This list consists of my 10 favorite gen 1 characters in Fire Emblem Awakening. Gen 1 means all non children and non spotpass/DlC characters, so these are the classic characters like Chrom and such.
(This list was originally going to be top 5 but there are so many likable characters in Awakening that even with narrowing it down to gen 1 only I had to make it top 10!)

There will be a few of my favorite quotes of that specific character at the start of each characters review.

10: Gregor

"Oy, I am sellsword, yes? Not sword seller!"

"Gregor Smash!!"

"Gregor not buffoon! Gregor never put sister of valued employer in danger."

"If you want borrow money, answer is no. Gregor is poor like beggar."

Gregor is number 10 on my list as he is just a likable character in general. Gregor can pretty much do a little bit of everything, as in his supports he shows he can cook and has medical skills.he offers psychiatric help in his supports with Lissa, and even admits that he matched Basilio in combat in his supports with Lon'qu! As a sellsword, he's traveled the world and learned about other cultures so he really does seem to know a little bit about everything. He also has some very good reclass options in my opinion- he can reclass into myrimidon and barbarian.
This gives him a nice skill spread as he can get all the nice skills like axefaire and counter from the barbarian line and the myrimidon line skills.

9: Sully

"Oh wait, I get it... This is a joke. And when I put my boot through your face- that's the punch line."

"For me? Hot D***!"

"Hell, take it. I don't need any of this crap."

Right off the bat you can see that Sully is a kickbut, crude, self-dependent woman with an attitude. I haven't found a single support conversation that involves sully that I haven't found entertaining. Sully also can reclass into my favorite base class, Myrmidon, which grants her access to all those useful skills like vantage, Swordfaire, and Astra. Sully is just a no nonsense character and she got on this list not because I especially enjoy using her as a unit but more because of her personality. Sully shows in her support conversations that she wants to be strong and independent and largely unfeminine, however it does seem she has a soft side especially during S support conversations.

8. Cherche

"One more comment like that and I'll have Minerva eat you."

"Minerva IS very cute. I'm surprised more people don't ask to play with her."

"Oh no, that was her happy howl. Enraged is more....snippy."

Cherche comes in later than most of the characters but is unique in the fact that she is quite useful (and upgrade ready) when you first get her. Cherche is the first and only character besides Gerome to come in as a wyvern rider class. Cherche seems to be a rather quiet, gentle character that often refers to her much feared Wyvern, Minerva. As you can see in her supports anybody who makes her angry or uncomfortable gets threatened with having Minerva set upon them, so it seems that a lot of characters are walking on eggshells when talking to cherche- and for good reason. I put her on this list as I do like Dragons and Cherche is a dragon tamer of sorts and I find that pretty chill. Not to mention she also has some sheer strength and defense and can make a nice war cleric.

7: Olivia

"I didn't want to do this!"

"In fact, sometimes, when I'd see you coming, I'd run and hide in a barrel!"

Olivia is a fun character because she is just so paranoid about everything. She's also incredibly fast and easy to level up with her dance ability. While she may be weak as a dancer after she reclasses into another class she is surprisingly strong and will double most units with her high speed. Do be careful however as she will always be a fragile character. She is the mother of one of the best children in the game, Inigo. Inigo inherits a high skill and speed rating from his mother and his father usually makes him a more powerful or more durable or even boost his already high skill and speed. He can also inherit one of the exclusive dancer skills too. Olivia is arguably the best wife for Chrom as well and is just a unique character. Any character with high skill and speed has my favor.

6: Anna

"Ka-Ching!"

"Come again!"

"Careful, sweet. Prices aren't the only things I can cut in half."

"Whats your problem?!"

"Here's a Freebie!"

"No, of course not. All sales are final!"

"If you keep this up, someday I may love you more than money! ..... No, seriously."

I used Anna quite a bit in my first playthrough and I really liked her as a nice utility. I had killed Gaius already because I thought he was an enemy and couldn't be recruited so Anna took the place of my door/chest opener instead. I've also been using her a lot in my lunatic playthrough. Anna also has one of my favorite personalities in the game with almost all her lines referring back to her merchant life. Also Anna seems to be an experienced rouge and I've always liked rouge type characters in every RPG I've played. Anna also comes in as an advanced character, which are quite useful and can almost always be used right away. The reason Anna isn't in my top 5 is that she can only do supports with the avatar and tiki. That and her reclass options aren't the best in my opinion.
5: Lissa

"What a loser!"

"Nice save!"

"Well, that's that!"

"Let's see who's delicate now!"

"Ireallyreallyreallydidintmeanto!"

"You where just so perfectly calm, tee hee. I couldn't resist! It had to be done!"

"I'm willing to put up with a lot for the sake of comedy."

"I don't have to worry about a thing with you around! La la laaaaa...."

"If we meet any ghosts out on the trail, you can zap 'em with prayer magic!"

