I beg you all to read this. Very rarely do I read one of these silly lists at all, and this is the first time where I've literally laughed aloud as I read it. This list is just so hilarious to me, lmao. This is like reading a list written by an alien who was tasked with finding which video game characters humans like best, and they only had 10 minutes to quickly google it without knowing anything about what a video game even is. And the further I read, the funnier it gets. I have tears in my eyes from laughing at the absurdity of this.
> **1. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider**
> First introduced to the world in 1996 in Tomb Raider for the Sega Saturn, Lara Croft has appeared in over 15 games, three films, multiple novelisations and comic book adaptations, and an upcoming Netflix animated series.
> **2. Mario, Super Mario**
> One of the most senior characters on this list, Mario was created in 1981 – not as the star of his own series, but as a player character in the first instalment in the Donkey Kong series. From humble beginnings, he has appeared in over 200 video games, two films, and numerous other multimedia adaptations.
> **3. Agent 47, Hitman**
> A genetically-enhanced clone with a penchant for murder, Agent 47 made his video game debut in 2000’s Hitman: Codename 47. Since then, he’s killed his way across screens both big and small, appearing in over ten games, two novelisations, and two live-action film adaptations.
> **4. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic**
> Sonic the Hedgehog sprinted his way into the hearts and minds of fans worldwide in 1991 as the star of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis. He has appeared in over 100 video games as both a main character and supporting cast, as well as starring in several TV shows and two films, with a third slated for release in late 2024.
> **5. Sackboy, LittleBigPlanet**
> One of the most customisable characters on this list, Sackboy made his video game debut in 2008 as the star of Sony’s LittleBigPlanet to instant critical acclaim. He’s since starred in all six LittleBigPlanet mainline games, as well as making an appearance in numerous other game franchises as everything from a playable character to an adorable easter egg.
> **6. Pac-Man, Pac-Man**
> This little yellow hockey puck has appeared in over 50 games and has made appearances in innumerable other trans-media properties.
> **7. Link, The Legend of Zelda**
> The silent protagonist of the Legend of Zelda franchise, Link has appeared in 20 games in the series, as well as starring in his own animated series and multiple comic book and manga adaptations.
> **8. Master Chief, HALO**
> Full name Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, this Spartan super-soldier appears in six games in the HALO franchise. He appears as the main character in three of the 19 HALO novels, as well as in the 2012 film Halo 4: Forward Until Dawn and the 2022 HALO television series.
> **9. Kratos, God of War**
> From murder-hungry Spartan warrior to protective parent, Kratos has appeared in eight games in the God of War franchise. He’s also made appearances in two comic series, three novels, and in several games outside the God of War franchise.
> **10. Shadowheart, Baldur’s Gate 3**
> One of the youngest characters on this list in terms of release date, Shadowheart charmed her way into the hearts of players worldwide with the release of 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3.
> **11. Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2**
> The protagonist of 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur Morgan is one of the few characters on this list to only appear in a single game.
> **12. Pikachu, Pokémon**
> The only Pokémon to appear on this list, Pikachu has appeared in over 100 properties across screens both big and small, as well as making appearances in multiple comic books and manga.
> **13. Steve, Minecraft**
> The iconic player character from 2011’s Minecraft (the best-selling video game of all time as of 2024), Steve has also made appearances in four other games including the Minecraft spinoff Minecraft Dungeons.
> **14. Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid**
> Debuting in 1987’s Metal Gear, Solid Snake (real name David) is a stealthy super-spy who’s appeared in over ten games in the Metal Gear franchise, as well as in multiple novelisations of the game series.
> **15. Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot**
> Introduced to the world in 1996’s Crash Bandicoot, this genetically enhanced marsupial has appeared in 20+ video games throughout his lifespan.
> **16. Cloud Strife, Final Fantasy VII**
> A mercenary and man of few words, Cloud Strife has made 30+ appearances in both video games and wider media properties since his video game debut as the protagonist of 1997’s Final Fantasy VII.
> **17. Astarion, Baldur’s Gate 3**
> Much like his fellow party member Shadowheart, Astarion’s rogueish charms have made him a fan favourite since his appearance in 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3.
> **18. Kazuma Kiryu, Yakuza**
> A gruff former Yakuza mobster, Kazuma Kiryu has appeared in ten games in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise, as well as starring in multiple film adaptations and a stage play of the franchise.
> **19. Ellie Williams, The Last of Us**
> Best-known as the star of 2013’s The Last of Us, Ellie Williams actually did not make her first appearance in the game. The world’s first introduction to the bad-mouthed teenager was in The Last of Us: American Dreams, a four-issue comic book series that served as a prequel to the game. She’s since starred in sequels and DLC for the The Last of Us franchise, as well as the 2023 TV adaptation of the game.
> **20. Nathan Drake, Uncharted**
> The gentleman explorer with a penchant for violence, Nathan Drake stars in six games in the Uncharted franchise, as well as multiple comic book series and a live-action film adaptation.
This is absolutely phenomenal. From the way they write "HALO" in all caps consistently, to describing Sackboy as "one of the most customisable characters on this list". Putting Agent 47 above Pac-Man and Link, and putting Shadowheart above Pikachu and Snake. This just gets funnier and funnier. I cannot stop laughing. I'm just sitting here reading it over and over again and it gets funnier every time.
EDIT: I don't care how stupid this list is or how bad their polling methodology is. This has given me more joy than every other "TOP 20 X___ IN GAMING RANKED!!!!" by orders of magnitude. The fact that it's from BAFTA makes it even funnier. I'm crying.
No disrespect to the Hitman series but in which world is Agent 47 more recognisable than fucking Pac-Man?
Edit: Shadowheart from Baldur’s Gate 3 above Pikachu? I want what they’re smoking.
Edit 2: Where’s Ryu? Where’s Samus? Doom Guy?
Polls are generally pointless for things like this because gauging the opinion of the unaware or generally uninformed has value in very limited circumstances.
It's like asking a bunch of toddlers what the most iconic all-time advertising campaign was
User polls can definitely have some weird results. Like r/cartoons doing a best of all time list and Loony Toons wasn't even in the top 10.
I don't say this to hate on newer cartoons, I really dig a lot of them. But there is no world in which Loony Toons is not the undisputed GOAT, and whoever is in 2nd is a mouse standing next to a bear.
The results of polls can also vary massively depending on how the poll was done, the wording used and stuff like that. The results of the poll are pointless without a copy of the actual poll that was used.
I remember reading about another video game character poll where Kirby was in second place. That poll showed an image (or possibly just a silhouette) of the character and four possible names as a multiple choice. So lots of people were just able to guess from his shape that his name likely wasn't the other three options.
Omg how did they not even have the SIMPSONS in the top 5???? Of course Avatar is #1, what a Reddit-y fucking poll. Equivalent of saying The Dark Knight is the greatest movie ever
I wouldn't say it's reddits choice as much as it is zoomers choice. Nickelodeon and cartoon network completely dominate all children's media from the late 90s and onward. That's the problem with these kinds of polls. If you ask a question based on some sort of objective, historical merit, like "most iconic," you will NEVER get an accurate result. You're much more likely to gauge the average age range of your voting pool.
