Well, now let's begin.
The Group
#1 Xelloss: Oddly enough (or considering my other favorite characters
for other series, not so oddly), Xelloss has become my favorite character.
Sure, he's evil by nature. Sure, he'd kill everyone if Xelas ordered him
too. Sure, his hair is ugly.(and that is the thing I think I shall be flamed
for, eh? Note to Xelloss's hairstylist: look at Mikage from Utena
and Taiitsu Shinjin from Houshin Engi to see how a pageboy can look good
on a male.) But he remains, at least in my warped vision, the most interesting
character in Slayers. It's a common misconception that someone's favorite
character must necessarily be their ideal friend, mate, or role model.
This is untrue. I dropped into the Slayers universe, I'd get as far away
from Xelloss as possible, and probably the rest of the Slayers cast, given
their involuntary penchant for mass destruction. Xelloss is interesting
because of his dual nature...75% of the time, at least in NEXT, he's a
comic character, the rest of the time, he's one of the most evil and powerful
beings in the Slayersverse, and his personality is actually quite consistent
between the two. Plus there's the weird way he does all these reprehensible
things, and never gets his comeuppance.
#2 Lina Inverse: In many anime, the protagonist is the blandest,
least interesting of the entire group. Not so with Slayers. I'd say nearly
everyone likes Lina for her kick-butt, non stereotypical fantasy heroine
attitude, and her gigantic ego, and the whole Dragon Slave mass-destruction
sans regret thing.
#3 A tie between Zelgaldis and Filia: Many people absolutely worship
Zelgaldis, but I don't. This isn't to say I hate him, of course, just to
say that I'm not about to set up a shrine to him or obsessively buy merchandise
with his pictures on. I'll agree with the fangirl contingent that he has
a high coolness factor, but the whole tragic/angst aura is undercut by
the series itself, and the poseurish aspects of Zel's character.
Filia: The co-protagonist of TRY, and one of the major contributors
to its dark take on the series. As a comic character, Filia is at her best
in her interactions with Xelloss. They rank as among the funniest scenes
in the series, and are better for being character based rather than based
on some external situation. Her character development, relatively fast
in the glacial character change dungeon that is Slayers, is refreshing
in its depth. She changes more in one season than Gourry in three, IMHO.
The relationships between her, Xelloss, and Valgaav are extremely interesting,
no matter how one interprets them, and their presence makes the Slayers
world mor interesting. Plus she's pretty darn cute as a dragon.
#4 A tie between Gourry and Amelia
Gourry: Gourry's character, as everyone keeps telling me, is
much better in the novels. There, he isn't overshadowed as much by Xelloss
and Zelgaldis. Also, he shows hints of just keeping up a facade of stupidity,
and plays a more major role due to there being less emphasis on the rest
of the cast. But I can't read Japanese; I only watch the anime, and I'm
basing my character ranking here upon it. In TRY, Gourry's lack of intelligence
verges on the moronic (think of the skirt-lifting scene), and he becomes
rather extraneous to the plot, as do Zel and Amelia. He gets little character
development during the series, and we get little insight into his mind
in general.
Amelia: Many people supposedly revile Amelia. Others love her.
I'm one of the more neutral ones. Amelia is very good comic relief in the
silly parts of the series, but I think she works less well in the serious
parts, because the viewer (at least this one) doesn't identify much with
her naive outlook. Also, according to the novel backstory, Amelia has a
dark, traumatic past, which would make me like her more, but the TV series's
tone is far too light to deal with this well, IMO. Much of the series is
based upon humor, and the depth and development of the characters are far
too weak to support this kind of storyline (Slayers is not a character
driven story, nor interested in intense introspection. Not flaming it,
but you have to like the series for what it is. )
#5 A tie between Martina and Sylphiel: Martina works best as comedy
relief, and good comedy relief she is. Her hair is rather nifty, the color
of mint ice cream. But comedy relief, to me, just isn't enough to get her
up there. Plus her eventual maturing goes too quickly, and while potentially
interesting, is overshadowed by the other plot events at the time. Her
antics are pretty cute though.
As for Sylphiel, I find her to be a rather untinteresting character.
Important to the plot, yes, but I don't much identify with her. I'm glad
she didn't show up in TRY, as she would have been entirely pointless and
irritating there.
And the Special Award for Most-Underappreciated goes to....
JIRAS!!! Why don't people appreciate this guy? He manages to out-fox
(ha, ha) the entire Slayers gang, stealing the sword of light and making
them look like idiots, and nearly gets them with the orichachon tank again.
Plus he gets a whole character development episode to himself, unlike Gourry
and Amelia in TRY.
Others also underused are
Phibrizzo: Didn't you feel just the tiniest bit sad when he gets
snuffed out even if he was rather nasty? He was only doing what his creator,
the Lord of Nightmares, specifically ordered him to do. Fulfills his raison
d'etre and gets punished for it by his god, who was a) upset that he had
fired upon her while inhabiting Lina's body (how was he supposed to know
that would happen) or b) just chaotic and annoyed that day. He ought to
join Valgaav in the group of people protesting against the universal order.
Gaav: A tragic figure. His line to Amelia about whether she's
a bad guy is quite interesting...he sure took the wind out of her sails.
The whole question of whose side Lina Inverse is actually on is... (well,
her own, to tell the truth. Then it's not really a question. Ok, I'll stop
asking.)
Characters I'd most like to see sometime:
Xelas Metallium: What must Xelloss's boss be like? Extremely clever,
probably with a wicked sense of humor, flashy dresser. Probably the most
successful of the dark lords. You don't see her challenging Lina, do you?
Shows that the Mazoku cause is not entirely hopeless. What a shame
that we don't even have a novel appearrence beyond a scene....
Deep Sea Dolphin: We know nothing about her as a character. I
am intrigued.
Dynast Grausherra and his lovely assistant Sherra: They were in the
novels, but as I can't read Japanese....
Luna Inverse: We hear about her all the time. But who is this
woman who frightens Lina to death? I want to see her animated, but that
will probably never happen.