Great characters make great stories: Who are your favorite characters in SF?

[Fumesucker]

It's hard to write a great story without great characters, all the books that I recall really enjoying have had really memorable characters.

In no particular order here are a few of mine, followed by the author who created the character.

Miles Vorkosigan, Lois McMaster Bujold

Lazarus Long, RA Heinlein

Pham Nuwen, Vernor Vinge

Dominic Flandry, Poul Anderson

Diziet Sma, Ian M Banks

Bobby Shaftoe, Neal Stephenson

Barlennan, Hal Clement

Carrot Ironfoundersson, Terry Pratchett

Louis Wu, Larry Niven

Bink, Piers Anthony

Gwendolyn Ingolfsson, SM Stirling


What characters do you find compelling in SF?