We've had several threads for favorite fanfiction versions of Harry in the past. This one is for all the other characters. Ideally, the characterization would be logical and wouldn't deviate inexplicably from canon. With that in mind:

Dumbledore: My favorite Dumbledore is the one from A Long Journey Home. Characterizing Dumbledore is hard enough, and writing from his POV is even harder, but this fic hit all the right notes.

Shezza's Dumbledore is excellent too. Highly competent, eccentric, slightly manipulative but ultimately good, this is the best Dumbledore characterization there exists. Also, it was written at a time when Manipulative and incompetent Dumbledore was the accepted norm, which makes it all the more impressive.

Voldemort: Prince of the Dark Kingdom. Psychopath Mentor Voldemort is the best Voldemort. I really like his relationship with Harry, erotic undertones and all.

On the antagonist side, Tom Riddle in The Very Secret Diary is flat out terrifying.

Ron: After the End has the best Ron. Ron is snarky and insecure, jealous and loyal, all at once, and perfectly true to his canon self. My favorite version of one of my favorite characters.

Hermione: I'm torn between Applied Cultural Anthropology and Forging the Sword. ACL has better character development, but some aspects of her personality (like her attitude to House Elves) feel contrived.

Snape: Prince of the Dark Kingdom. He's a tad less bitter than canon, but he's still a selfish bastard, and a Death Eater as well.

Draco: After the End. Draco here is the perfect mixture of arrogance, cowardliness and cunning, and he feels completely true to his canon self. Antagonists with human motivations and emotions generally make for more interesting antagonists than total psychopaths, and Draco is my favorite antagonist when done right.

Sirius: I'll go with Dark Kingdom again. I dislike those whitewashed playboy versions of Sirius that Black Comedy started. Sirius was hardly the most stable person even before Azkaban, and I like fics that don't downplay that edge in him. Also, Werewolf pack leader Sirius is the best.

Ginny: Ginny in The Changeling is probably my favorite fanfiction character ever alongside OtWtG Harry. The character development is masterful, and it works entirely within canon framework while still making a believable Slytherin version of Ginny.

Luna: Luna is best in secondary roles. I feel she kinda loses her charm if written as a main character. I'll go with On the Way to Greatness, which has my favorite Luna quote: "I'm saying that belief is very important for wizards. And you, Harry, are a miracle. It's easy to believe in you, if you allow it."

Neville: Hogwarts Houses Divided has post canon Neville as the Hogwarts Herbalogy professor. He is believably grown up and mature, and his interactions with Teddy are really well done.

Fleur: Nothing really stands out. Dark Kingdom, perhaps? She was pretty likable in that fic.

Moody: The Phoenix and the Serpent. He's exactly as I imagine him to be.

Pansy from Back to the Garden. One of the few fics where she's a sympathetic character and still hates muggleborns.

Fred and George from On the Way to Greatness. It actually expands their characters beyond comic relief good guys.

Which are your favorite fanfic versions of canon characters?

 

Enembee's sorting hat is best sorting hat - definitely the hidden canon characterisation J.K. Never got the time to show us.

Truthfully, I haven't got too many off the top of my head but I agree with, allowing for progressive changes, applied cultural anthropology's Hermione is great.

I'm a big fan of Taure's Dumbledore in In Essence Divided. I remember reading the sections of him in France and thinking: 'yup'.

 

I'm very fond of Snape's characterization in Renegade Cause, as I feel it takes him in a unique and interesting direction.

Spoiler

By having him get over Lily, and thus abandon the fight altogether.

 

I disagree that it needs to be canonical. Go wild if you want to, as long as it makes sense within your story. But maybe that's just me. I'm not against it, but I never got the wank over keeping things as close to canon as possible at all times.

As with my favorite Harry, of which there are several, I can't really just point to one version of a character and say that one's the best.

Dumbledore:

Dumbledore is frustrating because there's a steep learning curve to writing the quirky mentor. Everyone knows what building blocks you need, but stacking them is tough. RC, ABC have a great Dumbledore. There's also a oneshot that I can't remember the name of, that has Dumbledore turn someone into a bird and send them with a message, I think. Grindelwald, maybe.

Voldemort:

POTDK is the undisputed king. RC, Stranger in Unholy Land, ABC, are great examples too.

Ginny:

Two things come to mind here. Cassandra Clare's Draco Trilogy (yes, we all knows its faults, but among all the plagiarism, it had some solid aspects)

Spoiler

has Ginny slowly unravel mentally because of Voldemort before she pulls herself back together.

Another version of Ginny I liked (and another, I predict, unpopular choice) is in Marquis Black's Emperor.