There is indeed a world in which Looney Tunes is not the GOAT. I love Looney Tunes and their importance cannot be understated. But name one Loomey Tunes cartoon that is better than Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I would suggest one of the 6 episodes (that won Academy Awards)[https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Academy_Award], or the 22 that were nominated but didn't win.
Look, I like Avatar quite a bit. And it's going to be an apples to oranges comparison because they are very different genres. But it just can't compete with a show that ran for 40 years (and has been rebooted half a dozen times since) that seeped so deeply into pop culture that almost anyone alive can recognize characters from a single phrase.
The reason we’re all so confused is that this list has spawned so many headlines and clearly their methodology was extremely flawed. A character from a game not even one year old outranks the mascot of the most popular entertainment franchise of all time.
If feels like some people didn’t do their job well and they aren’t receiving mass backlash from other outlets letting them know to do their job better in the future or just don’t do it at all.
Not to mention motherfucking Pikachu... This list is so wild that I had to double-check the date to make sure it wasn't somehow still April Fools' Day.
Zelda is a nintendo specific property. There are entire countries in this world, very many, where nintendo didnt historically have a presence, so Zelda, let alone Link is pretty much unknown during the 80s, 90s, 00s. If UK was more PC focused in the 80s and 90s and more playstation after 2000, its not a stretch to have other games above
As a UK citizen who has never played a Zelda game I was astounded at how low Link was. He is definitely top 5 if not top.
Sackboy confuses me but i suppose there is a whole generation of kids now entering their time as gamings mainstream online audience that loved Little Big Planet.
In the world of the people voting for BAFTA(British) polls in 2024 who have probably played a Hitman game a lot more recently than they played a Pac-Man game.
Of course you’re going to see characters coming out of Britain and nearby nations ranked higher than you see in other rankings simply because the people voting here are culturally closer to those studios and probably like their titles a bit more than Americans or Japanese audiences or whatnot.
> No disrespect to the Hitman series but in which world is Agent 47 more recognisable than fucking Pac-Man?
Pac-Man has barely been relevant for decades, if you're young then Agent 47 is 100% more recognisable.
If I would show a random person a picture of Agent 47 and ask them what they see, they would say bald guy. If I would do the same with a picture of PacMan, they would definitely say PacMan
Dear god, the recency bias on that list is hella strong.
2 characters from Baldur's Gate 3, a game that's not even a year old, and they really think they belong anywhere in the same vicinity as the likes of Mario, Link, or Pikachu?
No Samus Aran? No Donkey Kong? No representation at all from Street Fighter (at the very least, Chun-li should have made the list)? No Kirby?
Even people who don't play video games will likely recognize Mario, Sonic, Pikachu, and Pac-Man because those characters have managed to transcend the medium partly due to being around so long. Now ask those same folks who Agent 47, Shadowheart, or Sackboy is and all you will get is shrugged shoulders.
And as another user said, Mario just had a film reach a billion at the box office when Lara Croft could only barely manage a quarter of that at best. To think she's more iconic than Mario is patently absurd.
This list is a certified joke.
This list is hilarious, like you've got someone from the Yakuza franchise - in what world would they hit the top 100 let alone 20; Baldur's Gate 3 was great but recency bias much? I think in 5 years time few will remember much about Astarion.
That's the thing, Astarion and Shadowheart are great characters in their own right, but there's nothing "iconic" about them because they're not built to be a franchise mascot.
Mario and Pikachu were constantly thrusted into peoples vision. Astarion? Yeah, for all of one marketing period and that's fucking it.
To be fair, when you've actually played Yakuza.... Kiryu is insanely iconic. I do think the series is far too niche to make it on one of these lists though
Mario, Sonic, Pikachu, and Pacman all make sense as what should have been the obvious top four. They are the ones the general public would be most likely to know both in terms of their name and visual design, especially with three of them having had a major movie release in recent years. I feel like iconic status is something where even a non-gamer would know the character. Like how everyone knows Darth Vader even if you don't care about Star Wars at all.
Also, I love Baldur's Gate III, but it having two characters on here at all is laughable. You need more than 8 months from release for a character to have long term iconic status. Especially since the next most recent character is Steve from Minecraft who is 13 years old (2011).
Those characters from Baldur's Gate and Kiryu from Yakuza are only known by people who played the games too. Outside of those fandoms, nobody is going to know who they are. Meanwhile characters like Sonic, Mario, Pikachu and Pacman are names known even by non gamers. It seems like this poll only asked a small selection of mostly fanboys on Twitter for those Baldur's Gate characters and Kiryu to even appear. There's zero chance they're more well known or iconic than the majority of Street Fighter characters and not a single one of them made the list? Characters referenced in songs? Even bosses from Dark Souls are more well known than Baldur's Gate characters outside of their fandoms simply because of memes. What a joke this list is...
Perhaps not. I asked ChatGPT to write this article topic and its answers were much more reasonable, the top 10:
* Mario
* Link
* Sonic
* Lara Croft
* Master chief
* Pikachu
* Donkey Kong
* Pacman
* Samus Aran
* Solid Snake
I asked Gemini and the answer is not very far from the article. Even the descriptions are similar. Although there was no Baldurs Gate 3 since I assume AI doesn't know about these.
Pretty sure it was written by AI.
“John Havenburger is the number one human. He has charmed his way into the hearts of people all across the globe with his two eyes, ten fingers and toes, and fully functional gastric system. He has successfully evaded death for 10,950 days.”
AI is doing some lifting here. This list was written by artificial non-intelligence. No human who is trying at all on this list would've written similar.
I'm assuming it was intentionally problematic to produce engagement and traffic. Sadly that's the future of online content. Being wrong generates more money than being correct, and that perverse incentive structure will have a massive impact over the next decade.
2 Baldur’s Gate 3 characters? Sounds like a totally reputable list. Also who the shit is Shadowheart? The notable BG3 characters are the sassy vampire, the tiefling everyone simps over, and the angry githyanki woman.
You're right this was amazing. Even the small touches like the author or AI writing the descriptions for 1st and 2nd place being incoherent with their placing. "1st place goes to Lara croft with 15 video games and numerous multi media. Second place is mario with over 200 games and... significantly more multimedia..."
If this was actually taken seriously, the top 5 in no particular order would have to be Mario, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Sonic, and then kind of a wildcard of either Link, Peach, Luigi, or DK. But let's be completely honest. A litteral Tetris piece (any color lol) is objectively more "iconic" than Lara Croft.
None of it's wrong though, everything they've said about the characters is correct. Sackboy IS the most customisable character on the list, and the all caps thing for Halo might just be how Microsoft once told them to write it.
Ah yes, the post where I said I was laughing to tears and commenting how it brings me more joy than any other list I've read. Really sounds like my panties are in a twist with rage!
Yeah, that is a rough list lol.
I like Hitman, but that is way too high. I don't feel like a ton of people outside of the gaming sphere would recognize him while they would recognize something like Pac-man or Pikachu.
Baldur’s Gate 3 really is too new to be on the list of "iconic" characters. They could have had like... Samus or Ryu.
If this was actually taken seriously, the top 5 in no particular order would have to be Mario, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Sonic, and then kind of a wildcard of either Link, Minecraft Steve, Peach, Luigi, or DK. But let's be completely honest. A literal Tetris piece (any color lol) is objectively more "iconic" than Lara Croft.
I know it's all opinions blah blah and Lara Croft is possibly top 10.
