I know people love Kamina, but does anyone else think he got eclipsed pretty handily? The early episodes had some good and some not-so-good parts. Then Kamina goes out in a blaze of glory, which is to his credit. After that though, Simon goes through so much and accomplishes such supreme feats that it seems to be very much a case of the student drastically surpassing the mentor. I mean, even before the time skip, Simon personally fights Lord Genome and defeats him.
I won't deny that he was the personification of confidence and morale for the group, I just wouldn't say that he's the greatest ever. I think he got a fitting cameo toward the end, being the guy to snap people out of their fantasies and rally them to kick ass one last time. His greatest strength was his optimism and being an inspiration to the rest, rather than his power as a fighter.
I'll admit that Simon/Kamina was probably the best pair for Gurren Lagann, though, with due respect to Viral.