Kouji Kabuto from Mazinger-Z. He stood out back in the day because he was completely atypical: he was a hot-headed, temperamental, loud, disrespectful and often annoying and jerkass delinquent. Still he always risked his life for another people and he never gave up, not even when he knew that everything was lost. In one word, he was the template for most shonen characters since.
Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star. In many respects he is the opposite to Kouji. He is an extremely nice, kind, compassionate, emotinal and respectful person who is not afraid of showing his tears when he is sad... and he does not need a giant robot to turn someone into a bloody pulp. He lives in a post-apocalyptic hell-hole where everything is screaming at you "be a selfish kitten. People who are nice get killed", but he refuses giving in. Instead of it he tries to be a hero and protect the weak and helpless. It takes a very courageous and especial kind of person to retain your humanity in those circumstances. And he is an utter badass.
Ryo Saeba from City Hunter. He... is so fun! Most of time he seems an useless idiot that never takes anything seriously and a lecher whose brain stops to work as soon as he sees a beautiful woman... and then he gets serious and nobody is capable to defeat him in a fight. The shift between brainless lecherous moron that never takes anything seriously and hardened hitman/private eye that never misses a mark is so quick and jarring that you would believe they are different people. Moreover, throughout the series you have hints of his past... and when you finally have the whole puzzle you can not help to be sorry for him and respect him. It is amazing that someone that has been through so many stuff since he was three-years-old can carefree and look so happy-go-lucky.
Ken/Mark the Eagle from Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets/G-Force/Eagle Riders. I like Mark because often I like leader type characters, and Mark was an excellent leader (calm, quick-thinking, strategist) and a great fighter. At the same time maybe he was the character that evolved the most throughtout the series. At the beginning he was a teenager that still missed his parents but he had used to it. However the tragedies and loses that he lives through the series and its sequels affect him badly until he has become a bunch of self-destructive and rash fury, and he needs the help of his friends to recover.
