I found this on Nenena's site - and couldn't help writing a response to it, even though at the time I had no livejournal! I guess her inclusion of Sailor Star Fighter in her response did it. :) There's a mistake at the end, but I was quite pleased with what I wrote there...

The Fictional Characters Meme

First, you have to pick 10 fictional characters, from any medium you like, and put them in order.

My picks:

1. Chiyo-chan from Azumanga Daioh
2. Dobby the House Elf from Harry Potter
3. Doraemon from…um, Doraemon
4. Johnny Storm from The Fantastic Four
5. Legolas from Lord of the Rings
6. Rika from Digimon Tamers
7. Sailor Star Fighter/Seiya from Sailor Moon
8. Severus Snape from Harry Potter
9. Ukyo Kuonji from Ranma ½
10. Yukari Tanizaki from Azumanga Daioh

Then answer these questions:

#1: Divide the list up by even and odd. Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick? If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?

Odd team: Chiyo-chan, Doraemon, Legolas, Fighter, Ukyo
Even team: Dobby, Johnny Storm, Rika, Snape, Yukari

Odd team wins hands down. It has two smarts (Chiyo and Doraemon), and three powerhouses to boot. Whether the latter three will get along is up to question, but I can say for certain that Team Even will have some major personality clashes, what's with Johnny, Rika, Snape and Yukari's attitudes…besides, two people in Team Even, Rika and Yukari, have no useful powers – either physical, mental, or magical – on their own (unless you count Yukari's driving, which would be more of a danger to her team).

Leader: Sailor Star Fighter.
Second: Ukyo. Though I can see her challenging the leader's decisions, or even position (she is a tough girl – a self-made businesswoman who has also pretended to be a boy for years and years).
The leader and second roles are interchangable actually. Which in practise means they'll argue a lot. :)
The smart one: Doraemon, no doubt. And he'll pull out cool gadgets to help, exactly when they're needed.
The "big guy": Legolas. Master archer and orc-killer supreme. Perfect.
The "chick": Chiyo-chan the cutie with no special powers…who will complain that everyone thinks she's so "little". Although her smarts mean that she'll probably help Doraemon in advising the team.

How to improve Team Odd:

Replace Ukyo with Dobby for the "second" role. Dobby will have no disagreements with the rest of the team, let alone the leader (and he has magic powers to boot). However everyone may get tired of him doing nothing but agreeing with whatever the leader says, and he would have to be ordered to give opposing opinions some of the time. :)

#2: Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?

2. Dobby
8. Severus Snape
10: Miss Yukari

Dobby won't have much trouble in the Harry Potter series if he became a she – after all, he is in the "abused servant seeking freedom" role, and I think that we'll probably symphasize with Dobby even more if he was a she, as people in general feel more pity for battered women than men. In short Dobby would be viewed in a similar way to Winky from the fourth book, with the additional bonus of us admiring her for having the courage to go against the wishes of her old master, the same way we'd admire a woman brave enough to leave an abusive relationship.

The character experiencing the biggest personality (and plot) change would have to be Professor Snape! :D Women with big chips on their shoulders and nasty streaks express it in different ways than men who do. While regular Snape expresses his feelings by sneering and delivering very precisely-worded, grammatically correct insults that would make Shakespeare proud, female Snape would probably just tell Harry, Ron and Neville Longbottom outright that they are the biggest idiots she's ever had to teach, and that unless she sees some improvement in their attitudes, she'll give them detention for the rest of the year. Female Snape's nasty streak would come across by secretly sending juicy but totally false tales about Harry to Rita Skeeter by owl post, then totally denying she did it if accused.
Also, Snape loved Lily and despised James...which accounts for a lot of his rather "mysterious" behaviour in the books. If Snape was written as female, she'd have to 1) be in love with James and despise Lily, the love rival, or 2) be a lesbian. In the first case, there shouldn't be much problem with the plot as Harry does look like his father and have his mother's eyes - so he would still remind female Snape of both his parents, leading to the same confusing feelings in "her" toward him. "She" would probably also turn to Dumbledore's side when realizing that Voldemort was planning to murder James' son, and have the same desire to protect him for "her" love's sake. In short, nothing would really change with a female Snape's motivations for "her" actions. The second scenario would still account for Snape's actions...but require a whole new issue to be dealt with. :D

As for Miss Yukari – if a male teacher slept in class, drove dangerously, got drunk a lot, and never attempted to schedule, he'd be seen as the typical "irresponsible man" stereotype. Not to mention "abusive" to the students when he yells at them and throws things at their heads. In short, a male Yukari would seem a real danger to the students rather than comical (Especially when hitting Chiyo over the head with a book or helping Tomo swing her over a bay!). Not that the female version isn't dangerous though…:)

#3: Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible? Which couple would be more plausible to people from either principal's home culture?

1. Chiyo-chan
8. Professor Snape

5. Legolas
9. Ukyo Kuonji

1 and 8: (I'll assume "matchup" means a platonic relationship here – there's NO WAY those two will ever date, especially at their ages!)
At first, Chiyo would be terrified of a greasy-haired hook-nosed teacher wearing a black cloak. (Wouldn't you?) And Snape doesn't seem to like kids much, given his usually derogatory comments towards his own students. The fact that Chiyo is a Muggle wouldn't score her too many points with Snape either. However, in the unlikely event that they really get to know each other, Snape may come to like Chiyo as she resembles Lily in many ways – she is very intelligent, cheerful and friendly. If these two can get over their initial "barrier" feelings, they may become good friends. (Fanfic anyone?)

