If you want my list

10) Jr. (Xenosaga)
9) Celes Chere (Final Fantasy VI)
8) Solid Snake
7) The Prince (Sands of Time)
6) The Prince (Suikoden V)
5) Neku Sakuraba (The World Ends With You)
4) Ico
3) Kratos
2) Jowy Atreides (Suikoden II)
1) Wander

the prince in suiko 5 was kinda carried along by lyon i think.. :) i loved lyon so much. lol

Lyon was an excellent character, but that scene in Lunas after the coup-d'etat, where he sits in the floors and cries, and the memories appear next to him has to be one of the most moving ever.

ah yes.. but lyon was just amazing to me. she single handedly saved my suiko 5 experience :D

I have little time so I just plow through it in no particular order:

Link - Here's a guy simply tossed into the fray and has to keep on pushing to fullfill the objectives placed in front of him to save the world... or stop Navi from nagging.

Wander I agree full-heartily with for all reasons mentioned.

Max Payne - Bastard lost his family to junkies, then get's framed... at some point I'd snap for sure... Also, surviving on pain-meds gives him extra creds.

The prince - kinda like max payne. Has to travel through time to correct every mistake only to have it blown up in his face again.

Sam Fisher - First a superspy with a strong stomach, uncovering all kinds of strange ploys by terrorists and governments alike, then loosing his daughter and finally being hunted down by the same people he worked for... damn!

Samus Aran - Like link, usually tossed into some hostile situation or place without much guidance and then have to figure it out with whatever strength or tools she can muster.

Faceless world war heroes. I know, some events are even more unrealistic then the people portrayed above but seeing the horrors and action the real soldiers had to endure and keep on going... Some of the stronger events even manage to be on-par with Band of Brothers...

Have to go home, you owe the rest of the list from me.

I was going to say Wander from Shadows of The Colossus.

Don't forget Paperboy.

Sonic is inspiring because he lets you think you can take down anything, (even if it's about 20x your size) just by trying hard. If you don't think you can do something, just think of Sonic.

And just for the record, sonic has plenty of  reason to do what he does. In the 3D games he has a big fat in-game story, and, even in the 2D games, you just had to read the manuals to get the story.

SPOILERS:

Sonic 1 - Stop Robotnik, save animals? (Another user can fill me in on this one)

Sonic 2 Stop Robotnik, save animals? (Another user can fill me in on this one)

Sonic 3/Knuckles (I played them together) - Stop Robotnik, save animals, save Angel Island from falling into the sea.

Sonic CD - save Amy

Sonic Adventure - Stop Eggman from releasing Chaos and taking over the world, save animals.

Sonic Adventure 2 - Stop Eggman from collecting all chaos emeralds, firing up his cannon, and destroying washington DC/Taking over the world

Sonic Heroes - Appears to be stop Eggman at first, but actually is to stop Metal Sonic

Sonic Rush - Stop Eggman Nega from destroying the world to create a new one

/Spoilers

yeah, i already conceded the save the animals thing. sure. he inspires environmentalists.

but again, on a top 10 list, sonic is a joke. no way.

*facepalm*

First of all, Cloud is far from emo.  There's not even proof that he is emo.  He has legit reasons mentally and physically to be the way he is; sort of like a POW from vietnam who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder considering he's been through more than probably anyone.   

Secondly he DOES save people, he just needs someone to talk to him about being strong.  This is about as close to human as a super human/hero can get, and because of this it makes us as humans able to relate to Cloud more so.  There is nothing more inspiring than being able to relate to a Super Hero with a weakness: It gives us a sense that we ourselves could be one.  Because we are human, and have weaknesses.