Favorite sonic game characters

[Baegal]

I really don't like Silver because of his cliche concept (the whole idea of coming from the future has never appealed to me), ugly design (namely the shoes and wristbands), and his voice and general presence really bugs me.
Moving on, however, my favorites would probably be:

1. Dr. Eggman (Yes, I know. I just really like the character, mainly the classic one, but modern's cool too B)) and EggRobo (If it counts?)
2. Rouge
3. Knuckles
4. Big the Cat (I love the design for the guy. Aside from vector, he's pretty much the only character that doesn't follow a design "template")
5. Tails

Honestly, aside from these top 5, I enjoy the levels and games as a whole over the characters, not sure why.