Second is definitely Sera, because her personality is just amazing, and she's Legolas with boobs. Can't go wrong with that.
Wut. Are we thinking of the same Legolas here? I mean, yeah, they're both blonde elves who use bows but that's where the similarities run into a brick wall.
As for my picks:
Favourites (in no particular order because it's hard enough to choose three of them. Also Varric doesn't count because I've loved him forever so he's out of the running)
1) Solas: Magical dreamer Fade nerd historian. It's like he was made to appeal to my interests. I think he looks like a fascinating character, and the Fade has long been the thing I'm most interested in w.r.t Dragon Age lore, so Solas and I are probably gonna get along.
2) Cole: Okay, so I haven't read Asunder, and for the longest time I knew next to nothing about Cole other than that he was a creepy spirit thing and he looked like that guy from American Horror Story. Then I saw some of the banter snippets from various gameplay videos and the Skyhold demo and...he's really ridiculously adorable? It's crazy how adorable he is. And weird. Reeeally really weird.
3) Blackwall: Another character who my opinion of changed very rapidly. At first I looked at him and thought, "this guy's gonna be Inquisition Dad. He's going to give pep talks and lectures about The Good Old Days." But then...I dunno. Maybe it was Aimo's art. Maybe it was him being announced as a romance. Maybe it was me realizing that he sounds remarkably like Ned Stark and he acts like a more grizzled Duncan so he's basically the Duncan Stark fusion that I've always wanted... Suffice it to say that I am very intrigued by Blackwall and I'm eager to find out more.
Least Favourite Interesting to Me At This Moment In Time (title edited slightly for accuracy)
1) Cullen: I've always been kinda meh on Cullen. I'll admit part of that is the hype. Part of that is also that he's yet another stubbly handsome ginger dude (Bioware have their types I guess). And part of it is because Cullen's always struck me as a bit character who doesn't really have enough substance to carry his own arc. I like seeing him pop up here and there (he seems to have gotten over being completely unhinged in DAO which is nice), but I guess I'm not very interested in him right now.
2) Sera: I'm interested in Sera, but also a bit wary. She's the type of character that'd easily slip into obnoxious if not written very carefully. We shall see if she's able to walk that fine line. Here's hoping that she does.
3) Iron Bull: Same as Sera, really. Bioware has done bloodthirsty bruiser both badly (Black Whirlwind) and well (Oghren/Wrex). Also I really hope I get over this but all I can hear when I listen to Bull is Freddie Prinze Jr. doing his best Sean Connery impression which, while hilarious, absolutely ruins my immersion.