I voted "other" on the grounds that it's more of an "any of the above" than "all of the above." An awesome character is mostly a matter of presentation.

I'd like to think what makes a character awesome is the choices that he makes and the way he deals with those choices. Yes Kratos is awesome for being strong and crazy, along with a myriad of other reasons, but I liked how, much like a Greek tragedy, he kills his wife and daughter without knowing and spends his life making up for it.
The nameless character from Bioshock goes through something similar, while not as "awesome" as Kratos he still evokes the same kind of emotion for me.

I guess I'm a sucker for tragic hero figures :P

Tatsumaru from Tenchu 2 and Wrath of Heaven.

His frontal stealth kill is a one hand lifting neck snap.

How can that not be awesome?

And in multiplayer combat, his combos just looked punishing.

Awesome characters in my opinion come from their presentation and dynamic nature. A badass gun-toting action hero can be just as awesome as a stick to the shadows cowardly rogue. Just so long as they react and learn from their journeys, and they're believable.

The immensive powers that they gain and then wield in either good or bad ways.

Persistance through tragedy and failure does it for me.

Depends on the character.

For example, Travis Touchdown is awesome because of his badass-ness. Or something. I can't really pin it.

Their Charisma is the main part of it.

A perfect example of this is Tidus from FFX. He was a powerful character but he was fucking irritating to no end and whined for the first 30 hours of the game.

Rikimaru from Tenchu, and Kakashi from Naruto are both awesome, as they both radiate charisma and have an enigmatic nature.

Final example is Marcus Fenix. He is probably one of the most badass video game characters yet I couldn't give a toss about him, and he could never beat Duke Nukem in terms of awesome.

Depth. People don't want a character to accompany you through a game if they never let you know about themselves.

Eggo:
Their flaws.

This.

*EDIT*

Indigo_Dingo:

4thegreatergood:
Depth. People don't want a character to accompany you through a game if they never let you know about themselves.

Explain Gordon Freeman, who has quite literally zero personality.

I was too busy being awed by the awesome of the game to care.

I would say the means that they use to accomplish something.
Like Alucard from Hellsing. He'll let all the enemies empty their guns on him and then he'll laugh as he heals himself and guns them down.
Or he'll summon gigantic hell hounds and devour his opponent while mocking them.
That's what makes a character bad ass in my eyes.
Not that a bad ass character is alwayws like this. Alucard just came to mind.

I like Albert Wesker from Resident Evil simply because he wants to control the planet and the way he does it.

other, script, writing, and voice talent. unless you're Gordon Freeman

4thegreatergood:
Depth. People don't want a character to accompany you through a game if they never let you know about themselves.

Agreed

leugim789:
other, script, writing, and voice talent. unless you're Gordon Freeman

Agreed. Just don't forget to reload!

realateability yea a char can be the most powerfull sexy beast in existance wont help him/her in my books if hes a prat

Indigo_Dingo:

4thegreatergood:
Depth. People don't want a character to accompany you through a game if they never let you know about themselves.

Explain Gordon Freeman, who has quite literally zero personality.

Well, players give Gordon his personality, I think. Haven't you ever watched Mind of Freeman on Youtube?

[Gavo]:
Depends on the character.

For example, Travis Touchdown is awesome because of his badass-ness. Or something. I can't really pin it.

He's awesome for his cheesiness and over-the-top-ness.

EvilJester1214:
I'd like to think what makes a character awesome is the choices that he makes and the way he deals with those choices. Yes Kratos is awesome for being strong and crazy, along with a myriad of other reasons, but I liked how, much like a Greek tragedy, he kills his wife and daughter without knowing and spends his life making up for it.
The nameless character from Bioshock goes through something similar, while not as "awesome" as Kratos he still evokes the same kind of emotion for me.

I guess I'm a sucker for tragic hero figures :P

You sir are the most intelligent man ever. for the record, almost all the characters in tales of Symphonia fit one or more of those qualities; Collete is easily the bravest of them all, Raine, Kratos, and Genis are all hyper intelligent, Kratos, Zelos, and Regal are immensely powerful, all the characters have the best motive for them to face the final boss, Zelos is supposed to be extremely handsome, Kratos and Regal are two of the most accomplished people in the game world, and Kratos is basically just an all around bad ass. Well its decided, A character is awesome if they were in Tales of Symphonia, that clears that up.

Flaws, depth, and a talented voice actor.

silentsentinel:

[Gavo]:
Depends on the character.

For example, Travis Touchdown is awesome because of his badass-ness. Or something. I can't really pin it.

He's awesome for his cheesiness and over-the-top-ness.

That's it. Over-the-topness.

geldonyetich:
I voted "other" on the grounds that it's more of an "any of the above" than "all of the above." An awesome character is mostly a matter of presentation.

I agree, charater and have all of those traites listed but one one would liek them unless they were presented well.

how else did i end up with five snuggies

black lincon:
Well its decided, A character is awesome if they were in Tales of Symphonia, that clears that up.

Best answer ever.

TorturedHylianSoul:

black lincon:
Well its decided, A character is awesome if they were in Tales of Symphonia, that clears that up.

Best answer ever.

wait, let me amend that, they are awesome if they were in the first tales, if you try to make Marta or Emil awesome by themselves they just fail miserably.

black lincon:

TorturedHylianSoul:

black lincon:
Well its decided, A character is awesome if they were in Tales of Symphonia, that clears that up.

Best answer ever.

wait, let me amend that, they are awesome if they were in the first tales, if you try to make Marta or Emil awesome by themselves they just fail miserably.

True, true.

A beard and a terrible habit of getting lost in cleavage.

I think Snake from the MGS series is awesome! He's so awesome that they had to use a clone of him to kill him! That's bad ass. Plus he smokes and is manly. So I'm going to go with badassness.

An awesome character is this:
Take Cole from Gears of War,combine that with Gordon Freeman,now Cross bread that spawn with Duke Nukem, throw in some Chuck Norris, and then feed it some PC from Fallout 3, and you get,basically the awesomest, character, ever.

something original

i don't know something that can survive if necessary more than 3 squeals hmmm crap it'll/he'll/she'll never exist...

Indigo_Dingo:

4thegreatergood:
Depth. People don't want a character to accompany you through a game if they never let you know about themselves.

Explain Gordon Freeman, who has quite literally zero personality.

Never played Half Life.