I mean, Claude's literally the only reason to join the Golden Deer (well, they also have Lysithea and Hilda too) so if you join the Golden Deer you've gotta like Claude.
They're not all that dysfunctional really. Their whole thing is that they've got a really nice family dynamic going on and they don't have tragic backstories or mental issues (Except Lysithea). That was Claude's sales pitch at the beginning of the game before choosing a house.
In my head they're a dysfunctional family but that is also why I chose them because they're all so easy going and fun to be around. I've been playing the game non stop and getting to know them and just needed Dorothea to join the Golden Deer to make me full happy. I think I'm going to try to get Hilda to join my next house when I play the game again. I want to try all the houses and then play through with different options to see how much changes in the game and then romance different people.
I'm on my final run with the Blue Lions. I did all three houses one after the other. Golden Deer was my original intention for my first run but then I learned about Bernie and Linhardt so whoops, guess I'm Black Eagles now. I chose Golden Deer second instead because they still have more selling points than the Blue Lions.
Because it's obligatory in my mind I was gonna ask who your favorite character is but given the status we are currently commenting on I think I can safely deduce that your favorite character is, in fact, Claude von Riegan.