It can be any characters. Cartoon, game, reality TV… Whatever. Who do you love to see? Who is the most influential? It can be from any generation.
Edit: I should mention this is for a project… of sorts.
Way too many to list but here’s a few:
Angeal, Zach, and Cloud(Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core), Lord Canti, Atomsk(FLCL), Laharl(Disgaea), Ein, Edward(Cowboy Bebop), Death the Kid(Soul Eater), Liger Zero(Zoids), the Elric brothers(Fullmetal Alchemist), the Iron Giant(Iron Giant), Snake(Metal Gear Solid)
…oh! and Magicarp(Pokemon)
If I had to choose one it would have to be Zach from Final Fantasy Crisis Core since he taught me what it takes to be a hero.
Edit: Decided to tell what show characters are from.
Oh lordy, there are a lot to choose from! Off the top of my head: Holly Golightly (Breakfast At Tiffany’s), Arya Stark (GoT series), Thursday Next (The Eyre Affair), Samantha Carter (Stargate SG-1), Yoda (Star Wars series), Darth Vader (Star Wars series), Humbert Humbert (Lolita), Atticus Finch (To Kill A Mockingbird), Leopold Bloom (Ulysses), Severus Snape (Harry Potter series), Lara Croft (Tomb Raider series), Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, Vaas Montenegro (Far Cry 3), Dom Santiago (Gears of Wars series), Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7), Rinoa (Final Fantasy 8), Glados (Portal series), Professor Layton (Professor Layton series), and every single kooky character from the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series.
Of all of them, I find Darth Vader’s story to be the most compelling. Always enjoy a story of rise, fall and eventual redemption. As far as influential characters go, it’s hard to go past the heroic righteousness of Atticus Finch in standing up for what he believed in. Probably the best role model to come from literature.
Yuki
Shiroe (log horizon), eren Jaeger (attack on titan) Monkey D. Luffy ( one piece ) sonic the hedghog , kid Icarus , eragon, Brock ( Pokémon ) Yoda , Red ( Shawshank ), Avatar aang and sokka
-Dylan
I have no idea what these pictures are so it won’t be of much use to me without names or, at least, what they are from.
Yusss!
Ma’iq the Liar (Skyrim)
Astrid (also skyrim)
Captain Tight Pants (Firefly)
Jane (Firefly)
Josh (Drake and Josh, I actually used to love that show)
Tin Tin (Comics, yes I have some from the 60’s, mint) 
Dirt Bag Yeti!
Thanks for the comments guys! Keep 'em coming. Let’s hear some more influential (on a wider scale).
Heck yes! I love Adam Baldwin’s character in Chuck as well. Essentially CIA Jayne XD
Yuki
Weird, I never thought Jayne was that great of a character. He was the most 2-dimensional of all the main 9 on the ship, but was still quite dynamic. I think my favorite character on the show was river. Also, shepherd was great. Come to think of it, there wasn’t even a bad supporting character.
Favorite characters:
River (firefly)
Shepherd (firefly)
Darth vader
C3PO and R2D2
Geralt of Rivia (the witcher video games)
Ioroveth (also the witcher)
Neo (the matrix)
Samwise Gamgee (lotr)
Gollum (also lotr)
Glados (portal)
Too many favourite characters, but let’s go for a truly influential one: Taran from the Chronicles of Prydain series. You really grew with that character and learned what a true hero is. And if you’re like me, you wanted to be like that.
Trevor Phillips GTA5
Hari Seldon.
Pikachu
Bart Simpson
Gru (Despicable Me)
Elsa and Olaf (Frozen)
Garfield (Garfield: The Movie)
Dirtbag Yeti (YYE)
Katniss, Peeta, and Effie (Hunger Games)
Dan Cahill (The 39 Clues)
Percy Jackson and Grover (Percy Jackson)
Tons more. When I think of them, I will post them.
Walter White (breaking bad)
Wikus Van De Werwe (district 9)
Favorite tv show and movie