1. Kai Shiden from Mobile Suit Gundam (and, to an extent, Zeta)
2. For one thing, side character...most of the time, I find the side characters more interesting than the main protagonist. That said, also found Kai pretty interesting because, out of all the characters, he was probably the one it initially took the longest to get used to in the first place. The beginning of the series, he was a total smartass. A whiner, a coward, a slacker, and prettymuch only fighting to save his own hide. As the series progressed, however, he finally started to grow up (albeit at a bit of a high price, but that's for #4 to explain.) Once he finally started realizing the other crew were also just trying to keep alive as well, he stopped trying to be such a thorn in the side and made an active effort to pitch in as well (actually becoming a pretty formidable pilot as a result.)
4. The Atlantic Ocean eps with Miharu were easily the strongest point in the series for him. It was his brief time with her that caused him to grow up
that got him to start fighting harder (to try and prevent the war from forcing anyone else into the position she was in.)spoiler wrote:(after seeing her sacrifice herself to protect the ship that she had been assigned to spy on.)
