Who doesn’t remember this character?

E.T. from the 1982 movie written by Melissa Mathison E.T.: The Exterrestrial. A plot summary from IMDB:

A group of aliens visit earth and one of them is lost and left behind stranded on this planet. The alien is found by a 10 year old boy, Elliot. Soon the two begin to communicate, and start a different kind of friendship in which E.T learns about life on earth and Elliot learns about some new values for the true meaning of friendship. E.T. wants to go home, but if Elliot helps him, he’ll lose a friend…

If Elliot is the story’s Protagonist, then E.T. is its Attractor, most closely associated with the young boy’s emotional development. What begins as a variation of boy-brings-home-stray-dog story, the friendship that blossoms between Elliot and E.T. a powerful one based on experiences like this:

And this:

E.T. doesn’t have much dialogue, but what he does say carries a lot of weight:

Michael: [walks in Elliot's room and sees E.T. in a dress; he chuckles] What’s all this shit?
E.T.: E.T. phone home.
Michael: [astonished] My God, he’s talking now.
E.T.: Home.
Elliot: E.T. phone home?
E.T.: [points to window] E.T. phone home.
Elliot: [whispers] And they’ll come?
E.T.: Come? Home.
[pulls off wig and hat from his head]
E.T.: Home.

And of course the ending:

E.T.: Come…
Elliot: [solemnly] Stay…
E.T.: [puts his finger to his glowing heart] Ouch.
Elliot: [mimics the same action, tearfully] Ouch.
E.T.: [E.T. and Elliot embrace each other, then E.T. puts his glowing finger to Elliot's forehead] I’ll… be… right… here.
Elliot: [tearfully] … bye.

A classic Protagonist-Attractor moment:

E.T.: The Extraterrestrial garnered many awards in its time. In my family, it holds a special distinction: The only time my father, an Air Force Colonel, cried at a movie.

E.T.: A great character.

Do you remember when you first saw E.T.?