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Posted by: Dog Dec 7 2005, 03:17 AM

I was gonna make this a poll, but there's so many options.

In all published Shadowrun fiction, who're the coolest characters? Harlequin? Captain Chaos? Sally Tsung? Ronin? Amanda Lockhart? Martin De Vries? De Mon? Jesse John? Sam Verner? Miles Lanier? Hestaby? And so on, ad inifinitum....

What'd you like about them? What'd you dislike?

My vote'd go to Jane Foster, for the "just take it all in stride" attitude she had to adopt: "There's a dragon here to see you."

Posted by: Backgammon Dec 7 2005, 03:26 AM

I like Leonardo cause he's got some crazy ass hermetic Great Work thing going independant of the other IE schemes.

I also like Harlequin cause he's the biggest coolest laid back immortal fragger with a cyberpunk attitude around.

I like Novatech as a whole cause they Thor shot that dumb Art Whateverhisnameis, like they should have some time ago.

Posted by: Tanka Dec 7 2005, 03:40 AM

Posted by: TheFr0g Dec 7 2005, 03:43 AM

Quint Duran, hands down. He killed people with HOT WINGS!

Posted by: ShadowDragon8685 Dec 7 2005, 03:47 AM

Captain Chaos...

Though this hot wings story bears mentioning... Tell me more?

Posted by: stevebugge Dec 7 2005, 03:56 AM

Dr. Halberstam, how can you go wrong with a MAD SCIENTIST!

Posted by: TheFr0g Dec 7 2005, 04:09 AM

It was either in Headhunters or Preying for Keeps. Duran was eating chicken at a meet, and as he ate them he'd break the bones and suck out the marrow. When the meet went bad he threw them into people's eyes.

Posted by: Adarael Dec 7 2005, 04:32 AM

The Smiling Bandit. He's the James Bond of deckers. FastJack's more skilled, Dodger more driven, Slamm-O more nutty, but nobody does it with more style than he who <Strikes again!/Ha-Ha-Ha>.

Grid Reaper. A ghoul. Who's a nice guy! And he eats people and talks about it on Shadowlands. Can't front with that, especially when he talks about how to season person-sushi.

Hatchetman. I didn't like Hatchetman when he was a guy. I liked him when he was a cyberzombie. I thought the background on his life he provided was very cool, and the story really drove home the horrors of being an undead kill-puppet.

Smokin' Jo. Poster girl for 'Do not hang around, your limbs will go missing.'

Posted by: ElFenrir Dec 7 2005, 04:39 AM

After reading FoF, Matador for sure. His overall attitude was just awesome. I still like to have brand new players read that whole thing he wrote.

Fastjack...the guy as of SR4 is 71 years old and still tickin. Wouldn't put it past him he's one of the oldest runners around. Doubt he still even has to run anymore. But gotta love the guy.

Posted by: ShadowDragon8685 Dec 7 2005, 04:53 AM

Of course he's still ticking. He has the very best that Ares Macrotechnology can provide him. I woulden't be surprised to see FastJack go on through SR7.

Posted by: tisoz Dec 7 2005, 05:03 AM

Posted by: Anythingforenoughnuyen Dec 7 2005, 06:09 AM

For my first post, I had considered chiming in with:

Ryan "Quicksilver" Mercury

just to see how many people I could piss off.

However, contrary impulses aside, I feel compelled to send a shout out to all of the old school chummers out there and cast a vote for:

Ghost-Who-Walks-Inside

Posted by: SpasticTeapot Dec 7 2005, 06:17 AM

Ghost-who-walks-inside is a cool cat. What happened to him, I wish I knew.
However, I feel I should put my vote in for Ronin or Fastjack, two decidedly cool deckers.
That, or Dunkhelzahn. I personally thought he was pretty neat.

Posted by: Oracle Dec 7 2005, 06:27 AM

By the way, what happened to Hatchetman? Is he still aliv...er...existing? Or has he been killed?

Possibly Nadia Daviar. It's something about her legs, you know...

Posted by: SL James Dec 7 2005, 06:54 AM

She has legs?

*resists the temptation to say it...*

Samantha Villiers is a good one. Well, her and Richard.

Posted by: Drace Dec 7 2005, 06:54 AM

Hatchet man just kinda disapeared actually, does anyone know if anything happened to him in one of the sourcebooks?? But my favourites have to be Fastjack, Green Lucifer, and Dodger. Harlequine and the immortal who runs Tir na Nog are close too, but the whole immortal elf thing makes them seem to "detached" from the rest of the shadow community.

