I'm going through BG for the first time, bu I did play up to around the mines on three characters.
Anyway, I have a question about who is a stronger fighter: Khalid or Minsc? Should I kill Khalid off to make room for the crazy Minsc and his space hamster? Is Minsc a better character than Khalid?
Thanks for any responses!

Never used Minsc as a companion,used all the clerics and magic users.Main character was built up as assassin and bloody killer as the rest of the party were merely back up.

Minsc is good in BG2 because he gets access to a number of items he's specialized for very very early in the game. In BG1, though, he's actually quite weak. His stats just aren't that great. Dynaheir is a very solid character, though, so it's not a complete loss. Khalid is pretty good though.

My favorite of the various fighter-types is definitely Yeslick. (He's my favorite cleric too!) Unfortunately you don't get him until halfway through the game, which is kind of a bummer.

It all depends how you like to use a fighter in your party. Khalid is very flexible with all around decent stats and skills. You can make him a tank (later a powerhouse with certain item), an archer, or mix between the two. Minsc is a bit less flexible, since his main advantage is his high strength, so he works just fine in melee, but won't be as good as an archer (but can be a decent one).

What I would do in your situation is to simply choose the one you enjoy more and use him as you like. I personally don't like killing off party members, you can take the guy inside a random building (that you won't visit again) and dismiss him there so that you can keep the other person of the pair (Jaheira, or Dynaheir in this particular situation). One of the great things about Baldur's Gate is the wide variety of NPCs to choose from. You can try the other one in your next playthrough.

Khalid is more powerful. He's a better tank because of better con and dex and he's the better archer better because of higher dex. He can even put more than 2 proficiency points into his weapon of choice to do more damage.
Strength is the easiest stat to raise with potions, spells or items.

But you can afford to choose according to sympathy, whom you like more, you can even take both or none of them. Deciding your party before playing is a bad idea, it will lead to walkthrough hugging, play your own game, create a powerful main character and handle the situations when they appear.

I don't like Khalid much, but what he has going for him is that he's pretty adaptable, since he doesn't have an obvious weak point. But I felt he was a bit weak, as damage dealer, tank and so on.

Minsc is rather 'dense' of course, but he's a very handy tank, especially as it's possible to get an item early in the game that gets him (or another character) 18 dexterity.

However, I'd recommend to simply play the game and decide based on what the game throws at you. Nothing wrong about taking both. And please try to play the game without walkthroughs and guides up. You will inevitably get spoiled, and it will lead to a different game experience than if you play more normally.

Just give Minsc the dex gloves and he can tank very well.

In all my playthroughs I give Minsc gloves of Dexterity and he always has around 45-50% of kills. Just make his longbow 2 and give him Combosite Longbow and he will be a killing machine. With Full Plate armor, he is a very good thank too, both while duel-wielding maces or 2H sword.


EDIT: Ofcourse you can have both if you are playing good. Imoen, Khalid, Jahira, Minsc and Dynaheir is a very solid group (also Canon). However, keep in mind that better defense is much better than more HP in BG1.

Whichever character's soundbites irritate you less.

That's not really fair considering Minsc has a secret weapon down in a pocket somewhere.

Depends on what you want. Khalid is more flexible with weapons; I usually have him with a sword and shield. Minsc is a beast with the +3 two-handed sword. And two handed swords in general. In fact, you can get a +1 two handed sword pretty early in the game. It does require that you fight a group of ogres so prepare the best you can.