Majima is pretty awesome. Yakuza 0 sold me on the character. Such an amazing game. Kiryu's a lot more of a straightforward protagonist/hero type so it makes sense that he'd be the face of the franchise.
@Force_of_Nature and @DestructionBomb, what I love is the fact that Majima himself was already popular to begin with but then Yakuza 0 took the character and... somehow made him even more likable than he already once was. I think in Y1, he was meant to be a one-shot villain. But, too many people liked him!