El personaje que más me gusta no es el héroe, sino el villano.

Both can be understood, but que más me gusta is the natural way to say the one I like the most.

Here más is part of the superlative idea:

• el personaje que más me gusta = the character that I like the most

If you say que me gusta más, it can sound more like that I like more, often implying a comparison with something already mentioned. In this sentence, que más me gusta is the standard choice for my favourite or the one I like most.

Me means to me.

Spanish uses gustar differently from English:

• me gusta literally means it is pleasing to me
• not I like

So in:

• el personaje que más me gusta

the structure is basically:

• the character that pleases me the most

That is why Spanish uses me, not a word meaning I as the subject of gustar.

Because the thing doing the pleasing is singular: el personaje.

With gustar, the verb agrees with the thing liked, not with the person who likes it:

• Me gusta el personaje = I like the character
• Me gustan los personajes = I like the characters

Here the main noun is singular:

• el personaje so:
• me gusta

Because que is the normal relative pronoun for that / which / who in Spanish, especially after a noun like personaje.

• el personaje que más me gusta = the character that I like the most

You may see quien used for people, but it is not the usual choice here. Also, personaje is not necessarily a real person; it means a character in a story, film, etc. So que is the natural option.

Because in Spanish, nouns usually need an article when you are talking about someone as a category or role.

So:

• el héroe = the hero
• el villano = the villain

In English, after to be, we sometimes drop the article:

• He is hero would be wrong, but
• He is a hero is fine

In Spanish, with specific roles in a story, using the article is very natural:

• no es el héroe, sino el villano

This contrasts two identified roles: the hero versus the villain.

This is a very common contrast structure in Spanish.

• no X, sino Y = not X, but rather Y

So:

• no es el héroe, sino el villano means:
• it isn’t the hero, but rather the villain

Use sino when the second part corrects or replaces the first after a negative statement.

Compare:

• No quiero té, sino café. = Not tea, but coffee.
• No es tímido, sino reservado. = He isn’t shy, but rather reserved.

Because sino is used after a negation when you are correcting the first idea.

Here:

• no es el héroe, sino el villano means it’s not the hero, but rather the villain

If you use pero, the meaning changes slightly. Pero usually adds contrast, while sino replaces one option with another.

Very roughly:

• no..., sino... = not this, but that instead
• ..., pero... = ..., but...

So in this sentence, sino is the right conjunction.

Because the sentence is about liking more, not about being better.

• más me gusta = I like most
• mejor = better / best, usually for quality, manner, or improvement

So:

• el personaje que más me gusta = the character I like the most

If you said el mejor personaje, that would mean the best character, which is not exactly the same as my favourite character.

Because the sentence identifies what role the character is in the story.

• ser is used for identity, classification, and essential description
• estar is used for states, locations, and temporary conditions

Here the sentence says the character is the villain, not the hero. That is identity/classification, so ser is correct:

• es el villano

Very similar, yes.

• el personaje que más me gusta = the character I like the most
• mi personaje favorito = my favourite character

The first version is a bit more descriptive and literal. The second is shorter and more direct. Both are natural, but the sentence you were given is useful because it shows the structure que más me gusta.

Because héroe is stressed on the first syllable: HÉ-ro-e.

The accent mark shows the stress clearly and also helps distinguish the syllable pattern. Without the accent, the pronunciation rules would suggest a different stress.

So you should write:

• héroe

Other words in the sentence do not need an accent:

• personaje
• villano
• gusta

Yes. Personaje is a masculine noun grammatically, so it takes:

• el personaje

But it can refer to a character of any gender:

• a male character
• a female character
• even a non-human fictional character

So in this sentence, el personaje does not tell you whether the character is male or female. It only tells you that the noun personaje is grammatically masculine.

Yes, if the context is clear.

• El personaje que más me gusta no es el héroe, sino el villano.
• El que más me gusta no es el héroe, sino el villano.

The shorter version means something like:

• The one I like most isn’t the hero, but the villain.

It is natural in conversation when everyone already knows you are talking about characters. The full version is clearer and better for learners because it shows the complete structure.