Inklings (seriously might be the most popular characters of the gen so far, which is kind of sad).
Kat from Gravity Rush.
Shovel Knight.
Magnus from Kid Icarus Uprising.

Pretty sad list, but it's been a pretty sad generation, especially on the console side. When half of the games are remakes, and 2/5 are sequels, what do you expect?

Maybe no popular but I love Wonder Blue from W101.
Chase Mcain is funny in Lego City
Loki was fun in Bayo 2
Splatoon inklings are great

Geralt? This is Witcher 3, not one :p. Also inkling's I guess

Not sure about in general, but Isabelle is a favorite of mine. I could use an assistant like that in my life.

Probably inkling or greninja, greninja is extremely popular 

Greninja, no contest

Somebody from Yokai Watch for sure. Us Westerners don't really "get it." But I'm sure in Japan practically everybody knows about it by now.

Also Dark Pit is a weird choice, Viridi and Hades are probably both more popular despite his inclusion in Smash.

Geralt was created in 1993 lol Not even a game character. From the novels.

Probably Knack, everybody knows him.

I'll go with Isabelle. Only appeared in one game, and is already a racer in MK8. Plus she's so cute. x ) How can anyone not like her?