Posted by: Critias Dec 7 2005, 08:07 AM

Ronin's my favorite. Because, once, my street sam punched him in the mouth, slammed him face-first into a brick wall, and told him if he didn't start telling us a little more about what was going on, he'd get murdered right there. Man, Brainscan was fun.

My actual favorite NPC-type would have to be Dodger, with Estios (his rival/enemy/counterpart) the Paladin as a close second place. I know Estios was a very minor character, but he was a remarkably competent prick, and he went down swingin' against an Immortal Elf. I respect that.

Posted by: Adarael Dec 7 2005, 09:50 AM

I forgot one.

Grinder.

Grinder is totally awesome.

Posted by: PiXeL01 Dec 7 2005, 10:56 AM

Favorate NPCs ... Hmm Seeks-the-Moon is cool. He was this great attitude when he was bound, but it all sort of changes when he becomes free. Better add Kyle Teller here as well

Dirk Montgomery, the coolest detective you'll ever find. His whole attittude in 2XS, at least the very first chapter grew on me the first time I read it. And still does when I read it again.

Rhonabwy, the Anti-IE nation twatter!

those and a few others

Posted by: Fred1000000 Dec 7 2005, 05:11 PM

It's deffinantly Dirt! We're doing a campaign with alot of Urban Brawl in it, and my Riggers main contact is Dirt! What is better than a 90 year old druggie? Nothing.

Posted by: Velocity Dec 7 2005, 05:35 PM

Posted by: pragma Dec 7 2005, 07:28 PM

Silicon Mage and Chromed Accountant. The two sharpest voices of reason an SL. (Smiling Bandit is also pretty fun.)

Miles Lanier -- so organized that he can take the walking disaster which is Richard Viller's life in stride.

I suppose Richard Villiers is pretty cool too.

Posted by: Calvin Hobbes Dec 7 2005, 07:30 PM

SPD all the way.

Posted by: Grimtooth Dec 7 2005, 08:26 PM

Kam from the secrets of power trilogy. I just liked his attitude.

and

Kid Stealth. Just for the scare factor.


BTW did Novatech really Thor shot Art Dunkwalther???

Posted by: Drac Dec 7 2005, 08:31 PM

An underachieving possibly dead guy ;
Rikki Ratboy

Posted by: Lindt Dec 7 2005, 08:40 PM

Heheh. Art go boom. Must get.. well what book IS it in?

Im still a big fan of the Capt. Though now that Fastjack is doing his work....

Posted by: Grimtooth Dec 7 2005, 09:04 PM

Also like Turtle, Madame Flutterbye, and Jack the Ripper from into the shadows

And Zig and Zag AKA Iron Mike and Tiger something

Posted by: DocMortand Dec 7 2005, 09:29 PM

I think I'd have to second Kid Stealth. The guy blew off his own legs to escape the "drowned by legs in cement" predicament. That takes chutpah.

Probably honorable mentions go to dirk montgomery and nadja daviar (mmmm).

Posted by: Jrayjoker Dec 7 2005, 09:38 PM

Gotta go with the Dodger, classy and flashy

Posted by: Catsnightmare Dec 7 2005, 09:53 PM

Matador has to go as my number one, with Dunklezahn a very close second.

Posted by: Anythingforenoughnuyen Dec 7 2005, 09:58 PM

Another pair of names in the Blast From The Past category:

Man of Many Names-the shaman who was used as an example way way way back in First Edition, not only because of the fact that his name is cool, but because, judging from his power level back in the day, if he is still alive and kicking in the 2070's he would certanly way up on the runners not to be fraged with list.

And, from the Secrets of Power trilogy, the runner with the feathered serpent dragon partner, I think her name was Hart. Not only was she cool as a runner in her own right, but, deserving of an honorable mention at the very least from all of us who thought it would be cool to have a dragon side kick but never quite got the job done (or, even had the titanium laced backbone to ask our GM's).

Posted by: PiXeL01 Dec 7 2005, 10:06 PM

I forgot one

The Professor - The smartest Troll alive! He actually solved the gene problem with meta humanity only to destroy it again

Posted by: SL James Dec 7 2005, 10:36 PM

Matador was cool, and I hate that he was killed off.

Posted by: Lenice Hawk Dec 8 2005, 12:35 AM

Argent. I just like his characterization. Kills when necessary without flinching, but isn't overly eager. Plus the silent warrior thing is cool. He's a good inbetween for the "evil" wetworker and the "con with a heart of gold" that so many "good" characters seem to be.