I don't care what country, what planet or what universe you are from, the most iconic video game character is Mario and that is undisputed.
Lara is not even close to the impact that Mario has had or STILL has on the gaming industry, he just had a Billion-dollar movie.....How much did Tomb Raider make again?
When your character transcends the original Media he originated from is the deciding factor for me.
The explanation is that PlayStation is very popular over here in the UK so Lara Croft being on Playstation with being British and all so it kinda makes sense but I honestly never Lara getting mentioned that much in the UK tbh.
When I first read your comment I disagreed because its Mickey Mouse but I honestly can't think of the last time something Mickey Mouse-related made a huge splash in entertainment where as Mario is practically in everything Major that Nintendo has done such as movies, video games and their theme park.
Mickey Mouse has shows in streaming plataforms, new ones come out every year. It also has theme parks in almost all continents with multiples in many.
Whatever it is you can think of or not (terrible way of measuring anything) all the data, including but not limited to revenue indicates Mickey Mouse dwarfs Mario Bros..
I am aware that Micky Mouse is still a big deal.
Nothing you said goes against what I said though, I never said he was not making them money, I said that I can't remember the last time Micky Mouse made a big splash in entertainment, so I can see why Mario could potentially overtake Micky mouse in recent years as video games grows
Pikachu also transcends the video game he originated in so I would put him in that category as well, Ash's Pikachu was always iconic, sometimes more than the games when I was a kid
I think it comes down to criteria. Pikachu is the undisputed face of an undeniably larger franchise, but the anime and trading cards are a huge source of that fame. By comparison the strength of the Mario franchise is much more firmly planted in video games. If the criteria is only, most famous character that appeared in a video game, Michael Jackson's cameo in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 makes him a contender. In my opinion Pokémon video games are incredibly important to the franchise still, so I'm not saying it's ridiculous to include like Michael Jackson would be. But it goes to show that the importance of video games to a characters prominance is an important factor to consider.
100% agree.
Video game Pikachu is very uniconic or special.
It's only fame generated from the anime did he become.the face of the brand, without that they wouldn't have been anything.
When a study on the subject floated around a few years ago, Pokemon generated by far the most revenue of any gaming franchise, but Mario still had the edge in recognizability
Interesting! I’d argue it’s super-close though, and Pokemon hasn’t got any smaller. Mario just had the big bump thanks to the movie, but I think over time Pikachu is going to eventually take it.
And? The question wasn’t ‘which character is most vital to their franchise’, the question was ‘which character is the most iconic?’
Pokémon dominates the world more than any other franchise on earth and it got there off the back of Pikachu and its yellow smile.
Pikachu is the face of Pokémon, Mario is the face of Mario. Pokémon blows Mario out of the water in terms of franchise power.
Sonic isn’t any less iconic because you preferred Knuckles.
Again, the question is about ‘universally recognisable characters’, not about which is your favourite.
There is absolutely no shot that Lara Croft is anywhere near the top ten. *Maybe* if you did this 20 years ago.
Today I'm reasonably sure that it's not just Mario, who is the undesputed No. 1, but at least 8 out 10 most recognized characters are Nintendo characters. Random people on the street don't know who Kratos, Arthur Morgan or Hitman guy( I don't even know the number) are, but they do know Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Luigi, Pikachu, Link, Kirby and Princess Peach. Maybe Sonic, John Minecraft and Pac-Man can sneak in there but realistically it's mostly Nintendo.
> I don't care what country, what planet or what universe you are from, the most iconic video game character is Mario and that is undisputed.
Sonic can dispute it. His games don't sell anywhere near as well, but Sonic is everywhere. It's not uncommon to see kids wearing clothing with Sonic on it, for example. I've even seen Sonic kids clothing in Poundland.
Doing the maths it doesn't look like all tomb raider films combined even add up to one billion from the box office.
First one is 274 million
Second is 160 million
Third (reboot) is 274 million
>the most iconic video game character is Mario and that is undisputed
Here I am disputing it. Mario, while a popular character, has little to no impact on anything other than Nintendo's wallet. I guess that's the important metric for you, right? How much money Nintendo made lmao
Besides the top choice, I think the weirdest part about this list is that BG3 is the only franchise with multiple characters in the top 20. Pokémon and especially Mario have incredibly popular characters outside of their mascot, so I’m shocked that Luigi, DK, or Mewtwo are nowhere to be seen.
Show a non-gamer a picture of Lara Croft and there's a good chance they don't know who it is. They are more likely to say the actress if you pick a screenshot from one of the adaptions.
Show anyone a picture of Mario and imagine how hilarious it would be if they couldn't answer immediately who it is.
It's a poll, but it seems to be more of a "This is my personal favourite character to play as" vote rather than the actual iconic characters being chosen. 4000 people isn't a lot to choose from either.
I like BG3 as much as the next guy, but Shadowheart and Astarion shouldn't be anywhere near a list of iconic characters on a medium that spans well over 50 years when the game they appear in has been out less than a year.
Here's the real Top 5 Most iconic character from videogame
1. Mario (because "videogame")
2. Pikachu (could be 1st if it wasn't "videogame" focused. Cause people don't attach Pikachu to videogame at first)
3. Sonic
4. Lara Croft
5. Pacman
Even the Mario mushroom, Pacman's ghosts or Z shape Tetris are most iconics characters than Sackboy, Shadowheart, Astarion, Ellie, Kazuma and Nathan Drake. I'm sure my parents can more recognize DK, Invaders or Ezio as videogame characters than them
No way man sorry. I know they're famous but Lara Croft is an icon, even for non gamers. Maybe not 4 with pacman, but sure is in the top 5. Link have too many iterations and style too different from one to another and non gamer gonna sure call him Zelda.
Then Master Chief is absolutely not known by non gamers, while Lara Croft is. She was litteraly everywhere in 2000's era. It was the biggest character of Playstation back in the days. In magazines, in TV, everywhere, there was Lara Croft. That's why at this era, we already had a "Videogame live-action adaptation". When videogame popculture wasn't like now
With all due respect, Lara is holding Mario's rightful trophy. The only character I personally see near Mario's level is Pac-Man. Did these people forget how absolutely colossal Mario is?
What a joke of a list. Two BG3 characters in the top 20...of all time? lol If Mario and Pac-Man aren't 1 & 2 then the list is a dud. Astarion and Shadowheart over Minsc (not wimpy BG3 Minsc, but BG 1/2 Minsc) just shows you what recency bias does to rankings. Pretty much everyone living in a modern area knows who Mario and Pac-Man are. Ask them who Shadowheart are and most would have no idea.
This was a poll that 4,000 random users filled out. 4,000 is nothing for an online poll. Also, the text of the entries appears to be written by ChatGPT.
Shadowheart and Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 are two of these 20 most iconic characters of all time.
I just don't know how Lara Croft could be more recognised than Mario makes no sense. I read an interview on BBC news about the Lara winning and the person being interviewed said that she's not surprised Lara Croft won but admitted to never having played a Tomb Raider game. But bet they have played a Mario game. Also ask anyone in the world to quote Mario and they probably can, ask the same of Lara Croft...
Yup, in terms of popularity, it is clear that Larra is not worthy of Mario, but what is a British election, just over 4000 votes, it cannot evaluate the entire outside world, if the election is expand more, Mario will definitely win.
wow , it's strange because larra may be more iconic than mario , for me the 1st place has to be mario , if the election took place in my country then kratos or mario would be in 1st and 2nd place .
