#stitchpunk

In order, from left to right, top to bottom:

(they are NOT ordered in terms of which ones I like the most)

Midna (TLOZ: Twilight Princess)

I have a lot of controversial opinions about about the Zelda-series. As much as I love the games in terms of gameplay and worldbuilding, I generally find the stories and characters to be lacking in most cases, or just okay at best. Twilight Princess, on the other hand, is FANTASTIC, and Midna totally steals the show! Her loud, mischievous personality is such a fun contrast to Link, and her backstory ties the whole game together. She's practically the main character of the story, despite not being the protagonist, which is a trope I find super interesting.

I love that you get so see her character-development every step of the way, how the actions of the other characters slowly changes her as she learns to trust people and be vulnerable. Also, her design is so perfect I almost got a bit disappointed when her real form was revealed at the end, she was much cuter as an imp *cries*.

Shigeo Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100)

The Mob Psycho 100-anime came out at the perfect time for me, not long after I had recieved my autism-diagnosis. Seeing a character like Shigeo helped me tremendously during a time when I was questioning who I was and how to deal with myself.

Seeing a shy, quiet character as the protagonist was so refreshing to me, since those types of characters are usually left in the background in most stories. It was so comforting to finally see a character with similar problems to myself, and to watch them grow and heal.

I wish there were more characters like this in other media.

Yoshi (Super Mario World)

My childhood favorite! Yoshi was always my pick in Mario Kart and Mario Party. I've always had a big interest in dinosaurs, and Yoshi's design is just super fun and cute. Yoshi's Island was one of the first video games I ever played so this character is pure nostalgic fun for me.

He doesn't exactly have a deep backstory or any character development to speak of, but sometimes all you need is good vibes and and memorable design!

Pyro (Team Fortress 2)

I'm usually not into shooter-games, but TF2 is the only exception for me. The characters and the writing have brought me so much joy for so long, truly a timeless classic. Pyro always stood out to me as I tend to be drawn to the "black-sheep"-type characters, there is just so much mystery around them and I find it super intriguing.

After "Meet the Pyro" was released I was HOOKED. It's such a unique character-concept, an emotionless, menacing figure on the outside, but full of rainbows and sunshine on the inside, brilliant!

They are also my main to play as in the game, I suck at aiming.

Raggedy Ann (Raggedy Ann and Andy)

Despite Raggedy Ann being the oldest character on the list (the first book came out over 100 years ago!), I only discovered her relatively recently through Raggedy Ann and Andy: a Musical Adventure, and I fell super hard in love with her. She's just the sweetest little angel I've ever seen! She's optimistic and positive and caring, without being obnoxious about it, her voice is so quiet and soft and she's animated with such care and love. We need more soft, quiet, caring girls in media.

She also has a lot of autism-vibes, that's my headcanon anyway!

Rosalina (Super Mario Galaxy)

It should be obvious from my own username and fursona that I just love characters with a space-aestethic. Rosalina is so great in every way, her design is gorgeous, and her introverted personality is a breath of fresh air in a game series that is full of extroverts. I love her blank expression and her matter-of-fact way of speaking, it's comforting to me to see female characters who are allowed to be reserved and non-expressive in a positive way in a time where women in media are expected to be loud and outgoing.

Her backstory completely broke me when I was younger, as someone who has also gone through the grief of loneliness and losing someone.

I find her surprisingly relatable, and her powerful presence brings be great comfort. I wish I could draw humans better because she was the most difficult one to draw on this list, haha.

Dimentio (Super Paper Mario)

Dimentio is a very unique character for what I usually like, and he's the only villain on this list. First off, 10/10 design, amazing colour-scheme and clever use of geometric shapes. The duality of the black and white, and the yellow and purple really brings out the feeling of uncertainty when dealing with him in the game. He's strange and unpredictable and completely mysterious and that makes him super fascinating to me. Despite his god-like abilities he acts and talks like he's just a silly little guy, he sends people to hell with a smile on his masked face, what a guy.

I can't quite put a finger on why I like him so much, he's just so appealing, he both entertains and terrifies me in a way that few characters do.

I really wish Nintendo would bring him back in future games, I just can't get enough of him and I wish we had more to go on for his backstory, because the little we do know is super interesting.

6 (Shane Acker's 9)

If I had to pick one character on this list as my all-time-favorite, it would be 6, which is strange considering he's the one here with the least amount of screen-time. I saw 9 long before I got my autism-diagnosis but I felt this instant connection to this very autism-coded character before I ever could put a word to it. I felt like I was him in a way. Despite him being portrayed as a strange, mysterious character there was never a mystery to me, I knew exactly how he felt and everything about him made sense to me.

I don't know how else to describe it, he's on a completely different level than any other character to me, one that I feel is part of who I am as a person.

I love the fact that he's semi-verbal, and that he communicates through his art, his whole design and concept is so unique. Everything from his aestethic to his personality to his role in the story is all I could've ever asked for.

Sans (Undertale)

I was deep in the Undertale fandom in its heyday, and it had just as big of an impact on me as it did on everyone else. I know that he's practically just a meme now, but I've always genuenly loved his character, he's the perfect blend of silly and serious. He's one of the most realistic depictions of someone living with chronic depression I've seen, it's subtle, you might not notice it from the outside, but it affects one's entire way of life internally. He's also super tired all the time, which I can relate to, it's a trait that you don't see that often in fictional characters. He has a design that is instantly recognizable and a very memorable personality, I also love his relationships and how he interacts with others. I have a big soft spot for "mysterious" characters, who's intentions and motivations aren't always clear, Sans is a perfect example of that.

Inspector Gadget (Inspector Gadget)

I feel like I can blame Inspector Gadget for a lot of my favorite character tropes, as that show have many of the earliest examples I saw growing up. Character with immense powers but little control over them? Check. Found family? Check. Character's eyes partially covered by something? Check.

Innocent characters getting into trouble? Check. Cute character with dark backstory? Check.

He's just so weird but so completely confident about it, and his optimism is contagious. He's big and strong and has a heart of gold and just tries to do the right thing in his own strange ways, I just love him.