What is your favorite defense to e4?

@Rapidwurst, thank you for taking the time to give the deep analysis, simplified things alot. It helped tremendously. 

BTW forgot to mention that I don't like playing the 1...e5 or 1...c5 lines.

1. e6- French Defense

Pros: Easy to learn the plans for all the variations(most invlove c5 and/or f6)and it is very different than all the other responses to e4 so it may be harder to play from the white side unless they really know what they are doing

Cons: Your light squared bishop does not get devoloped for a while(if ever) Also, if you don't like closed positions this is not the opening for you, but you could look at it another way and say because you don't like closed positions you should play this to get better at them.

I enjoy playing two different branches of defense against 1. e4: Sicilian (Kalashnikov / Sveshnikov), and 1. ... e5 (Two Knights Defense, Chigorin Ruy Lopez, Rubinstein Four Knights, King's Gambit Accepted, Miesis Scotch)

You took the words right out of my mouth, Sicilian Dragon for the win!

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6

This is the Nimzowitch sicilian. It's like the Alekhine Defense, but avoids the dangerous 4-pawns attack.

Pros: It's an unorthodox opening, so you'll often have the upper hand. It's fairly easy to equalize against opponents who don't take the initiative strongly.

Cons: Some variations lead to the black king staying in the center a bit longer than is comfortable.

EDIT: Here are some games if you want to take a look.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessopening?eco=B29

@Tasmanian Tiger

I don't want to look like I'm selling the Caro-Kann, but I personally use the Caro-Kann for rapid, although I have started using it as a weapon for OTB.

1) Rapid tournaments:

Why:

1) Not much preparation for this, everybody thinks black will play e5/c5

2) In rapid, rush to move to endgame, which helps Black because of superior pawn structure

Why not to use:

1) Might not yield a win quick enough for rapid because of prophylaxical nature of the opening(shut downs all of white's possible attacks first)

2) Lot of practice is required to know the nuances 

If I were you, I would practice the Caro-Kann for two months and try it out after thorough, solid preparation on Chess.com. 

1.e5 is also very good, but has a lot of theory to know because of the variety of White's choices. That's what I don't like about e5: it allows White to choose the opening to his tastes, whereas Caro-Kann, French or Sicilian disrupt this plan quickly.

French is also good, but Caro-Kann is slightly better in my opinion because the c8-bishop is developed rather than stuck in the French.

All the best in opening forays!
Vyomo 

1...g6

Pro - Can be played against anything other than 1.b3 or 1.b4

Con - It can be a little confusing, and requires precise understanding.  A move that looks good in one line may be horrible in another.  A common scenario of this problem is when to play ...h6 vs ...h5 vs leaving the h-pawn at home!

Nimzowitch N-C6

I like d6 though I play several different moves to 1. e4 depending on what I would like to practice with (Blitz/Rapid are fun for tactics and openings but really cannot be called real chess). I may play Nc6, g6 or even just plain old e5, though not very often.

1... d6 does not obligate you to play a Sicilian or even a Pirc/Modern Defense. If your opponent chooses to play 2. d4, you can now play 2... Nf6, 2... g6 or 2... e5 and get into some interesting lines of different openings, perhaps even a King's Indian Defense structure.

Though not as analyzed as say, 1... c5, this can be an interesting move to begin with, especially against club/coffeehouse/blitz players as the "natural" moves may not work if White does not understand why Black plays 1... d6 in the first place and dismisses it to play their "pet" lines.

or you just seize the open file with Raj8

Caro-Kann by far!

Sicilian. The choice of the majority of strong players. 

The Sicilian, however I prefer a6/e6 structures.

Those structures are very different though...I tend to go for 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 and then either ...a6 or ...g6, depending on the day. 

Owen's Defense. (Period). I like it because it you don't have to memorize a thousands lines of the Sicilican or french defence. You keep a general plan and soon you will find that you can keep stability without running into something you will not see. Also it's not what ppl are used to playing. IT really gets your opponent out of book lines.  If you want to know more check out My blog on my page. OR just look it up on the forums labeled: Let's Talk Owen's. 

Here's a Peek at the Owen's: 

It may seem passive att first but quickly white's proud center gets attacked in all different directions and white must defend it.

Gl with finding an opening.

I'd love to play anyone under 2000 as White in that position. 

My favorite defense is probably the French.

But when I need to win against a strong opponent I generally play either the Caro-Kann or the Sicilian, depending on my opponent's needs. If my opponent only needs a draw, I'll play the Sicilian.

If my opponent needs the win, I can choose the Caro-Kann. The Kann is really difficult to play for a win against an opponent who is intent on drawing. The Sicilian, on the other hand, doesn't offer white any easy routes to stale equality.

But as pfren will no doubt point out, this agonizing over the openings is pretty much a waste of time for most players. Focus on tactics, planning, and endgames. The wins will follow.

Thanks so much! Please keep the comments going!