Top 100 Video Game Characters of All Time

[The Mask of Norro]

"All Your Base Are Belong To Us." - Cats, Zero Wing for the Sega Mega Drive

The votes have been put together, and now I will explain to all of you the reasons for the nominations thread's numerical voting system: should there be a tie in scoring the final votes, the points earned from how many nominations each character earned in the nominations thread will be used to break those ties.

There are 140 characters that have been nominated to make the Top 100. Every voter is allowed 100 'points' to spread out over the multitude of characters. To ensure that we don't have an incident where a small number of characters get all the votes and a massive number go un-voted on, you will only be allowed to use up to 10 points on the same character.

I'll keep voting open for a week. If more votes are needed to decide on the Top 100 after a week, voting will be extended to allow others the chance to get their votes in. Once again, there is a 10-point limit per character! Do NOT give a single character more then 10 points, because if you do, I will only count the first 10 and discard the rest!

Send ALL votes via PM to me titled "Top 100 Voting", so I can recognize them from any other PMs I may receive!

With that all said, here are your nominated characters:

A

Agent 47 (Hitman Series)

Akuma (Street Fighter Series)

Albert Wesker (Resident Evil Series)

Alessa Gillespie (Silent Hill)

"Alucard" Adrian Fahrenheit Tepes (Castlevania Series)

Ash (Pokemon)

Axel (Kingdom Hearts Series)

Axel Stone (Streets of Rage Series)

B

Balthier (Final Fantasy XII)

The Bard (The Bard's Tale)

Barret Wallace (Final Fantasy VII)

Barry Burton (Resident Evil Series)

B.B. Hood (Darkstalkers)

Bernard Bernoulli (Maniac Mansion Series)

Biggs & Wedge (Final Fantasy Series)

Blanka (Street Fighter Series)

Bomberman (Bomberman Series)

Bowser Koopa (Super Mario Series)

C

Carl Johnson (GTA: San Andreas)

Cats (Zero Wing)

Cecil Harvey (Final Fantasy IV)

Chris Redfield (Resident Evil Series)

Conker (Conker Series)

Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)

Crash Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot Series)

Crono (Chrono Trigger)

D

Daniel Fortesque (Medievil)

Dante (Devil May Cry Series)

Death (Castlevania Series)

Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong Country Series)

Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Series)

Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem Series)

Dynamite Headdy (Dynamite Headdy)

E

Eddie Wachowski (SSX Tricky)

F

Fighter (Final Fantasy)

Flonne (Disgaea Series)

Frank West (Dead Rising)

Frog (Chrono Trigger)

The Frog (Frogger)

G

Gordon Freeman (Half-Life)

Goro (Mortal Kombat Series)

Guan Yu (Dynasty Warriors Series)

Gunther Hermann (Deus Ex)

Guybrush Threepwood (Monkey Island Series)

H

Harry (Pitfall Series)

Harry Mason (Silent Hill)

HK-47 (KOTOR Series)

I

Ico (Ico)

Iori Yagami (King of Fighters Series)

J

Jim Raynor (Starcraft)

Jon Irenicus (Baldur's Gate 2)

Jops (Cannon Fodder)

K

Kage-Maru (Virtua Fighter Series)

Kane (Command & Conquer Series)

Kazuya Mishima (Tekken Series)

Kefka (Final Fantasy VI)

Ken Masters (Street Fighter Series)

Ken Rosenberg (GTA: Vice City)

Kent Paul (GTA: Vice City)

Kickle (Kickle Cubicle)

The King of All Cosmos (Katamari Series)

King Graham (King Quest Series)

King Slender (Pro Wrestling)

Kirby (Kirby Series)

Knuckles (Sonic The Hedgehog Series)

Koudelka Iasant (Shadow Hearts Series)

Kratos (God of War Series)

Kuja (Final Fantasy IX)

L

Lara Croft (Tomb Raider Series)

Larry Laffer (Leisure Suit Larry Series)

Leon Kennedy (Resident Evil Series)

Li Long (Soul Series)

Link (Leggend of Zelda Series)

Liquid Snake (Metal Gear Solid Series)

Liu Kang (Mortal Kombat Series)

Luc (Suikoden Series)

Luigi (Super Mario Series)

M

M. Bison (Street Fighter Series)

Magus (Chrono Trigger)

Manny Calavera (Grim Fandango)

Max Payne (Max Payne Series)

The Marine (Doom Series)

Mario (Super Mario Series)

Master Chief (Halo Series)

Max Damage & The Red Eagle (Carmageddon Series)

Medivh (Warcraft Series)

Megaman (Megaman Series)

Mifune (Way of the Samurai 2)

Mike Toreno (GTA: San Andreas)