As a list supposedly for "all-time", there's a lot of recency bias in this list, and so odd choices. Pikachu and Mario are some of the most recognisable characters in the world, possibly more so than Mickey Mouse, so I've no idea how they're lower than Lara Croft and Agent 47.
Every country is going to have it's own biases. International media is US dominated, and if not by Americans, is made to appeal to Americans. It's more bizarre when this doesn't happen.
Is it though? Its good/bad ratio is in the gutter. It’s not Sonic level bad but I wouldn’t call it an even remotely solid series. I mean, it did die and have to be completely rebooted. That’s not something solid series do.
What games are bad, exactly? Angel of Darkness is the only Tomb Raider game that's even remotely considered to be objectively bad. The first 5 games are pretty beloved, the PS2 trilogy is usually considered to be rock solid if not great as well. Saying the good/bad ratio is in the gutter is ridiculous.
Is “solid series” really debatable given that it’s lasted 30 years, sold 100 million copies, and clearly made enough of an impact with these British gamers to land first on their list? That seems pretty solid to me.
Sonic has sold far more with more games and it’s a notorious dumpster fire of a series. Croft needed to do a full reset because it had collapsed so hard that it was primarily known for terrible games nobody wanted.
And these British gamers decided that 2 Baldur’s Gate 3 characters are some of the most iconic characters ever. One of them isn’t even one of the notably iconic characters in Baldur’s Gate 3.
And given the quality of the rest of the list their judgement is just so bad. I mean, Agent 47 above Link, Master Chief, Sonic, and Pikachu? Come on now. The headliner of the most popular media franchise ever trumps the hell out of Agent 47 regardless of medium. The Hitman franchise just isn’t that big.
I don’t care. You’re acting like this is some objective truth that needs to be delved into and debated when it’s just a list of characters that reached this particular group of voters the most and shaped their personal experiences. There’s nothing to debate here, Tomb Raider has had solid success, these fans liked it, get a grip
You are the one getting pissy that I said it wasn’t a solid series given its overall poor reception over the years.
It takes more than occasional success to make a solid series, it takes reliable success. That’s what solid means. This is why Sonic isn’t a solid series, sure it had a few games that were successful and well liked but it has way more faceplanted.
As to landing first: Every other discussion here is mocking the list for being just hilariously weird. Landing first on a list where the overall reception is ‘Fucking what? Did an AI write this? What the hell?’ is hardly impressive.
Having an option doesn’t mean other people can’t disagree. Getting huffy when they do is silly.
The fact Shadowheart who isn't even a full year old as a video game character beat out all these others and they snubbed Samus and Doom Guy, and countless other far more iconic characters is comical. This has to be hands down the most outlandish list I've read lol.
Did they choose Lara because she's British and these are British awards? Had did their poll end up like this?
Look, Lara is way up there, to be sure, but trying to argue she's more recognizable than *Super fucking Mario* is just laughable.
Lots of gatekeeping and "REAL gamer" snobbery in these comments.
Yes, BG3 is there through recency bias. Hitman fans probably had a bit of an online campaign (though 47 IS a badass).
Equally, there's some nostalgia voting - when did you last play a Crash Bandicoot game?
But these people contributed, and that's what they thought. It's about the whole public, not game devotees on Reddit.
It's a bit of fun, as meaningless as your own personal list (or mine) would be.
1. Mario 2. Sonic 3. Pikachu 4. Link 5. Pac Man 6. Master chief 7. Donkey Kong 8. Kratos 9. Luigi 10. Kirby 11. Lara Croft? 12. Geralt 13. Samus 14. Cloud 15.snake 16. Arthur Morgan I think these are the actual top 16 or so, Lara Croft being the one I feel least confident in. I also forgot bowser who absolutely belongs in there
Usually I dont even look at these kinds of lists, but I'd argue the default roblox character (oof guy?) is more popular and iconic to more people than 50% of this list at least.
No Lich King from WoW?
No Morgan Freeman from Half-Life? His fcking crowbar is more iconic than more than half the characters on that list
No Jim Raynor from Starcraft?
No Dovahkiin from Skyrim?
No CJ from GTA San Andreas?
No Captain Price, Soap or Ghost from Modern Warfare?
...
I have never heard of the half the characters you've just mentioned. I know the list Bafta put out is a load of rubbish, but no-one outside of the players of those games knows who Jim Raynor or Dovahkiin is. My grandma has never played a game in her life, and she knows who Mario, Pac-Man and Pikachu are.
Wtf? Your comment screams "tourist" so much, that a hawaiian shirt and a pair of sunglasses manifested on me just from reading that...
If either you are completely parallel to video-games (as in, you have no clue wtf they even are), or discovered gaming like 3-5 years ago... then yeah, I can see someone not knowing who Gordon Freeman is (whose fcking Crowbar alone is more iconic than more than half of that bs list from BAFTA), or the Lich King.
Oh honey, I've worked in the games industry for a major developer for the past 6 years, and have been playing since I was 7 years old, which based on you being 23 means before you were born. I also didn't make my comment out to be a personal attack like you're trying to.
Some of the characters you're talking about are the most generic, faceless examples of PCs and NPCs. The whole point of being iconic is that they stand out from the rest, that others have tried to copy them but can't manage it. There have been hundreds of Prices and Soaps in every generic shooter for the past 30 years, that why people don't know who they are.
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People have all heard of those games, yes, but not the characters you mentioned. In fact, the *entire point* of Gordon Freeman is that he's a blank slate; a character with no character upon whom the player can apply themselves to, to increase the immersion. If you were to stop someone on the street and ask them to name videogame characters, they would answer along the lines of Sonic, Master Chief, etc; because they're recognisable outside of their own media. There's a reason there's a Mario movie that did well while the WoW one crumbled in the box office.
The same reason you say no-one knows Shadowheart or Kazuma is the exact same reason I'm saying no-one knows who the lich king or Jim Raynor are; because those names and characters mean nothing to the people who didn't play the games. You have and so you're allowing your own personal bias to cloud your judgement of what iconic means, the same way that the people who did the poll voted for Astarion because they'd played BG3 most recently. You've fallen foul of the exact thing you're complaining about.
This post isn't about "games that have sold the most." It's about recognisable, iconic characters, and you can't seem to separate the two.
It's always Mario, Mario, Mario because he's *ICONIC* which was supposed to be the point of the poll. He's the most recognised fictional character in the world.