Posted by: Birdy Dec 8 2005, 12:37 AM

7) Moon (The free Spirit from BugCity)

6) Kid Stealth

5) The elven chick on the cover of "Survival of the fittest"

4) Slater (Preying for keeps)

3) The Novatech Three - Mr. Villiers, Mrs. Villiers and Mr. Lanier

2) Matador and Picador

1) Wolfgang Kies

Posted by: SL James Dec 8 2005, 01:26 AM

He seemed pretty eager in Run Hard, Die Fast (I so thoroughly hated that book).

Posted by: Ophis Dec 8 2005, 11:57 AM

First Place has to be Dunkelzahn, he was cool then his will came out and he got even cooler...

Honourable mentions to, Harlequin and Frosty, Nadja Davier, Capt Chaos and Fast Jack.

Hell there are to many to mention, one of the reason I love shadowrun.

Posted by: Mr.Platinum Dec 8 2005, 02:55 PM

I'm a big Fan of Ryo Myu and Lung, theres going to be a story of epic prportions about ehm one day i hope.

Posted by: Foreigner Dec 8 2005, 03:54 PM

I'd have to say Teachdaire, from SR1/SR2.

And please, no flames.

I *know* that he was SERIOUSLY broken under the rules; otherwise, why would he have the unofficial nickname, "The Not-in-MY-Game-osaurus"?

(Besides, I'm trying to duplicate him, sort of; that is, without breaking the rules. My version is either going to end up as a straight Magician's Way Adept, or a Magician's Way Adept with as little--geased, of course--Cyberware/Bioware as possible.)

What can I say? I like assassin characters, even if they *are* essentially "one-trick ponies" as far as most RPGs are concerned.

--Foreigner

Posted by: winterhawk11 Dec 8 2005, 03:54 PM

Posted by: TheHappyAnarchist Dec 8 2005, 06:01 PM

Ah the memories.

Capt Chaos set up the largest single resource for Shadowrunners the world over. Have to give him props.

Hatchetman for how not to be a (complete) psychopathic Street Sam.

Matador for instructions on how not to be a tool.

Dirk Montgomery, for the sheer gritty detective factor.

Raven's whole damn crew. They were all pretty much cool. Honorable mention to Kid Stealth, for shooting Wolf in the back to save him. As well as blow his own legs off to save himself. Very cold, that one.

Dodger, Fastjack. Both cool.

The whole team from the SR2 fiction. Break a few stereotypes, make a few more. Notes to the Troll with the sniper rifle and the dirty slang talking rigger elf.

I think my favorite character though is Talon, from Crossroads. As much as he is slightly tainted by association with ubertwinks and crazy mary sues, he is just really fun, really down to earth, not lily white pure by the slightest.
Spoiler if you have not read Crossroads.

Posted by: The Stainless Steel Rat Dec 8 2005, 06:08 PM

Neon Samurai!

Posted by: Critias Dec 8 2005, 07:10 PM

Posted by: winterhawk11 Dec 8 2005, 07:54 PM

Posted by: Shrike30 Dec 8 2005, 08:10 PM

Smiling Bandit, Hatchetman (mostly after Cybertechnology came out), Bung, and Halberstam. Never got into the novels for SR too much, a lot of them were badly written.

Posted by: TheHappyAnarchist Dec 8 2005, 08:33 PM

Poor poor Talon.

Sigh.

I weep.

Posted by: Drac Dec 8 2005, 09:00 PM

Stephen Kenson is one of those authors who puts a little too much of his personal life into his books...kinda ruins it for me. I'm reading his new one now and will review it soon. Main characters a twit so far

Wolfgang Keis is cool too btw.

Posted by: Jrayjoker Dec 8 2005, 09:48 PM

I just read it, she's not a twit, just a total noob.

Posted by: SL James Dec 8 2005, 10:30 PM

Have to agree with Critias about The Burning Times, and Drac as well. It's especially annoying that what he said also applies to sourcebooks. Otherwise, Talon doesn't suck because he's associated with mary sues. He sucks because he IS a mary sue. Slight difference.

It's why I like the Villiers. They aren't powerful because they're someone's pet runner turned protagonist like Talon. They just exhibit the same intellectual prowess and sheer ruthlessness of some of RL's more decisive manipulators.

Posted by: TheFr0g Dec 9 2005, 01:16 AM

My god this thread has brought back some memories. I have to second Michael Sutherland and Hatchetman. I never got much use out of Cybertechnology as a sourcebook, but it remains one of my all time favorites due to the fiction.

