My favorite is Mr. Dark. I like mostly everyone doesn't even know that he is a villian and the carnival is wicked. Especially the scene where the Witch is about to die and you have about 50 people witnessing the whole thing and not one of them notices the exchange of words between him and the witch.

So far (I've only begun to scratch the surface of his writings) it must be Douglas Spaulding.

I grew up in a small town in Ohio (during the 1980's). And even though it was 60 years after the time period in which 'Dandelion Wine' takes place (however there wasn't alot of difference between my hometown in the 80's and Green Town in the 20's) I related very much with Douglas. Particularly the relationship with his Grandparents, and picking berries. I swear I lived some of the pages in that book word for word.

Obviously, by my user name, I have always been impressed with Mr. Dark. I'm not sure, however, that he is my favorite character in the book (Something Wicked This Way Comes).

I think I like Mr. Halloway. To me he represents an "ideal" character for Bradbury. He is kind, loving, intellectual without arrogance, self-sacrificing for others; yet, with real weaknesses and plagued with regret and self-doubt. He is the one who figures out that conquering Mr. Dark/evil is a matter of laughter. It is a lightness of spirit that allows us to deal with the "stuff" of life. I think that his goodness is simple and real. I was actually moved, as a person, when I first read of his faith in the boys' claims and in his efforts -- in spite of self-doubt and poor health -- to save "his" boys. I also like how he "adopted" Jim as his own son. He was a genuinely good guy, but kept real by very real and believable weaknesses. Even in high school I was moved by his fatherly kindness and love.

In my mind, Mr. Halloway is one of the most concrete characters in all of Bradbury's writings.

[This message has been edited by Mr. Dark (edited 06-15-2002).]

So many characters to choose from...still gotta go with Douglas Spaulding.

Uncle Einar
Aunt Tildy ("There Was an Old Woman")
Mrs K ("Ylla")
Any/all of the Irish characters
Just about ever character in DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS

These are just a few favourites, but there are so many memorable characters!

Favorite Character, that's a really tough one! Here are a few based on lingering qualities or memorable effects over many years and re-readings enjoyed.

Douglas, Tom (John Huff, Col. Freeleigh, & Mr. Jonas - though secondary characters) from DW.
Spender and the Martians in MC.
All those great Irishmen in the pubs of GSWW.
Mr. Bodoni in "The Rocket".
The Monsters in "Fog Horn" & "Sound of Thunder".
Cecy in "April Witch" & FTDR.
Montag, of course, in F451.
Fr. Peregrine in "Fire-Balloons".
The friends in Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (Vamenos, Wow!).

I may revisit this "Q" after some further thought. So MANY stories!

While listening to stories written by Ray Bradbury I have to say that when he brings them to life with his own characteristic prose, and vocal presentation. He becomes the most vital active incarnation of his own characters while reading a story. It is a treat to listen to him tell his own stories, like on an old radio show.
But if I were to name one of the many characters that have as a favorite it would be the young man that cures melancholy in the Medicine for Melancholy. And of course
an old bat, Einar the uncle. Or Jack.

[This message has been edited by uncle (edited 07-09-2002).]

Constance Rattigan, who appears in both of the 1980s detective novels, is the most convincing and engaging character I came across in Bradbury's work, at least in the more or less conventional work.

Or what about Beatty, Montag's boss in Fahrenheit 451? There's a fascinating duality about his character. He spouts poetry even as he leads the witch-hunt against books and literature.

What about the lovable Big poe from "the big black and white game?"

refering to mr. dark's reply,
I read an interview that Ray Bradbury did after the release of the film version of Something Wicked this way Comes where he says that several years after writing the book, he realized how closely Charles Halloway was based on his own father. I agree that Mr. Halloway is a wonderful character, especially in how his character's imaginative vigor and love for his son are mixed with a sadness, and a preoccupation with his own advancing age and mortality. In addition to being one of the most interesting Bradbury characters I can think of, he is also easily one of the most real.
Some other favorites would have to include Grampa Spaulding from Dandelion Wine (for that matter, this particular book is full of fascinating minor characters, Mrs. Loomis, Col. Freeleigh among many others), Spenser, from the Martian Chronicles, and Cpt. Beatty, from F451.