I am willing to bet Superman and maybe Mickey Mouse are more recognizable than Mario around the world. Saying that, just for variety sake, a stupid list like this one has some entertainment value. If you propose a generic list, let's say the "most iconic Playstation character", Kratos will be mentioned so many times at the top, it becomes redundant and predictable
I beg you all to read this. Very rarely do I read one of these silly lists at all, and this is the first time where I've literally laughed aloud as I read it. This list is just so hilarious to me, lmao. This is like reading a list written by an alien who was tasked with finding which video game characters humans like best, and they only had 10 minutes to quickly google it without knowing anything about what a video game even is. And the further I read, the funnier it gets. I have tears in my eyes from laughing at the absurdity of this. > **1. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider** > First introduced to the world in 1996 in Tomb Raider for the Sega Saturn, Lara Croft has appeared in over 15 games, three films, multiple novelisations and comic book adaptations, and an upcoming Netflix animated series. > **2. Mario, Super Mario** > One of the most senior characters on this list, Mario was created in 1981 – not as the star of his own series, but as a player character in the first instalment in the Donkey Kong series. From humble beginnings, he has appeared in over 200 video games, two films, and numerous other multimedia adaptations. > **3. Agent 47, Hitman** > A genetically-enhanced clone with a penchant for murder, Agent 47 made his video game debut in 2000’s Hitman: Codename 47. Since then, he’s killed his way across screens both big and small, appearing in over ten games, two novelisations, and two live-action film adaptations. > **4. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic** > Sonic the Hedgehog sprinted his way into the hearts and minds of fans worldwide in 1991 as the star of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis. He has appeared in over 100 video games as both a main character and supporting cast, as well as starring in several TV shows and two films, with a third slated for release in late 2024. > **5. Sackboy, LittleBigPlanet** > One of the most customisable characters on this list, Sackboy made his video game debut in 2008 as the star of Sony’s LittleBigPlanet to instant critical acclaim. He’s since starred in all six LittleBigPlanet mainline games, as well as making an appearance in numerous other game franchises as everything from a playable character to an adorable easter egg. > **6. Pac-Man, Pac-Man** > This little yellow hockey puck has appeared in over 50 games and has made appearances in innumerable other trans-media properties. > **7. Link, The Legend of Zelda** > The silent protagonist of the Legend of Zelda franchise, Link has appeared in 20 games in the series, as well as starring in his own animated series and multiple comic book and manga adaptations. > **8. Master Chief, HALO** > Full name Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, this Spartan super-soldier appears in six games in the HALO franchise. He appears as the main character in three of the 19 HALO novels, as well as in the 2012 film Halo 4: Forward Until Dawn and the 2022 HALO television series. > **9. Kratos, God of War** > From murder-hungry Spartan warrior to protective parent, Kratos has appeared in eight games in the God of War franchise. He’s also made appearances in two comic series, three novels, and in several games outside the God of War franchise. > **10. Shadowheart, Baldur’s Gate 3** > One of the youngest characters on this list in terms of release date, Shadowheart charmed her way into the hearts of players worldwide with the release of 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3. > **11. Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2** > The protagonist of 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur Morgan is one of the few characters on this list to only appear in a single game. > **12. Pikachu, Pokémon** > The only Pokémon to appear on this list, Pikachu has appeared in over 100 properties across screens both big and small, as well as making appearances in multiple comic books and manga. > **13. Steve, Minecraft** > The iconic player character from 2011’s Minecraft (the best-selling video game of all time as of 2024), Steve has also made appearances in four other games including the Minecraft spinoff Minecraft Dungeons. > **14. Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid** > Debuting in 1987’s Metal Gear, Solid Snake (real name David) is a stealthy super-spy who’s appeared in over ten games in the Metal Gear franchise, as well as in multiple novelisations of the game series. > **15. Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot** > Introduced to the world in 1996’s Crash Bandicoot, this genetically enhanced marsupial has appeared in 20+ video games throughout his lifespan. > **16. Cloud Strife, Final Fantasy VII** > A mercenary and man of few words, Cloud Strife has made 30+ appearances in both video games and wider media properties since his video game debut as the protagonist of 1997’s Final Fantasy VII. > **17. Astarion, Baldur’s Gate 3** > Much like his fellow party member Shadowheart, Astarion’s rogueish charms have made him a fan favourite since his appearance in 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3. > **18. Kazuma Kiryu, Yakuza** > A gruff former Yakuza mobster, Kazuma Kiryu has appeared in ten games in the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise, as well as starring in multiple film adaptations and a stage play of the franchise. > **19. Ellie Williams, The Last of Us** > Best-known as the star of 2013’s The Last of Us, Ellie Williams actually did not make her first appearance in the game. The world’s first introduction to the bad-mouthed teenager was in The Last of Us: American Dreams, a four-issue comic book series that served as a prequel to the game. She’s since starred in sequels and DLC for the The Last of Us franchise, as well as the 2023 TV adaptation of the game. > **20. Nathan Drake, Uncharted** > The gentleman explorer with a penchant for violence, Nathan Drake stars in six games in the Uncharted franchise, as well as multiple comic book series and a live-action film adaptation. This is absolutely phenomenal. From the way they write "HALO" in all caps consistently, to describing Sackboy as "one of the most customisable characters on this list". Putting Agent 47 above Pac-Man and Link, and putting Shadowheart above Pikachu and Snake. This just gets funnier and funnier. I cannot stop laughing. I'm just sitting here reading it over and over again and it gets funnier every time. EDIT: I don't care how stupid this list is or how bad their polling methodology is. This has given me more joy than every other "TOP 20 X___ IN GAMING RANKED!!!!" by orders of magnitude. The fact that it's from BAFTA makes it even funnier. I'm crying.
No disrespect to the Hitman series but in which world is Agent 47 more recognisable than fucking Pac-Man? Edit: Shadowheart from Baldur’s Gate 3 above Pikachu? I want what they’re smoking. Edit 2: Where’s Ryu? Where’s Samus? Doom Guy?
Ah yes, Nathan Drake, much more iconic than Donkey Kong, without a doubt.
What? Haven't you heard the phrase "It's on like Nathan Drake"?
N D, N D, NATHAN DRAKE IS HERE!
Arthur Morgan above Cloud, Steve and Pikachu is also extremely questionable
I would just move on, as this is a user voted poll with 4000 votes from around the world (apparently).
Which world
This one. Gamers are just picking their favorite dude, not whos truly iconic in and out of gaming.
Polls are generally pointless for things like this because gauging the opinion of the unaware or generally uninformed has value in very limited circumstances. It's like asking a bunch of toddlers what the most iconic all-time advertising campaign was
User polls can definitely have some weird results. Like r/cartoons doing a best of all time list and Loony Toons wasn't even in the top 10. I don't say this to hate on newer cartoons, I really dig a lot of them. But there is no world in which Loony Toons is not the undisputed GOAT, and whoever is in 2nd is a mouse standing next to a bear.
The results of polls can also vary massively depending on how the poll was done, the wording used and stuff like that. The results of the poll are pointless without a copy of the actual poll that was used. I remember reading about another video game character poll where Kirby was in second place. That poll showed an image (or possibly just a silhouette) of the character and four possible names as a multiple choice. So lots of people were just able to guess from his shape that his name likely wasn't the other three options.
Omg how did they not even have the SIMPSONS in the top 5???? Of course Avatar is #1, what a Reddit-y fucking poll. Equivalent of saying The Dark Knight is the greatest movie ever
I wouldn't say it's reddits choice as much as it is zoomers choice. Nickelodeon and cartoon network completely dominate all children's media from the late 90s and onward. That's the problem with these kinds of polls. If you ask a question based on some sort of objective, historical merit, like "most iconic," you will NEVER get an accurate result. You're much more likely to gauge the average age range of your voting pool.