Sirius::

I like my Sirius crispy and well done. I don't want him to be a whining pansy if it's post-Azkaban Sirius. POTDK's Sirius is unique. Emperor's politician!Sirius is something I haven't seen done better anywhere else and I like him. My favorite fanfiction Sirius though is Silens' from RC. He's the right blend of funny and badass, with the emphasis on badassery.

Spoiler

When he Fiendfyres the Daily Prophet offices and casually wipes the floor with Kemester in the middle of the inferno, my face was threatening to split because of my Heath Ledger smile.

Snape:

I echo Stan's points about POTDK and Qqqqqqq's about RC.

Draco:

My favorite would be in RC.

Honorable mention for jbern's Sorting Hat.

 

ScottPress, the important words in Stan's quote are "logical" and "inexplicably". That is to say, it's fine to move from canon, but it shouldn't happen upon a whim.

 

I believe you are thinking of The Last Straw.

One of my personal favorite Dumbledore characterizations is in Taure's fic: The One He Feared. Pretty spot on as far as to how I imagined Dumbledore's character to be.

 

ScottPress : what is this ABC you speak of?

 

A Black Comedy.

 

Yeah, that's the one.

 

Sirius -- Circular Reasoning

 

Cormac McLaggen: Whatever Happened to Bromance Cormac is such a bro in this one.

 

Haha! That's the fic that got me liking Cormac.

 

Bellatrix Lestrange - Only Enemies by Leave This World.

By far the best Bellatrix that doesn't completely overturn her character.

 

Dumbledore: As difficult as he may be for some to write, there're a goodly number of authors on here who nail all the nuances of his character pretty well. Shezza probably wrote the most definitive version as far as I'm concerned, but I've particularly enjoyed Taure's version in Alexandra Potter, Swimdraconian's in Circular Reasoning and couple more others that skip my mind at the moment.

Voldemort: Another character who can be easily mis-characterized, but I think the version I'm most ever enjoyed in Silens Cursor's in Renegade Cause and the seemingly abandoned sequel Criminal Limit. He just oozes sophistication - I have no trouble believing he's this charismatic, well-spoken, intelligent sociopath.

Dolohov: It's maybe a tie between Silens' in Renegade Cause and VotN's in Elizium for Sleepless Souls. I especially like that for such an essentially blank slate, both authors breathed life into him, and made him this memorably sinister guy you do not want to cross. CheddarTrek also puts in a shout with her creepy, creepy rendition in her newest work in HPWbA.

Shacklebolt: Again Silens's version in RC is the one that jumps to mind.

Luna Lovegood: Yet another character who can be tough to nail, but of the top of my head I think Joe writes a pretty good one in The Arbiter's Vault I think it's titled.

 

Time to resurrect this thread.

Hermione: Likely the AU!Hermione in the "Voldemort won" world in Shadow Walks. She's resourceful, she's brilliant, she's heartbreakingly jaded, and yet she still retains a glimmer of hope.

Ron: By far Ron El Greco. I love him in that fic. He's so human and funny and clever and wonderful there. Bonus feature - it's epilogue compliant too!

Ginny: The Changeling, hands down. Extraordinary fleshing out of Ginny (something that didn't exactly happen in canon).

 

I won't say it's the most well written, but in terms of story element and development I still enjoy Jberns Voldemorts character in To Fight the Coming Darkness.

 

The best characterization of Draco I have seen comes from HP and the fifth element. Very realistic portrayal of a desperate teen trying to free his father from Azkaban and using his intelligence to kidnap HP.

 

I love how no one so far has said their favourite characterisation of Harry.

I think the main reason for that is that in canon, Harry's personality deviates so much depending on the situation. He's meek in font of the Dursleys but brave in front of Death Eaters. He's smart in Primary school and DADA but above average in his other magical studies. I could listothr examples butt hat's not the point of this thread.

I'm gonna cheat and say my favourite characterisation of everyone (except Harry) is Santi's Harry Potter and the Boy Who Lived. Exlcuding Harry, everyone (except for perhaps Snape) is in character and I've found no flaws as well.

 

Harry is never meek in front of the Dursleys. He's always at his snarky best when dealing with them. Also, the reason no one's mentioned Harry is because there already have been several threads about it in the past.

Aekiel I personally prefer Bellatrix from Control, though Only Enemies is pretty good too.

Some other characters:

Best Molly and Percy from Backward with Purpose.

Best Lily Evans from Fool Me Twice.

Best Albus Potter from BWP II, best Rose Weasley from Clash. Lily Luna from Scorpius Malfoy and the Improbable Plot is absolutely hilarious.

 

I can't actually remember Harry talking back to Vernon but I'll take your word for it.

Also, can we really talk about characterisations for the next generation? They were only in one scene. If we were to go by that scene alone (Which I'm not sure Rose was even in) then James is a carbon copy of his grandfather, Albus of his dad and Rose of her mother and Lily of her mother.