#RPGaDay2023 - Day 8 - Favorite Character

Day 8 of #RPGaDay2023. 

For each day I'll be answering the question provided, and for fun, review how I answered a similar question during #RPGaDay a decade ago.  Scout's Honor, I have not peeked at the older answer.

Day 8's prompt is "Favorite Character"

As the usual full-time GM, I don't get much time for personal PCs.  Heck, since #RPGaDay started ten years ago, I've had a whopping one, singular character in a long-term game,  Falgor the Mighty for 5e.  

I was going to cover one Player Character that's graced my campaign, plus one NPC that I love the most, but there were some close calls, so I'll take things in a completely different direction.

My Favorite Character is Steve, my college roommate and long time (25 years) player in my games.   Love 'em or hate 'em, the characters he creates are beyond memorable and always influenced the campaigns. 

• Echelon - a generic inland cleric of a Chinese sea god, whose Dr Doolittle approach tweaked dungeon logistics, and somehow earned him a barony.
• Ozark - a venerable half-orc cleric who maxed out at 4th level 45 years earlier.
• "Ambassador-General" Fonzie Schleprock - A gnome-titan charlatan more than a true warrior, who convinced the other party members he was in charge of the resistance during the Master's invasion of Akorros... as a 1st level fighter.
• Professor Stephen O'Hara - a Call of Cthulhu investigator who couldn't ride a motorcycle down a straight road, but raised his skills in Physics and Mechanical Repair to 90%+ through legit skill use and skill advances.  
• Hugo Swam'Pas - a rural hedge mage whose manipulation of the other party members makes him better suited for Ars Magica than Red Box D&D.
•  Ne'vets Aharo, who set the tone for our Star Wars d6 campaign by being an exotic animal dealer throughout the galaxy.  

• His latest character, Squiggles for Gamma World 4th Edition, is a Mutant worm (arms/legs, about 4 foot tall), who completed the first character arc in the campaign, by finding another mutant worm and mating.   We've learned more about entomology during this campaign than any of us had forgotten from high school and college.  
• I also nearly forgot Keith Stone, spokesman for Keystone Lite (It was a real thing in TV, honest), just a community college version of him for my Illuminati University game. 

Ten Years Ago Today: I did cover a top 3 character list way back when, but even then, the newest character was 10 years old, and eldest was 20, so it makes sense they slipped my mind now.