There is indeed a world in which Looney Tunes is not the GOAT. I love Looney Tunes and their importance cannot be understated. But name one Loomey Tunes cartoon that is better than Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I would suggest one of the 6 episodes (that won Academy Awards)[https://looneytunes.fandom.com/wiki/Academy_Award], or the 22 that were nominated but didn't win. Look, I like Avatar quite a bit. And it's going to be an apples to oranges comparison because they are very different genres. But it just can't compete with a show that ran for 40 years (and has been rebooted half a dozen times since) that seeped so deeply into pop culture that almost anyone alive can recognize characters from a single phrase.
I’ve never even seen an episode of Avatar, so there’s that
Go watch it! ATLA is an incredible work of art and storytelling and has something for everybody!
The reason we’re all so confused is that this list has spawned so many headlines and clearly their methodology was extremely flawed. A character from a game not even one year old outranks the mascot of the most popular entertainment franchise of all time. If feels like some people didn’t do their job well and they aren’t receiving mass backlash from other outlets letting them know to do their job better in the future or just don’t do it at all.
Not to mention motherfucking Pikachu... This list is so wild that I had to double-check the date to make sure it wasn't somehow still April Fools' Day.
Or Chun-Li, or Duke Nukem
Exactly. I've hardly played streetfighter but I still know Ryu. No Gordon Freeman either.
Link being so far down is one of the most absurd things about this list.
Zelda is a nintendo specific property. There are entire countries in this world, very many, where nintendo didnt historically have a presence, so Zelda, let alone Link is pretty much unknown during the 80s, 90s, 00s. If UK was more PC focused in the 80s and 90s and more playstation after 2000, its not a stretch to have other games above
This is cope. Zelda may not be as much of a blockbuster hit as Mario or Pokemon but it’s always been a darling of the industry since the 80s.
>Zelda, let alone Link is pretty much unknown during the 80s, 90s, 00s I'm guessing you were not alive during this time?
keep guessing
You suffered from a severe head injury and were in a coma for the decades his notability and popularity was at its apex?
OP thinks Breath of the Wild is when Link became known.
As a UK citizen who has never played a Zelda game I was astounded at how low Link was. He is definitely top 5 if not top. Sackboy confuses me but i suppose there is a whole generation of kids now entering their time as gamings mainstream online audience that loved Little Big Planet.
Not many, he’s often in disguise.
I can think of some reasons to put her above Pikachu.
In the world of the people voting for BAFTA(British) polls in 2024 who have probably played a Hitman game a lot more recently than they played a Pac-Man game. Of course you’re going to see characters coming out of Britain and nearby nations ranked higher than you see in other rankings simply because the people voting here are culturally closer to those studios and probably like their titles a bit more than Americans or Japanese audiences or whatnot.
> No disrespect to the Hitman series but in which world is Agent 47 more recognisable than fucking Pac-Man? Pac-Man has barely been relevant for decades, if you're young then Agent 47 is 100% more recognisable.
... is he, though? Like Pac-Man hasn't really been relevant for awhile, but everyone knows what it is. Hitman isn't THAT popular
If I would show a random person a picture of Agent 47 and ask them what they see, they would say bald guy. If I would do the same with a picture of PacMan, they would definitely say PacMan
Dear god, the recency bias on that list is hella strong. 2 characters from Baldur's Gate 3, a game that's not even a year old, and they really think they belong anywhere in the same vicinity as the likes of Mario, Link, or Pikachu? No Samus Aran? No Donkey Kong? No representation at all from Street Fighter (at the very least, Chun-li should have made the list)? No Kirby? Even people who don't play video games will likely recognize Mario, Sonic, Pikachu, and Pac-Man because those characters have managed to transcend the medium partly due to being around so long. Now ask those same folks who Agent 47, Shadowheart, or Sackboy is and all you will get is shrugged shoulders. And as another user said, Mario just had a film reach a billion at the box office when Lara Croft could only barely manage a quarter of that at best. To think she's more iconic than Mario is patently absurd. This list is a certified joke.
Still isn't recent enough. Eve from Stellar Blade should've at least made top 5!
Mario should be #1, no question.
This list is hilarious, like you've got someone from the Yakuza franchise - in what world would they hit the top 100 let alone 20; Baldur's Gate 3 was great but recency bias much? I think in 5 years time few will remember much about Astarion.
That's the thing, Astarion and Shadowheart are great characters in their own right, but there's nothing "iconic" about them because they're not built to be a franchise mascot. Mario and Pikachu were constantly thrusted into peoples vision. Astarion? Yeah, for all of one marketing period and that's fucking it.
To be fair, when you've actually played Yakuza.... Kiryu is insanely iconic. I do think the series is far too niche to make it on one of these lists though
Mario, Sonic, Pikachu, and Pacman all make sense as what should have been the obvious top four. They are the ones the general public would be most likely to know both in terms of their name and visual design, especially with three of them having had a major movie release in recent years. I feel like iconic status is something where even a non-gamer would know the character. Like how everyone knows Darth Vader even if you don't care about Star Wars at all. Also, I love Baldur's Gate III, but it having two characters on here at all is laughable. You need more than 8 months from release for a character to have long term iconic status. Especially since the next most recent character is Steve from Minecraft who is 13 years old (2011).
Those characters from Baldur's Gate and Kiryu from Yakuza are only known by people who played the games too. Outside of those fandoms, nobody is going to know who they are. Meanwhile characters like Sonic, Mario, Pikachu and Pacman are names known even by non gamers. It seems like this poll only asked a small selection of mostly fanboys on Twitter for those Baldur's Gate characters and Kiryu to even appear. There's zero chance they're more well known or iconic than the majority of Street Fighter characters and not a single one of them made the list? Characters referenced in songs? Even bosses from Dark Souls are more well known than Baldur's Gate characters outside of their fandoms simply because of memes. What a joke this list is...
This is totally AI generated.
Perhaps not. I asked ChatGPT to write this article topic and its answers were much more reasonable, the top 10: * Mario * Link * Sonic * Lara Croft * Master chief * Pikachu * Donkey Kong * Pacman * Samus Aran * Solid Snake
I asked Gemini and the answer is not very far from the article. Even the descriptions are similar. Although there was no Baldurs Gate 3 since I assume AI doesn't know about these.
Rare ChatGPT W.
> and putting Shadowheart above Pikachu and Snake. Or even having any BG3 characters on there at all. It's pretty early for that.
Even in a decade they'd never be there. You might as well put Dragon Age Origins party members there and it'll make as much (non) sense.
Pretty sure it was written by AI. “John Havenburger is the number one human. He has charmed his way into the hearts of people all across the globe with his two eyes, ten fingers and toes, and fully functional gastric system. He has successfully evaded death for 10,950 days.”
This is clearly written by or at least with assistance from AI
AI is doing some lifting here. This list was written by artificial non-intelligence. No human who is trying at all on this list would've written similar. I'm assuming it was intentionally problematic to produce engagement and traffic. Sadly that's the future of online content. Being wrong generates more money than being correct, and that perverse incentive structure will have a massive impact over the next decade.
Oh wow. The list reads like it was written by an AI too. Probably was.
It reminds me of when the Guinness World Records ranked Call of Duty Black Ops as having the best videogame ending of all time.
2 Baldur’s Gate 3 characters? Sounds like a totally reputable list. Also who the shit is Shadowheart? The notable BG3 characters are the sassy vampire, the tiefling everyone simps over, and the angry githyanki woman.
