After almost 50 years on our screens, Emmerdale has delivered decades of action-packed and emotional storylines.
The long-running ITV soap has given fans a heady mix of entertainment and drama, from a pensioner contracting HIV and a baby swap storyline to a plane and helicopter both crashing onto the village.
Some storylines have gone down in history, like Val's death and the assisted suicide plot involving paralysed character Jackson Walsh to name a few.
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Through it all, it's the characters that keep millions of viewers tuning in each week.
There’s no denying Emmerdale has welcomed its fair share of colourful characters down the years.
From villains to heroes and of course, the comic relief, there have been some icons that have stayed with us long since their exits.
We conducted a survey to find out who really comes out on top when it comes to viewers' all-time favourite character - and there was one clear winner.
Starting from fifth place, here are the top five Emmerdale characters of all time, as voted for by you.
5 - Marlon Dingle
Loveable chef, Marlon Dingle came in at fifth place.
Mark Charnock has been a fan favourite on Emmerdale for over two decades, after joining the ITV soap and the iconic Dingle family in 1996.
Marlon Dingle is the son of Albert and Delilah Dingle, the brother of Eli Dingle and the father of April Windsor and Leo Goskirk.
The star has become a household name thanks to his long-running character.
Marlon has been at the centre of many of the soaps most dramatic storylines over the years, leading to him bagging the award for Best Male Dramatic Performance at The British Soap Awards in 2004.
4 - Charity Dingle
Emmerdale fans clearly love their bad girls because in fourth place was Charity Dingle.
Emma Atkins has played Charity Dingle for years now and it's fair to say her character has had plenty of ups and downs.
Charity first arrived in the village to attend her cousin Butch's funeral alongside her uncle Shadrach and the resident bad boy Cain.
Charity has been at the heart of huge storylines over the years.
During the past two decades , Charity has had an on/off relationship with her cousin Cain, had two long lost children show up and cheated on partner Chris Tate with his sister Zoe.
She has recently taken over The Woolpack and we can only begin to imagine what lays ahead for her.
Vote for your favourite villain below
3 - Kim Tate
Seth was followed in the ranking by Emmerdale's super bitch Kim Tate, played by Claire King.
The iconic soap star returned to the Dales in 2018 following her helicopter exit in 1999.
She is best known for the havoc she wreaked on the village during her original 10-year stint.
A lot of her personal drama came from her turbulent marriage to Frank Tate - she managed to have an affair with him, marry him, divorce him, remarry him and be widowed by him in just a decade.
She also had numerous affairs, made herself plenty of enemies and even faked her own death at one point.
She left with her son James in a helicopter in 1999, after confessing to Frank's son that she did indeed look on as Frank died, and on the run from the police, who sussed her out for her part in a robbery.
Later returning in 2018 as she strolled out of prison - her crimes obviously eventually caught up with her!
Affairs, rocky marriages, paternity puzzles, robbery and a helicopter getaway - Kim's 14 years in the Dales have been nothing short of dramatic.
2 - Seth Armstrong
In second place in the greatest Emmerdale character poll was the iconic gatekeeper at Home Farm, Seth Armstrong, played by actor Stan Richards.
Seth was a loveable rogue and was a big wind up merchant, often winding up Woolpack landlord Amos Brearly and later his boss Alan Turner.
Turner used to say "Get out Seth" whenever bothersome and bone idle Seth used to find reasons and excuses to skive off work.
There wasn't a dry eye when the much-loved character died aged 78 on the plane flying home to Britain from Australia on October, 30, 2005.
Kathy Brookman returned for the funeral and told Betty that Seth had been ill for a while and knew he was going to die and had wanted to return home to do so.
1 - Cain Dingle
It's certainly difficult to settle on just one but soap fans have spoken and Cain Dingle has been chosen as the greatest Emmerdale character of all time in our reader survey.
Emmerdale legend Jeff Hordley has played soap bad boy Cain Dingle in Emmerdale for 22 years and has become hugely popular amongst viewers.
The actor first made his first appearance in March 2000 and has been at the centre of many of the soaps most dramatic storyline's including discovering his "uncle" Zak Dingle is his father, his relationship with his cousin Charity Dingle, discovering he is Debbie's father and his affair and subsequent relationship with Moira Barton to name but a few!
So there you have it - the top five Emmerdale characters of all time. What do you make of the top five? Have your say in the comments below.
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