Well, I put less effort into the male list. Female list took a bit of thinking and consulting "what I've read/watched" lists to remind me of what was out there. Male came pretty quickly (shaped by the same lists), but I recognized increasing emotional ambiguity, and decided to mention that and abort rather than thinking more about whether Morrolan qualified. Or the Doctor himself -- sure he's (sometimes) awesome, but that feels less impressive than Leela, maybe because he's supposed to be and she's not necessarily. And why Elaine and Johanna but not John Constantine or Lucifer? Run away!

Though for a guy, I am rather female-oriented in what I think of as my favorite characters, or in favorite series. I puzzled Jo Walton once by saying I identified with Jame.

Well, favorite anime series (12K/Scrapped/Crest), anyway. Most re-read authors are Bujold, Brust, Pratchett, McKinley, and Hodgell, and only two of those is female-dominant, though they've all got plenty of good female characters. But 3/5 female authors!

I almost listed Damiano, which I first read by finding Raphael at the public library as a kid. "Hey, it's my middle name. Hey, it's got someone with almost my first name."