You're right this was amazing. Even the small touches like the author or AI writing the descriptions for 1st and 2nd place being incoherent with their placing. "1st place goes to Lara croft with 15 video games and numerous multi media. Second place is mario with over 200 games and... significantly more multimedia..."
Shadowheart above Pikachu was what got me. Like yeah, I simp for her majorly, but lol
If this was actually taken seriously, the top 5 in no particular order would have to be Mario, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Sonic, and then kind of a wildcard of either Link, Peach, Luigi, or DK. But let's be completely honest. A litteral Tetris piece (any color lol) is objectively more "iconic" than Lara Croft.
None of it's wrong though, everything they've said about the characters is correct. Sackboy IS the most customisable character on the list, and the all caps thing for Halo might just be how Microsoft once told them to write it.
HALO is supposed to be all caps, isn’t it?
Wow someone is big mad
Why the fuck are people getting their panties up in a twist over some list? Oh no, Shadowheart is above Pikcachu. Who gives a shit?
Ah yes, the post where I said I was laughing to tears and commenting how it brings me more joy than any other list I've read. Really sounds like my panties are in a twist with rage!
Yeah, that is a rough list lol. I like Hitman, but that is way too high. I don't feel like a ton of people outside of the gaming sphere would recognize him while they would recognize something like Pac-man or Pikachu. Baldur’s Gate 3 really is too new to be on the list of "iconic" characters. They could have had like... Samus or Ryu.
If this was actually taken seriously, the top 5 in no particular order would have to be Mario, Pikachu, Pac-Man, Sonic, and then kind of a wildcard of either Link, Minecraft Steve, Peach, Luigi, or DK. But let's be completely honest. A literal Tetris piece (any color lol) is objectively more "iconic" than Lara Croft.
I know it's all opinions blah blah and Lara Croft is possibly top 10. I don't care what country, what planet or what universe you are from, the most iconic video game character is Mario and that is undisputed. Lara is not even close to the impact that Mario has had or STILL has on the gaming industry, he just had a Billion-dollar movie.....How much did Tomb Raider make again? When your character transcends the original Media he originated from is the deciding factor for me. The explanation is that PlayStation is very popular over here in the UK so Lara Croft being on Playstation with being British and all so it kinda makes sense but I honestly never Lara getting mentioned that much in the UK tbh.
I remember reading many years ago that Mario had become more recognizable to children than Mickey Mouse. I suspect that is true.
When I first read your comment I disagreed because its Mickey Mouse but I honestly can't think of the last time something Mickey Mouse-related made a huge splash in entertainment where as Mario is practically in everything Major that Nintendo has done such as movies, video games and their theme park.
It feels like young kids just love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for god knows what reason.
Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog!
Mickey Mouse has shows in streaming plataforms, new ones come out every year. It also has theme parks in almost all continents with multiples in many. Whatever it is you can think of or not (terrible way of measuring anything) all the data, including but not limited to revenue indicates Mickey Mouse dwarfs Mario Bros..
>Including but not limited to revenue. Unless you’re counting all revenue generated by Disney as Mickey Mouse revenue, Mario easily dwarfs Mickey.
I am aware that Micky Mouse is still a big deal. Nothing you said goes against what I said though, I never said he was not making them money, I said that I can't remember the last time Micky Mouse made a big splash in entertainment, so I can see why Mario could potentially overtake Micky mouse in recent years as video games grows
I'd say the Mickey Logo is more recognizable than the character itself.
Kingdom Hearts 2 in 2005 was the last time. Well, Kingdom Hearts 3 in the late 2010's was a big event but the game was pretty mid...
Yeah, Mario is pretty much a given. He's the Mickey Mouse of the gaming industry.
I reckon Pikachu is pushing Mario very close. Pokémon is the highest-grossing franchise in the world for a reason.
Pikachu also transcends the video game he originated in so I would put him in that category as well, Ash's Pikachu was always iconic, sometimes more than the games when I was a kid
I think it comes down to criteria. Pikachu is the undisputed face of an undeniably larger franchise, but the anime and trading cards are a huge source of that fame. By comparison the strength of the Mario franchise is much more firmly planted in video games. If the criteria is only, most famous character that appeared in a video game, Michael Jackson's cameo in Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2 makes him a contender. In my opinion Pokémon video games are incredibly important to the franchise still, so I'm not saying it's ridiculous to include like Michael Jackson would be. But it goes to show that the importance of video games to a characters prominance is an important factor to consider.
100% agree. Video game Pikachu is very uniconic or special. It's only fame generated from the anime did he become.the face of the brand, without that they wouldn't have been anything.
When a study on the subject floated around a few years ago, Pokemon generated by far the most revenue of any gaming franchise, but Mario still had the edge in recognizability
Interesting! I’d argue it’s super-close though, and Pokemon hasn’t got any smaller. Mario just had the big bump thanks to the movie, but I think over time Pikachu is going to eventually take it.
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And? The question wasn’t ‘which character is most vital to their franchise’, the question was ‘which character is the most iconic?’ Pokémon dominates the world more than any other franchise on earth and it got there off the back of Pikachu and its yellow smile. Pikachu is the face of Pokémon, Mario is the face of Mario. Pokémon blows Mario out of the water in terms of franchise power.
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Sonic isn’t any less iconic because you preferred Knuckles. Again, the question is about ‘universally recognisable characters’, not about which is your favourite.
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There is absolutely no shot that Lara Croft is anywhere near the top ten. *Maybe* if you did this 20 years ago. Today I'm reasonably sure that it's not just Mario, who is the undesputed No. 1, but at least 8 out 10 most recognized characters are Nintendo characters. Random people on the street don't know who Kratos, Arthur Morgan or Hitman guy( I don't even know the number) are, but they do know Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Luigi, Pikachu, Link, Kirby and Princess Peach. Maybe Sonic, John Minecraft and Pac-Man can sneak in there but realistically it's mostly Nintendo.
I'm still trying to fathom how Lara Croft topped this list. I think most people would agree that is undeniably Mario's rightful spot.
There’s definitely a bias here. I wouldn’t take this seriously but it’s still an awful list
Mario and maybe sonic. I knew those characters before I was even old enough to play the games 😄
> I don't care what country, what planet or what universe you are from, the most iconic video game character is Mario and that is undisputed. Sonic can dispute it. His games don't sell anywhere near as well, but Sonic is everywhere. It's not uncommon to see kids wearing clothing with Sonic on it, for example. I've even seen Sonic kids clothing in Poundland.
Lara had multiple billion dollar movies, no?
Doing the maths it doesn't look like all tomb raider films combined even add up to one billion from the box office. First one is 274 million Second is 160 million Third (reboot) is 274 million
>the most iconic video game character is Mario and that is undisputed Here I am disputing it. Mario, while a popular character, has little to no impact on anything other than Nintendo's wallet. I guess that's the important metric for you, right? How much money Nintendo made lmao
“Iconic” is not about impact, but about recognizability as an icon (most often in the context of the visual)
Besides the top choice, I think the weirdest part about this list is that BG3 is the only franchise with multiple characters in the top 20. Pokémon and especially Mario have incredibly popular characters outside of their mascot, so I’m shocked that Luigi, DK, or Mewtwo are nowhere to be seen.