I'd have to say Cecy from the short story "The April Witch" and "From the Dust Returned" has alwways been my favorite. She is so unusual, so lucky with her talent, and yet she must suffer such incredible loneliness. I wish Ray had written more about this particularly fascinating character. That said, I love Clarisse as well. I think she's by far the most interesting character, probably because I resemble her so

I think another character that I felt was very rich and real was "Mr. Charles Underhill" in "The Playground". He is a guy struggling with bad memories of his childhood, the loss of his wife, and his fears of what his son will have to go through. Eventually, after much soul-searching, he trades places with his son in the playground. Rather than being redeemed, however, he finds he is in hell.

The soul-searching, like that of Halloway in "Something Wicked This Way Comes" is very real. It seems almost out of place in the sci-fi genre. This passage, from "The Playground" captures the ambiguity that Underhill (again, like Halloway) deals with:

"Underhill walked in the midnight rooms of his house thinking of all this, of himself, of the son, the Playground, the fear: there was no part of it he did not touch and turn over with his mind. How much, he asked himself, how much of this is being alone, how much due to Ann's dying, how much to my need, and how much is the reality of the Playground itself, and the children? How much rational and how much nonsense? He twitched the delicate weights upon the scale and watched the indicator glide and fix and glide again, back and forth, softly, between midnight and dawn, between black and white, between raw sanity and naked insanity. He should not hold so tight, he should let his hands drop away form the boy . . . No, the thought, walking slowly in the hall, there seems to be nothing I can do except go on being afraid and being afraid of being afraid."

His confusion is almost dizzying. The scale, where the weight is never quite stable, represents his mind's inability to fix and stabilize. He constantly goes back and forth and second-guesses his motives. He is afraid. He is captured in the world of ambiguity. Where is the line between rationality and nonsense? This fear causes him to hold too tight to things . . . to obssess over things. The use of "should" seems to indicate an internal conflict between what he feels and how he copes and what he "should" feel and how he "should" cope. There is, again, this gap between perception and reality, and his inability to get a firm grip on anything.

Like many of Hawthorne's short stories (see especially, "The Birthmark", "The Minister's Black Veil", "Rappicinni's Daughter" and "Young Goodman Brown"), Bradbury -- through the character of Underhill -- deals directly with issues involving obsession, doubt, fear, and ambiguity.

This guy is one of my favorite Bradbury characters -- not because he's a great guy or not a great guy -- but because Bradbury has developed and described him so richly. In a short story, Underhill carries a lot of emotion.

I love Ricardo from "Sun and Shadow." Reading the story, in 1985, I cheered him on as he waged a battle against glamorized consumerism. This year, I laughed with my eight-year-old daughter as he dropped his pants when the photographer snapped his picture of a model posing before Ricardo's dilapitated home.

Because of my screen name, it should go without saying that Jim Nightshade is among my favorite characters. He seems more realistic than Will Holloway, who is evidently more idealistic. Jim is the curious sightseerer of us all, a personification of our baser instincts. To an extent, I see myself the same way: Always questioning authority and what has been set before us for ad infinitum.

Which leads me to my next rumination: I wonder how much of Bradbury is invested in his characters ... What percent of Ray is Mr. Dark, for instance, and what percentage of Charles Holloway, Jim and Will, and Spender from The Martian Chronicles, for that matter? I strongly believe writers invest bits and pieces of themselves in their characters; the question is how much and which characters ...?

[This message has been edited by Nightshade (edited 09-24-2002).]

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[This message has been edited by grasstains (edited 03-10-2006).]

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Damn spam!