Top 16 Video Game Mascots of All Time

Recognition is not the same as quality, and this list keeps proving it. A few of these carried entire companies on their backs; others mostly sold plush toys.

1

Mario

Nintendo's plumber, first seen as Jumpman in Donkey Kong in 1981 and the face of gaming ever since.

2

Master Chief

The silent Spartan of Halo, and the closest thing Xbox has to a face.

3

Kratos

God of War's Spartan, rebuilt from a rage-driven brawler into PlayStation's leading man.

4

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sega's blue blur, created to give Nintendo a rival with attitude in 1991.

5

Pikachu

The Pokémon franchise's electric mouse and one of the most recognised characters on earth.

6

Link

The silent hero of The Legend of Zelda, wordless across four decades of games.

7

Pac-Man

Namco's 1980 maze-eater, the first video game character to become a household shape.

8

Lara Croft

Tomb Raider's archaeologist, voted the most iconic game character in a BAFTA poll.

9

Crash Bandicoot

Naughty Dog's marsupial, the unofficial PlayStation mascot of the 1990s.

10

Donkey Kong

The 1981 arcade antagonist who became a Nintendo headliner in his own right.

11

Astro Bot

The little robot from Team Asobi's games, now PlayStation's most-used modern mascot.

12

Kirby

Nintendo's pink sphere who solves problems by inhaling them.

13

Solid Snake

Metal Gear's infiltrator, the face of PlayStation's most cinematic series.

14

Spyro the Dragon

Insomniac's purple dragon, the other mascot platformer of the original PlayStation.

15

Samus Aran

Metroid's bounty hunter, and the reveal that reframed a whole genre in 1986.

16

Sackboy

LittleBigPlanet's knitted hero, PlayStation's family-facing mascot of the PS3 years.