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The 20 Greatest Video Game Characters of All Time

By YPB Team

Some are mascots, some are mercenaries, some are barely more than a voice. These are the characters that carried whole franchises and stayed recognisable decades later. Vote on which one belongs at the top.

  1. Link — ranked #11
    Link
    The silent green-clad hero of The Legend of Zelda, reincarnated across every era of Hyrule.
    1000pts
  2. Geralt of Rivia — ranked #22
    Geralt of Rivia
    The Witcher's monster hunter, carried from novels into one of the most acclaimed RPG series.
    1000pts
  3. Ellie — ranked #33
    Ellie
    The survivor at the centre of The Last of Us, carried across two games and a decade.
    835pts
  4. Bowser — ranked #44
    Bowser
    The Koopa King, the antagonist Mario has been chasing for four decades.
    800pts
  5. Donkey Kong — ranked #55
    Donkey Kong
    The barrel-throwing ape of the 1981 arcade original who became a hero in his own series.
    734pts
  6. Cloud Strife — ranked #66
    Cloud Strife
    The buster-sword mercenary of Final Fantasy VII and the face of the JRPG boom.
    734pts
  7. Ryu — ranked #77
    Ryu
    Street Fighter's wandering martial artist and the reference point for every fighting-game roster.
    659pts
  8. Lara Croft — ranked #88
    Lara Croft
    The archaeologist of Tomb Raider and the first widely recognised female lead in games.
    659pts
  9. Sonic the Hedgehog — ranked #99
    Sonic the Hedgehog
    Sega's blue mascot, built in 1991 as the fast, attitude-heavy answer to Mario.
    571pts
  10. Solid Snake — ranked #1010
    Solid Snake
    Metal Gear's infiltrator, the centre of the series that made stealth a genre.
    467pts
  11. Princess Zelda — ranked #1111
    Princess Zelda
    The ruler of Hyrule who gave the series its name and finally its own playable game in 2024.
    467pts
  12. Samus Aran — ranked #1212
    Samus Aran
    The bounty hunter of Metroid, whose 1986 reveal reframed who a video game hero could be.
    467pts
  13. Mario — ranked #1313
    Mario
    Nintendo's plumber, the most recognisable character in the medium since 1981.
    343pts
  14. Pac-Man — ranked #1414
    Pac-Man
    The 1980 arcade circle whose simple design made him gaming's first mascot.
    343pts
  15. GLaDOS — ranked #1515
    GLaDOS
    Portal's passive-aggressive test-chamber AI, a villain who is mostly a voice.
    343pts
  16. Master Chief — ranked #1616
    Master Chief
    The armoured Spartan of Halo, whose face has stayed hidden for a quarter of a century.
    190pts
  17. Sephiroth — ranked #1717
    Sephiroth
    Final Fantasy VII's one-winged antagonist, routinely named the medium's best villain.
    190pts
  18. Pikachu — ranked #1818
    Pikachu
    The electric mouse who became the face of Pokemon and one of the world's best-known fictional characters.
    190pts
  19. Kratos — ranked #1919
    Kratos
    The Spartan of God of War, rewritten from vengeful demigod into a reluctant father.
    190pts
  20. Arthur Morgan — ranked #2020
    Arthur Morgan
    The outlaw of Red Dead Redemption 2, held up as one of the best-written characters in games.
    190pts

#games262#nintendo49#classics476#characters95#retro21

Comments

Jumpman in a 1981 arcade cabinet became one of these twenty; the rival beside him is silent and renamed by whoever plays: https://youpick.best/articles/super-mario-vs-legend-of-zelda https://youpick.best/articles/sonic-the-hedgehog-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team·Aug 21·
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