So, I thought an interesting thread would be one where people discuss which character or characters they think they share traits with.
Personally, I think I am somewhat like a mix of Shirou, Rider and, if I'm honest, a bit of Shinji. I have Shirou's idealism, desire to do the right thing, willingness to fight for what I believe in and complete lack of any concept of "giving up". But, I'm also loyal and protective of my friends like Rider, and I have her total disregard for rules or limits when it comes to doing something she wants to do. Plus, obviously, I have her sexual sadism (although in my case it's not something I can see me ever acting on without consent) and, also, her shyness around people I don't really know that well. I'm also like Rider in that I'm nice to people who are nice to me or who I care about, but nasty to people who fuck me over, although I don't take it to anything like the extent she does.
And, honestly, I'm somewhat like Shinji might have been if he wasn't obsessed with being something he can never be. I'm not a bad person, at all, but if someone crosses me I can be extremely vengeful, and I can also sometimes be a bit selfish and inconsiderate of other people even when I do mean well. In the right situation I can be very nice and helpful, but if you put me up against the wall and trample on me I will fight back, even if that means hurting people who don't deserve to be hurt. I am not someone who gives up on something even when I can't win. But, at the same time, I am a complete coward in some ways. I will fight hard, but if I really believe I am in danger, especially physical danger, I will run like hell.
I also think I'm somewhere in between Rider and Shirou in terms of my trust in people, although possibly Archer would be a better comparison there, due to the way he's developed over time. I naturally do tend to be very trusting of people and willing to believe that they're mostly well-intentioned, but I've been bitten so many times as a result of this (Altima is just the most recent example, although it's the one that has hit me the hardest) that I am starting to become very cynical and find it hard to trust people even when I perhaps should. Perhaps that's just a natural progression for someone very trusting, especially when they lack social skills (I've heard people argue that Shirou has Asperger's before, although I find that somewhat questionable). When you fail to judge who you can and can't trust consistently (or, worse, as I did, recognise intellectually that you can't trust someone and yet still give them the benefit of the doubt, as I did with Altima towards the end), you end up trusting no-one. I think that is one of the things that differentiates Shirou from Archer and, honestly, I think Rider's lack of trust in people was learned in a similar way.
So, what do you guys think? Which characters do you most resemble, personality-wise?