N

Nameless One (Planescape: Torment)

Ness (Earthbound)

Nightmare (Soul Series)

P

Pacman (Pacman Series)

Pirate LeChuck (Monkey Island Series)

Prince Alexander (King's Quest Series)

Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid Series)

Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2)

Q

Quistis Trepe (Final Fantasy VIII)

R

Ranger (Quake)

Rash (Battletoads)

Reno (Final Fantasy VII)

Revolver Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid Series)

Riku (Kingdom Hearts Series)

Rincewind the Wizzard (Discworld Series)

Robert Foster (Beneath A Steel Sky)

Roger Wilco (Space Quest Series)

Ryu (Street Fighter Series)

Ryuta Ippoingi (Osu! Tatakae Ouendan!)

S

Sagat (Street Fighter Series)

Sam & Max (Sam & Max Series)

Sam Stone (Serious Sam Series)

Samus Aran (Metroid Series)

Sarah Kerrigan (Starcraft)

Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)

Shao Kahn (Mortal Kombat)

'Sim' (The Sims Series)

Simon Belmont (Castlevania Series)

Soda Popinski (Punchout!)

Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid Series)

Sonic The Hedgehog (Sonic The Hedgehog Series)

Spider-Man (Spiderman Series)

Spyro (Spyro The Dragon Series)

Stan (Monkey Island)

Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat Series)

T

Thrall (Warcraft Series)

Toad (Super Mario Series)

Toejam (Toejam & Earl Series)

Tommy Vercetti (GTA: Vice City)

Tony Montana (Scarface: The World Is Yours)

Tourette Voerman (VtM: Bloodlines)

Tseng (Final Fantasy VII)

V

Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII Series)

Vivi Ornitier (Final Fantasy IX)

Vulcan Raven (Metal Gear Solid Series)

W

Walton Simons (Deus Ex)

Wario (Super Mario Series)

Y

Yoshi (Super Mario Series)

Z

Zelda (Legend of Zelda Series)

Zero (Megaman X Series)

GET TO VOTING! The deadline for votes is on June 12th, 11:59PM EST. (I'd say midnight, but people could confuse themselves and think it a day earlier)

This damn thing took me ages to finish putting together, and I'm expecting a good turn-out in voting! All comments, discussions and whatnot about the Top 100 may be done here. Do NOT post your votes here, however, as they will NOT be counted. They must be PMed to me.

Edited June 12, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[The Mask of Norro]

Shit, I'm missing two.

EDIT: Fixed, they're in now.

Edited June 6, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

Would it be acceptable to list in the thread the characters you voted for(without points), and explain why you voted for them, and why others should vote for them too?

Edited June 6, 2007 by Fanku Kaibutsu

[Liam]

The lack of Auron upsets me.

It also shows that I have narrow-charactered, FF-love >_>

[Momo]

The lack of Seifer and Edea upsets me. The inclusion of Kuja and Vivi cheers me up a little.

Clearly I'm a fanboy.

[The Mask of Norro]

Would it be acceptable to list in the thread the characters you voted for(without points), and explain why you voted for them, and why others should vote for them too?

Sure thing. Debates/discussions about the characters you think should win are acceptable, just keep it friendly.

[619 fan]

The lack of Tekken characters saddens me, I deffinatly think Eddie Gordo should be up there or at least Heihachi or Jin!

[The Mask of Norro]

Honestly, alot of the characters voted for are a bit out of left-field. I was shocked some major characters from major game series weren't included, so when it came down to me adding in my own votes, I really tried to focus on characters that deserved notoriety more from various games (Vincent Valentine being such an integral character in FF7 that he got his own game despite being a side-character in the original, Battletoads was made to combat the incredible success TMNT was having in the game industry with Rash as their central character, Cats having such undeniable memorability in popular culture due to the "All Your Base" mess-up, etc.), but I made sure to limit myself to 10 votes as well, so who I could add in was very limited.

This is the first "Top 100" I'm running, but based on the response from everyone involved, I may make it a quarterly thing for Coin Op to participate in and keep up interest.

Always interesting to see how opinions change/what constant favorites remain throughout each voting period n'all that.

THAT BEING SAID... still waiting on more votes, folks! Despite the number of nomination votes I received within a 24 hour period, I've only received 6 people's votes thus far. Definitely going to need more then that.

Edited June 6, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

Samus Aran is, in my opinion, the greatest female video game character ever. Not only was she the first female central character, not only did she prove the predominantly male video game market would accept a female playable character, she remains a popular and iconic figure in the world of video games without developers or marketers focusing on sex appeal to sell her games. She's proof that a female character can make it in games without having her titties all out jigglin' for everyone and the world to see.

