Kenshin from Ruroni Kenshin works too.

 

[Spiridion]

Are you asking for a favorite protagonist from a Shonen? Or were you asking more for a favorite character than fits into the Shonen Protagonist Archetype?

I kind of don't like the Shonen Protagonist Archetype, so I'd vote for Edward/Alphonse Elric as others have said. Or possibly Ryuko Matoi or Satsuki Kiryuin, who have also been mentioned.

 

[Akytalusia]

other, Kenshin from rurouni kenshin. he's a normal guy, and i like his values and conduct.

 

[Nubrain]

While fond of Luffy and pretty much all of the characters on the list my first reaction when i read the options was "wait aren't these all the same character?" i suppose there is something to be said for tropes as a great short hand in fiction. I had to put my vote on Gon from Hunter X Hunter though. he has a lot of the same traits as normal shonen leads such as the being a wise idiot, full of energy and willing to run recklessly into danger all that kind of stuff.

However the more you watch of the show the more you'll see that he's....well not strictly speaking purely good. He has a very strict code such of highly valuing loyalty to friends and most of the times those values do line up on the side of good. But when you do see him step into the darkness if just for a little while it's an easy step to make and very scary.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I've never read or watched any of those save for a few chapters. My pick goes to Aladdin from Magi. He doesn't exactly fit the description of the kind of character you're talking about, but he comes close enough. The best part of him (as with all characters in the series) is Aladdin's growth from a playful child to a determined and wise sage.

 

[Storm Dragon]

Ryuko Matoi above all of those by a mile, a lot more likeable than the examples you listed above.

Seconded, Ryuko blows those five out of the water. One of my favorite things about her that you forgot to mention is that she's actually willing to think outside the box, like when Senketsu first took that flying form and she decided "to hell with this tournament bullshit, I'll just go after Satsuki right now!" Screwing the rules wouldn't have even occurred to the guys on that list.

 

[Frankster]

Casting my vote for Goku, what can I say, even now at the age of over 25 I'm still a latent dragon ball fanboy for whom the series is a masterclass of anime perfection (minus the episodes that would drag on and ..oh cmon dont knock me off my cloud of nostalgia here!).

But seriously, he was one of the more inspirational heroes I had as a kid simply because he encouraged a "try your best"/ "keep working out and practice" attitude that seemed attainable. There was also a vibe of "it doesn't matter if you won, so long as you tried your best" that I found really inspirational as a kid.

snip

Or what this guy says cos I agree with it.

Screwing the rules wouldn't have even occurred to the guys on that list.

That's weird cos I can think of a specific few times Goku did "screw the rules" when it suited him (ex: messing with one of the world tournament draws so he would fight against uub).
So whilst he doesn't usually act on it, breaking rules in place is hardly something that is inconceivable even for the intellectually challenged and usually rather fairplay Goku.
And hang on wasn't the entirety of Bleach season 2 about Ichigo going "fuck the rules" as he goes to rescue Rukia (the best bleach season incidentally)?
That's at least 2 of the 5 covered, I'm sure examples could be found for the other 3 aswell.
So yeh big up your favorite character if you wish, but no need to go making erroneous statements about those you don't like

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

That's a though one, because i read all those mangas (not watching any of the animes though), and i like each of those characters for diffrent reasons.
Except Ichigo, he's just bleh.

Natsu has actually not alot going for him compared to the others. He's pretty similar to Luffy, but lacks basically everything past the "help friends, be stubborn"-shtick.

Luffy & Naruto are pretty fun, though Naruto annoyed me with dumpin' all the other youngsters and keeping the main protagonist useless (in terms of power/skills) for 80% of the manga.

So in the end it'll probably go to Goku. A part is probably nostalgia goggles - since i finished the manga like 10 years ago. Another part is: All the other shounen mangas wouldn't exist in the form they do if not for DB. And last but not least: Goku is just awesome. Coakle already summarized why pretty well.
Compared to many others he actually had alot of character development and if you excuse/exclude the two "i gonna train for 1 year in a day"-cheapshots his progression (both character & physical) also made sense within the context of the universe.

And for "other" i'd give it to: Kenichi from Histories Strongest Disciples.
I like the premise, i like that it's often very lighthearted, i enjoy the explanations about all the diffrent martial arts and Kenichis progression as a martial arts fighter is cool to look at, since every step is well reflected in both character development & visual presentation.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I'm going to go Ichigo because out of those I like Bleach at all, although I've only read manga. Perhaps because he isn't comic relief at the same time, which allows me to 'buy' him a bit more.

Actually no, I take that back, it is all the fact that I like Bleach as a whole better. I don't really like any of them tbh.

 

[Kron_the_mad wants to be deleted]

A lot of these shows have more than one protagonist so I'm going to have to go with Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. Mostly because I have a thing for heavily armed readheads. She's one of the few characters that can make the eternally brawling, irresponsible guild stop dicking around and behave and she's got way more depth than a lot of the characters in the show. Probably one of the better written female characters for a shonen too.