Top 100 Video Game Characters of All Time

[TEOL]

Fight the power Kaney. Stand up for Little Mac.

That's what this is about, right?

[Kaney]

Kaney, I could have placed quality control on it, but I figured that, with this being the first attempt at this, I could gauge reactions to certain characters so that, if the general consensus was that it shouldn't appear on there, it'd be blocked from the next list.

Fact is, I'm running this thing, I'm not controlling it. You, the voters, are controlling it. I wasn't going to block any character that was, well, a character, from being allowed in (unless they were a real life character ala Triple H off the WWE games). I was, however, going to see what people thought of "pseudo-characters" getting voted on, since they were.

Since you're bitching about it, I take it you don't like it. Considering the fact that a few others are too, I'll be considering denying certain characters their go next time around. However, if majority determines that certain characters should be allowed/disallowed, I'm following that majority. I'm just here to talk about characters, put together a list compiled by all of you, and run this thing as often as I can for fun.

Fuck off, I'm not bitching, I'm expressing my opinion. Or would you rather people just posted one line about how they like so and so and leave? I just think it's really silly having a top 100 list put together made up of characters that are THAT awful

[The Mask of Norro]

Yes you are bitching, you totally are bitching

But I'm glad you're expressing your opinion, just like I was glad Fanku was expressing his. Did you pick and read parts to my reply to you? I told you, I'm gouging reactions: a lack of reaction, be it bad or good, would provide fuck all help for me to gauge anything

I do agree though, some of the character choices are silly. What can I say though? This was an experiment, as most firsts like these usually are, and chances are the second one will improve on the poor choices of this one

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Mate, I get depressed every year with the sexy women list or the top bands list....But it IS the opinion of the board and not just me. Other people have useless taste, the end.

Edited June 18, 2007 by ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

If I'd've noticed the frog being nominated(the Frogger one, not the one with the sword.), I'd've complained about that too. Including the Frog is like including the triangle from Asteroid, or the paddle from Pong.

[The Mask of Norro]

The paddle from Pong had more charisma then you have in your pinky, good sir!

But seriously, there ARE lines I would have drawn on characters had they been nominated, but for the first time at this, I wanted to be lenient and see the results.

[Robsturgh]

But then you get into the argument of should characters like Mario and Sonic get in? Because sure they are gaming heroes and the two single most recognisable characters in gaming history. But they have absolutely no backstory and have no real personality (unhealthy obsession with rings/coins and princesses/small animals does NOT count), but I'll be damned if they wouldnt be in a list of my top 100 characters.

[Kaney]

I'd say they should get in, as the games they feature in pretty much are their stories, so to speak. They might not have detailed pasts with every day up till they came of age written down in a manual somewhere but through the games they achieved a whole shit load, they have their own nemesis to battle and each has an incentive to provoke their heroic actions. Fat little plumber goes on a mission to save a princess from an evil dragon king counts as a worthy story for a game. Anthroposised hedgehog saving furry little creatures and their world from fat mustachioed evil guy counts as a worthy quest. Crossing the fucking road doesn't.

Like Fanku said, it's not so much a personality, or lack of, that matters, it's the fact that games like Frogger aren't played because you care about the frog. It's played for the challenge, to see if you can complete the puzzle of getting from one side to the other. The frog itself could have been replaced with a million other items and the game itself would have remained the exact same, as would your feelings toward the 'character'. It's simply the medium through which the game is played. Once more Fanku says exactly what I would have if I wasn't so grumpy/lazy.

I don't see it as bitching though, it's just the opposite end of the argument and you know I'm not one to hold my tongue for the sake of niceties. It's not my fault you're not man enough to handle constructive criticism, Norris >_>

[The Mask of Norro]

It's bitching because you're complaining about a frog, and the fact that I like to make you out to be the bad guy that you are. I KNOW THE TRUTH, DAMN IT!.

Anyway, I've handled the criticism fine, it's just that each character can be equally considered worthy for contention AND unworthy, and since you guys were only shouting about how unworthy they were, I figured I'd speak up for the other side to be fair.

[Kaney]

Argue that Frogger should be higher than Wesker. Go on >_>

[Robsturgh]

Argue that Frogger should be higher than Wesker. Go on >_>

[The Mask of Norro]

I can't argue that at all, damn it, nor could I argue why King Slender even made the list. All I'm good for is arguing that they do qualify as characters.

Now, whether they qualify for such a good spot on the list falls on the opinions of others. Personally? I agree with you: Frogger shouldn't beat Wesker. BUT, Frogger got in, people voted, and Frogger got more votes

Maybe next time Frogger won't make it/be accepted. I'm not arguing about the place someone got, I'm arguing that they at least do qualify to make it on the list.

[GoGo Yubari]

... so am I the only one more interested in the list actually moving on than debating what is essentially a moot point for this particular list in the first place?

[Quom]

It would seem so. I'm personally trying not to throw too big a tantrum over a video game poll but I'm finding it really, really, really hard.

[Bushmeister]

You're not alone, GoGo. I can see the point in someone being upset over Frogger being on the list (although crying for Albert Wesker, a character from perhaps the most haphazard game series ever, seems a bit redundant to me ), but I didn't nominate or vote for any such characters, so I don't care. And on the plus side, pretty much everyone who I voted for is either still coming or didn't even make the list at all, so I'm still riding the suspense train

[The Mask of Norro]

I'm going fast as I can guys, got alot going on though

Here, I'll get to work on another one right now before I go to bed. It's just been a busy week, what with finals and all.

[Fanku Kaibutsu]

I have an idea.

As Norro has said, this list is a purely democratic thing. As such, we, the collective of EWB, are responsible for the place each character gets. More specifically, the people who vote for the characters are responsible for their places. So, I suggest that each character on the list has the amount of points they received, and a list of the people who voted for them posted in their entry. This way, we'll know exactly who is to blame for the likes of King Slender and 'Sim' making the list.

[The Mask of Norro]

Problem with that is I wanted the votes to be a secretive thing, to respect the privacy of te voters like most lists do. Couple that with the fact that the way I judged points was a) initial voting scores, if tied then b) with nomination points, if still tied then c) with number of voters who voted on them, and if STILL tied then d) with number of voters who nominated them. So, basically, some characters won off of sheer quantity to break a tie, and others won simply because they had the higher score from voting.

I will say this though: if you look at the nomination thread, about half the people there to 3/4 voted in the actual thing, and of those, most voted highest for who they nominated in the first place.

[The Mask of Norro]

75 to 71 posted!

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

So what if they've got no backstory, they're still characters and SOMEONE must have liked Frogger enough to vote for him. He's no more or less deserving than Pacman. Not all characters need a "deep and complex backstory" to make an impression on someone when they play a game. For example the characters on Cannon Fodder have no backstory whatsoever (the first four - Jops, Jools, Rich and Stu are members of the production team but that's it) but I'm always still gutted when the last of those four die because it's the end of an era in the game - no more of the original characters!

I think arguing over who should or shouldn't be in is a little pointless, and as GoGo says, we should just get on and talk about the genius of Ico and the like. Afterall, these are still the lower reaches of the chart - characters who probably scored no more than 15 -20 points in total (that's like TWO people voting for them) so if Frogger was number 1 then I see your issue but as it is, I'd imagine very few people voted for him anyway, so no big deal.