Posted by: TeOdio Dec 9 2005, 02:29 AM

Wow, I had to think long and hard about this one. I can't think of many "characters" that I actually like in Shadowrun (at least enough to incorporate them into my game). I like the Lone Gunman from back in the day before the X-Files ripped him off. I've never had a problem with Lofwyr, mainly cause he's so erratic and alien he can do anything and it would make perfect sense to him. Plus he stomped his bro Alamaise, and that is one old ass Great Dragon. I always kind of dug Damian Knight as someone that schemes "almost" as well as a Great Dragon to keep himself at the top of his little empire. I can list my most hated characters though.
Mr Darke AKA Senor Oscuro. The Dragon Heart trilogy ruined him.
Any of the twink Immortal Elves (Like Harlequin) Pink Floyd?, after living for over 6000 years you run around with t shirts from a band that is over sixty friggin years old! Why not a Salieri tatoo as well!
And a special loathing for the ultimate in twink crap characters, Ryan Mercury. I'd rather be sodomized by Talon than have to ever read about Ryan Mercury banging Nadja Daviar again.

Posted by: TheHappyAnarchist Dec 9 2005, 02:34 AM

Posted by: emo samurai Dec 9 2005, 03:02 AM

Why would Novatech need to Thor shot a corporate shark? Seriously.

Posted by: emo samurai Dec 9 2005, 03:04 AM

Lofwyr hasn't been mentioned. I guess he isn't a character so much as a nexus of political and financial power. Same with pretty much every other authority figure, which makes sense. And Nadja Daviar isn't hot anymore; she's 56 years old, and for elves, that's around 40. Isn't it? Or do they live REALLY long?

Posted by: bclements Dec 9 2005, 03:08 AM

Posted by: Mr.Platinum Dec 9 2005, 03:11 AM

Henzo Shotozumi.

Posted by: Tanka Dec 9 2005, 03:12 AM

Posted by: Mr.Platinum Dec 9 2005, 03:16 AM

Posted by: Tanka Dec 9 2005, 03:21 AM

Very, very good book. On par with, if not better than, Cybertech. Nothing beats UB or Bug City, however.

None of the other SR3 sourcebooks gripped me as much as SF did. In fact, only a few of the SR2 books did. Nothing recent, unfortunately.

And then they moved immediately on to 4th Ed. Kind of killed the flow they had for the few moments they had it. Sigh.

Posted by: DeadNeon Dec 9 2005, 04:06 AM

So many to choose from..

Of all of them, i'd have to say Dirk Montgomery. Noirish, gritty detectives -when well done- are a favorite character type of mine.


Honorable Mentions:

Art Dankwalther: Yeah, i liked him. Or rather i liked the idea behind the character.

Alfredo Garcia: In a sourcebook (cant remember the name, or if it was 1st or second edition) there was a musical loving, dancing sasquath who tended bar in some English pub.

Argent and Matador: Consumate professionals. Plain and simple.

Perianwyr: One music lover to another.

Posted by: fourstring_samurai Dec 9 2005, 04:22 AM

dirk montgomery. I loved his stories and his attitude. any news about him after house of the sun? i still can't believe that Nigel Findley died.

Wolfgang Keis. Who cares if he doesn't follow in game rules? one bad motherfragger, if you ask me.

Dodger, Cap Chaos, Fast Jack, Jack the Ripper, Remy. love 'em all. whatever happened to Jack the Ripper? i know that remy is still floating around somewheres.

and what about zapper weisman?

Dunklezahn. I always had a soft spot for him.

Ghost-who-walks-inside.

Argent.

Hatchetman. Cybertechnology brought a whole new perspective to being a street sam for me.

Sam Verner. Did he get his magic back after the secrets of power trilogy?

and so many more...

Posted by: SL James Dec 9 2005, 06:44 AM

Alfie was in Prime Runners.

System Failure had a lot of just completely f-ed up stuff in it.

I can't for the life of me understand why anyone likes Sutherland.

Posted by: Critias Dec 9 2005, 07:45 AM

Posted by: Anythingforenoughnuyen Dec 9 2005, 10:21 AM

Picking up on the thoughts of SL James and TeOdio, Damian Knight does deserve special mention as far as Shadowrun NPC's go. He is, in a way, sort of like the old Detective archetype writ large. He has no reality bending magic powers, no cyberware to boost his physical abilities to super(meta)human levels, and he is not a god in the martix. Instead he relies on his intelligence, skills, resources, and contacts (although, in those catagories he is super(meta)human). He does not even own his corporation outright, yet he competes against, and triumphs over, those who use their magic and cybernetics to get there way (as opposed to, say, Azetech where magic and dirty tricks are the rule for success; or Mitsuhama, where stories abound about the nasty surprises their CEO "hands" out to those who displease him with his monster cyber-claw).