5 and 9: Ukyo may be attracted to Legolas' looks, but as she's pretty much a one-man girl (almost obsessively so), unless she can get over her attachment to Ranma and insistence on being his fiancee she wouldn't even look at any other guy. If that's out of the way, their relationship would still have barriers in their way – Elf-mortal marriages are not unknown, but still rare. Also, Ukyo is a highly stubborn, independent woman who has no qualms with shouting at guys, and the elf culture seems to favour more "traditional" women, the quiet, gentle type. It is interesting that in Tolkien's stories, all the human/elf pairings seem to have a human man and elf woman. In short, I can see these two easily being friends and comrades, but not really romantically inclined towards each other.

Result: 5 and 9 win...due to the HUGE barriers Chiyo and Snape would have to overcome before even getting to know each other.

#4: Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?

3. Doraemon
4. Johnny Storm
9. Ukyo Kuonji

Doraemon: Mental. Johnny Storm: Social. Ukyo: Physical.

#5: 7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?

7. Sailor Star Fighter
1. Chiyo-chan

One word: KAWAIIIIII….
I think I'm about to pass out from the incredible cuteness of this pair...
(Nancy passes out, is fanned awake three hours later)

One perfect working relationship coming right up! Fighter is like a combination of Sakaki and Kagura – who both get along great with Chiyo, so no problems there. I can see her being a kind, non-bossy boss to Chiyo, who'd give her the easy jobs, buy treats for her at lunchtime, and let her go home early. However one problem may arise. Fighter would tug Chiyo's hair, call her cute, and refer to her as "Pigtails". Chiyo would get mad and insist "I'm a high school student!" with her pouty red face making her look even cuter which results in yet more teasing from Fighter…(vicious but oh-so-cute circle continues)

#6: 2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?

2. Dobby
6. Rika

Ooooooh boy. Dobby in the Digimon Tamers world. There's no way Dobby would become a Digimon Tamer, he is too meek and subservient for that. Actually, the kids would probably think he's a Digimon himself and try to tame him ("Dobbymon, a rookie-type Digimon. He loves housework and his special attack is Bothering Bludger!" Hahahaha…). He'll probably agree to become someone's Digimon (and do all their chores for them) as long as he gets five bucks a week and one day a month off. :)

#7: 3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?

3. Doraemon
5. Legolas

#1 – World peace in the past, present and future! This way, Legolas wouldn't have to fight all those orcs and lose his friends and loved ones…and nor would anyone else for that matter. Everyone benefits from this wish.
#2 – For their best friend to become more mature. Nobita in Doraemon's case (his irresponsibility is, after all, the reason Doraemon came to the 20th century in the first place), and for Legolas it would be Gimli, who would protest that he was already mature enough. It's the elf/dwarf culture difference, folks. :)
#3 – Metal polish. Gives both Doraemon's "skin" and Legolas' bow and arrow set a nice new shine.

#8: 1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive? How?

1. Chiyo-chan
2. Dobby
4: Johnny Storm.

Fair match. Johnny has his Human Torch powers, but Dobby has house elf magic and Chiyo her brains. Chiyo could come up with a complicated plan to put Johnny out, with some magical help from Dobby. I'd like to see Marvel draw this fight…*snicker*

#9: 6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?

6. Rika
7. Sailor Star Fighter
9. Ukyo
10. Miss Yukari

Hmm, Rika would stand in a corner looking more depressed than the kids, but it's possible she helped out with the decorating, food and so forth. She'll probably ask Renamon to do the actual playing with the kids, as she herself isn't the type that's good with them. Ukyo would make okonomiyaki for everyone and draw Christmassy pictures with the sauce. She may also organize a "pin the tail on the donkey" style game, only that the kids have to throw mini-spatulas at the board. :D Fighter would lead a Christmas carol singalong, probably while transformed into Seiya so she can have the kids crawling all over her and asking for autographs :). Miss Yukari arrives two hours late, crashing the party (literally) in her old battered car. She is dressed up as Santa and hands out Christmas presents (which she "persuaded" Nyamo to buy) while calling the kids "ungrateful little brats" and admonishing them to "have fun while you can". The kids are terribly confused and mutter "Santa isn't supposed to be like that!"

#10: 3 and 8 are challenged to circumnavigate the Earth in eighty days or less, using only forms of transportation invented before 1900. Can they do it, or will they be fatally distracted by sidequests or their own personality conflicts?

3: Legolas
8: Severus Snape

Oh no, the clash of two extremes in hair hygiene! :D
I think Legolas and Snape would have a bit to talk about, probably regarding magic, philosophy, and the properties of plants, subjects which both would know a bit about. They should get along fine, if Legolas can only stand Snape's greasy hair. But then again, he does put up with Gimli and Aragorn the Unwashed all the time, so Snape should be a breeze compared to them :).
Side quests should not deter these two easily, both are very resolute when on a mission. Just get them to believe that their completion of the journey is essential to the future peace of the world and they will complete it.