And what the hell, 'Sim' from The Sims? How is that a character? If Bella Goth, or the Social Bunny were included, that would make sense, but just "Sim"? That's like saying "Martial Artist"(Tekken Series). I move that 'Sim' be disqualified!

[The Mask of Norro]

'Sim' applies to any singular character created by the player, as the sole classification of what that character has created is called a "Sim", and a group of such individuals would make up a family, which is the basis of the series' title, "The Sims"

Therefore, 'Sim' fits into the category of a singular character because any singular 'Sim' in the game could arguably be just as important to the player as any other (not including the player's own created 'Sim').

[The Mask of Norro]

As of my updates based on the last set of votes I've received, approximately 67 characters have broken the "0 Points" mark, meaning that 67 are now in proper contention in the Top 100. Definitely going to need more votes if I hope not to have to rely too heavily on the nominations scores.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

'Sim' applies to any singular character created by the player, as the sole classification of what that character has created is called a "Sim", and a group of such individuals would make up a family, which is the basis of the series' title, "The Sims"

Therefore, 'Sim' fits into the category of a singular character because any singular 'Sim' in the game could arguably be just as important to the player as any other (not including the player's own created 'Sim').

[The Mask of Norro]

While that is indeed a sexy Sim scene, I have to inquire why the blue haired one's ASS IS INVISIBLE (EDIT: Upon further review, it appears she does not have an invisible ass, and that is in fact the run-off of her mesh shirt. She does, however, have an incredibly tiny ass.)

Also, as far as the CAWs in Wrestling Games: not at all. "The Sims" is based around a world of individuals, each known as a "Sim" which the character can create or control. Because the game itself revolves around them, a single "Sim" can represent a plethora of different Sims, whereas a CAW in a wrestling game is nothing more than an addition to the game itself.

Using the term "Sim" to describe a singular character is basically saying that any one 'Sim' could represent it, including the base body structure for a sim character of any age, race or gender.

Edited June 7, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[The Red Reuben]

How does Bonk get absolutely no love?

It's a shame, really.

[The Mask of Norro]

Once again, people, I did not control who got in and who didn't. I had only a modest measure in voting on my own preferred 10, and that was it

Curse those who voted for not voting on your favorites, but damn it, submit your own preferred characters from the list that was made by them. There's always next time >_>

Edited June 7, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

Sims are renowned for their lack of junk in the trunk . And it still doesn't make sense to me how a Sim would classify as an individual character anymore than 'human' classifies as a character. I'm just gonna drop the subject, and hope nobody votes for it.

Moving on to something else you mention, Norris, I think I know why few people voted for 'major' characters from major franchises(assuming I'm understanding you right)-A lot of the iconic characters in video games really aren't good characters. Their games may be amazing, but they aren't. Look at Mario, or Link. They don't have any real personality to them, or history, or emotion, or anything that makes a good character a good character. They're one dimensional. Who would you rather see a movie about? Mario or Max Payne? Sonic or CJ? Who's a better villain? Bowser who abducts a princess every once in a while, for no discernable purpose, or Kefka, who in addition to manipulating an empire, is one of the most obnoxious and dickish characters I've ever seen in any medium?

Yeah, Mario Brothers, Legend of Zelda, Sonic, Battletoads may be amazing games, but their central characters aren't.

[The Mask of Norro]

You completely misunderstood me

I was saying that they were voting for very obscure characters from non-major games, and that was what surprised me.

I was shocked some major characters from major game series weren't included, so when it came down to me adding in my own votes, I really tried to focus on characters that deserved notoriety more from various games

The 'various games' comment was meant more of "not just from one game, but many"

As far as the Sim issue: the idea behind the Sims is that you can "Make Your Own Sim", so if anything, 'Sim' could probably just be classified as the singular character that the player builds their own off of. Would that seem more fair a description to allow it into the standings? Because that 'character' is integral to the series, which is an important series in computer games.

Edited June 7, 2007 by The Mask of Norro

[The Mask of Norro]

Still no votes came in... people, we had so many votes in the nomination thread. You realize you can just repeat your damn votes by giving all of them 10 points each if you want, or sub a few for ones you like better

We just need votes, really. There were so many for the nominations, it's a bit disappointing the same people didn't turn up for this just yet.

[Venom]

Here's hoping that a large enough number of people vote for Magus, I'd really love to see him with a respectable spot.

Besides a few that I felt obligated to vote for due to name value, I found myself only able to vote for Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy characters (except for Magus).

[The Mask of Norro]

76 characters have now broken the 0 Points mark, not bad at all. Still though, we need more votes if we expect 100 or more characters to get put into contention.

One things for certain: the race for 1st place is very close between just a small handful of characters. It's actually kind-of exciting.