And, for those of us with a less than favorable opnion of Ryan "Twink-Silver" Mercury, let us not forget (or, even better, take a minute to remember fondly) that when Twink-Silver ran up against Damian Knight, it was not Knight that ended up naked and cuffed on a concrete floor with a pair of Troll Company men pointing assult rifles at his back.

Which, is not to say, of course, that Damian Knight is not a total prick, just that he is a very cool total prick, in the way only a fictional character can be.

Posted by: Sicarius Dec 9 2005, 11:26 AM

Posted by: Critias Dec 9 2005, 11:33 AM

There are very cool Dumpshock regulars?

Posted by: MaxHunter Dec 9 2005, 12:39 PM

Sure there are...

Back to topic:

Coolest:
Damien "Gavilan" Knight
Argent
Matador

Hated

Ryan Mercury
Ryan Mercury
Ryan Mercury

Posted by: MaxHunter Dec 9 2005, 12:42 PM

And I also hated Sam Verner

Posted by: Jrayjoker Dec 9 2005, 02:56 PM

Posted by: winterhawk11 Dec 9 2005, 03:26 PM

Posted by: toturi Dec 9 2005, 03:36 PM

I like Ryan. Except his taste in nipples.

Posted by: SL James Dec 9 2005, 05:43 PM

Hm. I'll stick with my criteria of, "would the game universe be less without them."

Posted by: kevyn668 Dec 13 2005, 02:52 AM

In no order:

Chuck-Chuck Razool (Can't beat a street name like that)

Cap the Knife, aka Casper (ditto)

Wolfgang Kies (for the reasons listed)

Jack Skater (not Slater as previously mentioned)

Kid Stealth (he's an icon)

Derek Montgomery (gumshoe much?)

Bloodwing aka Blackwing (THE elven hitman. Period.)

The Big D (why not?)

Archangel (Ice Queen in love...)

Harlequin (c'mon, he's cool)

Chance (first published Insect Shaman)

Alice Crenshaw (women can be cold killers too. even in 1989)

Posted by: Foreigner Dec 13 2005, 01:54 PM

Critias:

With all due respect, the role of "President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet" in The West Wing is played by Martin Sheen, not Donald Sutherland.

I think that you *might* have the families mixed up.

Everyone else: Please excuse me for this brief off-topic excursion.

I now return you to your regularly-scheduled Dumpshock Forums.

--Foreigner

Posted by: mintcar Dec 13 2005, 04:53 PM

I happen to like Harlequin as I imagined him after reading the first of his adventures, and some of his shadowtalk. That isn´t to say I like all accounts of him in the novels, or any of them actually. That he´s a bit out of fashion all the time is a good idea by his creators. It gives the GM a chance to make him seem wise when just speaking about bands of the -90´s or something, and it´s natural that someone with a long lifespan would not follow the sota fashion even if it´s one of the more "hip" old ones around.

Derek Montgomery is the best of the lead character´s in all of the SR novels.

and maybe the coolest one:

Alice. Living in her noir, celluloid city that´s a world of it´s own in the matrix, chain smoking virtual cigarettes, being a mysterious ghost in the machine and part of the most intruiging meta-plot—makes her no1.

That´s an honest of-the-top-of-my-head list of the ones that I remember thinking, "wow, that´s cool" when reading about.

Posted by: SL James Dec 13 2005, 10:17 PM

Posted by: Dog Dec 16 2005, 12:02 AM

Posted by: RunnerPaul Dec 16 2005, 12:30 AM

From the old SNES game: Kitsune

From an adventure: The Cat Troll from Missing Blood.

From a fiction section of a sourcebook: Lucifer

Posted by: Kremlin KOA Jan 26 2006, 09:03 PM

Posted by: winterhawk11 Jan 26 2006, 09:55 PM

Just to clarify, I'm not responsible for the quote attributed to me above, though I do agree with most of it.

Posted by: Robotech Master Jan 26 2006, 10:34 PM

I'm going with either Hatchetman or Damian Knight. I'm leaning towards Hatchetman due to his rather nice apperances in the sourcebooks, especialy Real Life and Cybertech.

Posted by: Grinder Jan 26 2006, 10:53 PM

What's up with Sally Tsung, btw?

Posted by: Kremlin KOA Jan 27 2006, 12:57 AM

Posted by: Kagetenshi Jan 27 2006, 01:06 AM

Skwaaark.

~J