okay this is going to be really long LOL so please forgive me, I think my fave tropes/archetypes are a little varied and I’m not the best at categorizing but there are commonalities haha, since I'm not sure who asked this question, I'll go ahead and put the series name in parentheses for each character I bring up since I know not everyone may be familiar with the franchises!

The short answer is that I like characters that I find cute and I often enjoy some form of tragedy that is part of their background. I also like characters that emotionally move me. Can’t really think of specific archetype names…

Long answer: In a broad sense I'm mainly drawn towards "cute" characters with "tragic" backstories... You could fit Riquet (Mahoyaku) in that kind of category I would say... which would then bring in another particularly specific archetype of "young boys with religious background and trauma" which would then point to another character I really love which would be Orlok (Piofoire). if you were mutuals with me on main anytime before mid 2022, you would've seen me talk a lot about him and otome in general!. I actually think they're a bit similar (in background) given the fact that both grew up in church and were heavily influenced by some religious figure which affected their perception of life/self/others and whatnot, but I think they have their differences as well (given the difference in occupation that both of them have lol). I will say I have yet to play the sequel game to Piofiore so there is still quite a bit I'm missing in terms of backstory for Orlok... but I wholeheartedly believe that if you like Riquet, you would like Orlok (theory proven true with sample size of 2--me and another jp orlok fan/artist) You could also put Tokisada (Olympia Soiree) on this list LOL... so that's one very specific archetype that I seem to like! Not exactly sure how that came to be

If we want to look just at "cute" outside of physical youthfulness, this would point towards Natsuki (Utapri), who I think fits the term a lot! He's Really Tall, like 6'2 or something, prob in his mid-late 20s (forgive me I can't remember canon fdsjhfjf) and has a little more meat to him, so comparatively different from previous characters mentioned who are on the younger, shorter and/or on the lankier side. I think Natsuki is particularly cute with his behaviors/speech/etc, but ofc that's not all he is! Cuteness is a trait that stands out a lot in him to me and I think that cuteness I see in him comes from his kindness and how he speaks... which brings me to Tonbokiri (Touken Ranbu)! A character that is Buff(er) and Large(r) as well and... I don't know if cute would be the word that people would describe him from just visuals alone? Visually, he’s a character that I wouldn’t be as into as my usual faves (see above), but he caught my eye quite a bit in Katsugeki through his interactions with others! He came off as very caring/polite when not in battle (which he's then very cool!!!), and although my exposure to his character is still limited to anime/game knowledge (haven't really seen him in the musicals except for utaawase, which his konpeito segment was really funny and memorable LOL, but who knows! I’m curious how he’s portrayed in the myus where he’s part of the formation… at least from live concerts he’s also charismatic to me), it's his kindness that I've seen that has me label him as "cute" LOL, oh!! gentle giants I forgot that's a term!! Well in that case I could argue that Natsuki and Tonbokiri are both "gentle giants" archetypes, which I find cute! Another honorable mention is Ugo (Magi)... I think what I consider "cute" is kinda skewed as I would imagine people view some of these characters differently from me haha (Hot? Sexy? I don’t often think of/use those terms really…) I’m not super into paralive but I do want to listen to more of the drama cds, but I would put Simon in this list too… just from the very little I know of him…

Now, Yagen (Touken Ranbu) is a character I consider "cute" too, but I think my view of him is more so "cool" than "cute", or At Least in equal parts... I find him more charismatic than most swords I like and I think that comes from his overall design + personality? Yagen to me… he’s level-headed? Aloof? Caring? I’ve seen him in both games, Hanamaru, Katsugeki, Kyoden (both the anime and the stage play) and I think there’s different aspects of him to be seen in each… I think also the fact that he’s so petite with a deep voice and serious(?) personality is like wow!!!!! I can’t lie the leg appeal also gets to me real bad LMFAO… strong loyalty too, I like his lines with the saniwa very much… I think the history behind him is fascinating and I’m not gonna get into that level of detail but I just really like him! 𝑩𝑰𝑮 𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬 I actually find it hard to talk a lot about him (and Riquet) bc I have fears of not understanding them as much as I think I do/suck as picking the right words dhgshsf but that’s beside the point… anyway, I would put Shirayuki (Snow White with the Red Hair) on this list because although she’s quite different from Yagen, I think it’s how she carries herself that I think she’s so cool at times… Also, she’s working to be a court herbalist iirc and I think I also tend to really like characters who have a knack for plants/poisons/medicines… so maybe a category specific to this sort thing would be appropriate… not sure what I’d call it, but other honorable mentions would be Hakase (Hashihime)... maybe I could slide in Asuku (Nie no Machi) here too… AHHH MILO (Sabikui Bisco) TOO I LOVE MILO (and I love Bisco but he’s like an outlier in my usuals). They are all cute. To me.

Outside of “cuteness” and focusing on “tragedy” brings me to Nero and Faust (Mahoyaku) who are other characters I really love (individually/together/with others) but I don’t exactly describe them as “cute” (well, I think they are cute, but my reason for liking them isn’t exactly that). What I often seek out of the art and stories I engage with is to be met with a strong emotional response… does that make sense? There’s probably a deeper reason in the back of my head that I’m not going to touch on, but I love being moved and/or relate to things to the point of tears haha… And tragedy doesn’t have to be like, Super Major Trauma. If there are things that occurred in a character’s past that has changed the way they approach life, and then are met with someone or something that challenges those perceptions or whatnot, I think it’s lovely. I like connections. I like love, any kind of love. I like seeing what different relationships are like and how characters influence each other… I’m getting a bit sidetracked here haha…

Oh right!! I really like twins in media but that’s like, its own thing if that makes sense LOL, like think idolish7: I love Riku and Tenn when talking about them together and I even have an ita bag for them (I like them individually for different reasons), but if you were to ask me who my favorite (1) character from the series is, I would probably answer Iori or Gaku… Same thing with paralive, I like cozmez a lot, but I actually think my favorite character might be from the cat’s whiskers! Still gotta listen to the drama cds aaahhhh1!!!!

Uhhhh I hope this made sense! I kinda went everywhere but I have types that are obvious when you put characters together… I should probably make like a grouping thing w/ pictures at some point so that you can get a better understanding of what I like…