Lissa has made it to my top 5 for good reason. She is the funniest female in Awakening, has one of my favorite children characters, and is a surprisingly good unit when reclassed out of her cleric class. The audio for Lissa is just amazing, she sounds exactly how she looks. Lissa is tough, but she's definitely a child at heart. She shows is in supports with Chrom and Fredrick that she wants to do things for the shepherds and be a respectable princess. Owain, as I said before, is a great child. Lissa can pass down ANY female skill to Owain. You really can't go wrong with Owain, but the way you use him depends on his father, as he can really go strength or magic. Lissa can marry a large amount of the gen 1 males, so this is good for Owain. But anyways, going back to Lissa. One thing to remember with Lissa is that she is obviously not a strength character- she does best with her magic classes like sage, dark flier and valkirie. Remember that and Lissa will become a valuable member of your army.
4: Henry

"I'm gonna kill you!!"

"Have some death!"

"Yay! Excessive spending!"

"Should we mention the hex or just sell it as is?"

"Ooh! Put spikes on it! Make it something brutal!"

"Do you need a death curse? Please say you need a death curse."

"Wizard fight! Wizard Fight! Yaaaaay!"

"It hurts...so... Nice..."

Really, Henry and Chrom are pretty much tied on my list, but the only reasons Chrom got a place ahead is because he gets an exclusive class, shows up MUCH earlier than Henry, and gets an extra child. But believe me- Henry is just a spectacular character. Henry starts out as one of my favorite base classes, dark Mage, which has some useful skills and is the only class that can upgrade into my second favorite class, sorcerer. He also comes in with useful tomes on him too. Henry is a relatively balanced magic using character with the ability to pass down counter. In his supports with other characters he shows that he has a carefree, honest, and Witty personality, but he's also violent, curious and brutal. Truthfully he is really only looking to "Toss fireballs at people" which he reveals in his supports with Tharja. He also reveals that he is a very well known Plegian dark Mage as well. Henry is one of my favorite characters and I find him useful for a variety of reasons and just like using him as most of the characters that start out with magic in Awakening I don't like very much.
3: Chrom

"Anything can change!"

"Your end has come!"

"I will not Fail!"

"If I'm not napping, I'm swinging a sword. Predictable, I know."

There are so many Chrom quotes that I could only really pick these four. Chrom is a very likable character and although I didn't use him much in my first playthrough I use him a lot more now. Chrom gets an exclusive class (Lord) which allows him to pass Aether/rightful king to his second child. Chrom also wields Falchion which although it is pretty weak at 5 might, it can't break and the only other weapon that can do that is parallel Falchion, wielded by Lucina. Falchion gets an upgrade however after clearing the Mt. Prism level and becomes quite a bit more powerful. Chrom has high skill and speed stats and a decent strength stat, making him a good Sniper or Paladin as oppose to Great Lord. Chrom only has 5 women he can marry, but this is one of the most important marriages in the game as it decides quite a bit about how children will turn out and even changes storyline dialogue. Personality-wise, Chrom is a strong willed, down to earth, intelligent general and exalt. His support conversations show that he means well in everything he does.

2: Gaius

"Sweet."

"Candy? Not candy?"

"Is this the sweet shop? ...Hey, you lied to me!"

"I demand 10% of the take for, uh, sugary diversions."

"Suggaarrr...."

"I don't care what they say, taking candy from a baby is not easy."

"I said sweeten the deal, didn't I?"

I killed Gaius by accident the first time, but ever since then Gaius is a must have in my roster. You get Gaius a lot earlier than Anna, and he has the same lock breaking skill. Gaius as a father passes down myrimidon skills and even counter. (Not to mention his children get unique orange hair) he also passes down crazy high speed and skill stats. Once he is trained up a bit Gaius can be quite useful for attacking too. Gaius's obsession with sweets is his strength and his weakness as well as what makes everyone love him so much. He's also chill and laid back and let me repeat he will do anything for candy. He must go insane on Halloween.

1: Lon'qu

"I'll make this quick."

"Be silent."

"Pay attention."

"Who dies next?"

"You're no warrior."

"Are you done?"

"....acceptable."

"....better."

"He gives orders. I stab people. I think our roles are pretty clear."

"Craven... Have you no pride? Or do you fear the wrath of Lon'qu?"

Lon'qu is my favorite character and one of the reasons is that he is misunderstood and has a very complex background. I think he is the most thought out, most complex character in Awakening largely because of his background. For any of you who don't know, he reveals in his supports with Cherche that when he lived in the slums, he loved this girl and she was murdered by bandits while trying to protect Lon'qu. (If you want more on this background, checkout my upcoming Lon'qu chapter) this made him fear getting close with women because he fears that they will get hurt around him. So lon'qu swore to get stronger so no one would get hurt around him again. So Lon'qu carries this hurt around with him and it just seems he is a very backstory rich character. Lon'qu is a very good unit- I feel that he is stronger than most of the characters that join early on. His rating can even get up to rival some of the children character's. Myrimidon is also my favorite class and it allows lon'qu to upgrade into Swordmaster right away and get Astra and Swordfaire, two skills which should be picked up. Lon'qu passes on high speed to his children as well as good strength and skill. He seems to have a quiet, curt personality that is obvious right away and his fear of women makes his supports with them comedic. He wants to better himself and get stronger. And once you know his story you feel for him and understand him a bit better.

Hey if you liked this list please vote and feel free to comment your favorite gen 1 character below. If you want me to, I can do a top children list. Tell me if you want to see this!