Pretty much half the cast from the Yakuza series!
Okay, but they all do have good characterization, so I'll just go with the main one, Kazuma Kiryu. Though if I could pick two, Majima would be up there too, Akiyama was a great addition to the cast in Yakuza 4 too.
I suppose AiAi is another good character I think for a family game, fairly recognizable too.
I happen to like Eileen a lot and was my favourite fighter in Virtua Fighter 5, but that's a series that started off as a first party effort. Bayonetta was a great character too, fairly different from the majority of females in games too.