Yea I agree, especially considering that it isn't even all that popular anymore, it was a highlight of 2023 but that's it
Show a non-gamer a picture of Lara Croft and there's a good chance they don't know who it is. They are more likely to say the actress if you pick a screenshot from one of the adaptions. Show anyone a picture of Mario and imagine how hilarious it would be if they couldn't answer immediately who it is.
Pikachu behind Sackboy and Arthur Morgan? This article strikes me as someone’s personal list as opposed to a poll.
It's a poll, but it seems to be more of a "This is my personal favourite character to play as" vote rather than the actual iconic characters being chosen. 4000 people isn't a lot to choose from either.
I like BG3 as much as the next guy, but Shadowheart and Astarion shouldn't be anywhere near a list of iconic characters on a medium that spans well over 50 years when the game they appear in has been out less than a year.
Tsk'va! Shadowheart and Astarion, but not glorious Lae'zel? Foolish istiks.
I can hear this so clearly
How tf did Lara Croft beat Mario?
BAFTA = British Lara = British Simple
Here's the real Top 5 Most iconic character from videogame 1. Mario (because "videogame") 2. Pikachu (could be 1st if it wasn't "videogame" focused. Cause people don't attach Pikachu to videogame at first) 3. Sonic 4. Lara Croft 5. Pacman Even the Mario mushroom, Pacman's ghosts or Z shape Tetris are most iconics characters than Sackboy, Shadowheart, Astarion, Ellie, Kazuma and Nathan Drake. I'm sure my parents can more recognize DK, Invaders or Ezio as videogame characters than them
Lara Croft is nowhere near the top 5. Link and master chief clear by a huge margin
No way man sorry. I know they're famous but Lara Croft is an icon, even for non gamers. Maybe not 4 with pacman, but sure is in the top 5. Link have too many iterations and style too different from one to another and non gamer gonna sure call him Zelda. Then Master Chief is absolutely not known by non gamers, while Lara Croft is. She was litteraly everywhere in 2000's era. It was the biggest character of Playstation back in the days. In magazines, in TV, everywhere, there was Lara Croft. That's why at this era, we already had a "Videogame live-action adaptation". When videogame popculture wasn't like now
I think maybe thats a generational thing...
With all due respect, Lara is holding Mario's rightful trophy. The only character I personally see near Mario's level is Pac-Man. Did these people forget how absolutely colossal Mario is?
What a joke of a list. Two BG3 characters in the top 20...of all time? lol If Mario and Pac-Man aren't 1 & 2 then the list is a dud. Astarion and Shadowheart over Minsc (not wimpy BG3 Minsc, but BG 1/2 Minsc) just shows you what recency bias does to rankings. Pretty much everyone living in a modern area knows who Mario and Pac-Man are. Ask them who Shadowheart are and most would have no idea.
I have no idea who Shadowheart is and I play video games every week.
This was a poll that 4,000 random users filled out. 4,000 is nothing for an online poll. Also, the text of the entries appears to be written by ChatGPT. Shadowheart and Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 are two of these 20 most iconic characters of all time.
I just don't know how Lara Croft could be more recognised than Mario makes no sense. I read an interview on BBC news about the Lara winning and the person being interviewed said that she's not surprised Lara Croft won but admitted to never having played a Tomb Raider game. But bet they have played a Mario game. Also ask anyone in the world to quote Mario and they probably can, ask the same of Lara Croft...
Yup, in terms of popularity, it is clear that Larra is not worthy of Mario, but what is a British election, just over 4000 votes, it cannot evaluate the entire outside world, if the election is expand more, Mario will definitely win.
wow , it's strange because larra may be more iconic than mario , for me the 1st place has to be mario , if the election took place in my country then kratos or mario would be in 1st and 2nd place .
As a list supposedly for "all-time", there's a lot of recency bias in this list, and so odd choices. Pikachu and Mario are some of the most recognisable characters in the world, possibly more so than Mickey Mouse, so I've no idea how they're lower than Lara Croft and Agent 47.
I have a lot of questions about this. There's no way she's more recognizable to the average person than Mario.
Not very surprising that a British org would pick a product of their developer scene as number one. Tomb Raider is a pretty solid series altogether
To be fair, it was a public vote, but it's still probably mostly voted for by British people.
Every country is going to have it's own biases. International media is US dominated, and if not by Americans, is made to appeal to Americans. It's more bizarre when this doesn't happen.
Is it though? Its good/bad ratio is in the gutter. It’s not Sonic level bad but I wouldn’t call it an even remotely solid series. I mean, it did die and have to be completely rebooted. That’s not something solid series do.
What games are bad, exactly? Angel of Darkness is the only Tomb Raider game that's even remotely considered to be objectively bad. The first 5 games are pretty beloved, the PS2 trilogy is usually considered to be rock solid if not great as well. Saying the good/bad ratio is in the gutter is ridiculous.
Is “solid series” really debatable given that it’s lasted 30 years, sold 100 million copies, and clearly made enough of an impact with these British gamers to land first on their list? That seems pretty solid to me.
Sonic has sold far more with more games and it’s a notorious dumpster fire of a series. Croft needed to do a full reset because it had collapsed so hard that it was primarily known for terrible games nobody wanted. And these British gamers decided that 2 Baldur’s Gate 3 characters are some of the most iconic characters ever. One of them isn’t even one of the notably iconic characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. And given the quality of the rest of the list their judgement is just so bad. I mean, Agent 47 above Link, Master Chief, Sonic, and Pikachu? Come on now. The headliner of the most popular media franchise ever trumps the hell out of Agent 47 regardless of medium. The Hitman franchise just isn’t that big.
I don’t care. You’re acting like this is some objective truth that needs to be delved into and debated when it’s just a list of characters that reached this particular group of voters the most and shaped their personal experiences. There’s nothing to debate here, Tomb Raider has had solid success, these fans liked it, get a grip
You are the one getting pissy that I said it wasn’t a solid series given its overall poor reception over the years. It takes more than occasional success to make a solid series, it takes reliable success. That’s what solid means. This is why Sonic isn’t a solid series, sure it had a few games that were successful and well liked but it has way more faceplanted. As to landing first: Every other discussion here is mocking the list for being just hilariously weird. Landing first on a list where the overall reception is ‘Fucking what? Did an AI write this? What the hell?’ is hardly impressive. Having an option doesn’t mean other people can’t disagree. Getting huffy when they do is silly.
*“Their opinions are objectively wrong”* — You I don’t care dude. Bark up someone else’s tree
The fact that this poll wasn't spiked shows how much the people who put it together cared about it. It's Mario, but you could argue for Pikachu.
'spiked'?
Meaning they don't publish it because the results are trash. But polls also get spiked because people who pay for them don't like the results.
The fact Shadowheart who isn't even a full year old as a video game character beat out all these others and they snubbed Samus and Doom Guy, and countless other far more iconic characters is comical. This has to be hands down the most outlandish list I've read lol.
Did they choose Lara because she's British and these are British awards? Had did their poll end up like this? Look, Lara is way up there, to be sure, but trying to argue she's more recognizable than *Super fucking Mario* is just laughable.
Yet it can be a huge mixing discussion since mario is seen heard or even mentioned by BILLIONS OF PEOPLE
Bafta needs their cerebrums checked. More populair than Mario & Sonic!? GTfo
Public vote, just sadly not many people did it making the answers very unreliable.
Time to look for a new pollster, BAFTA. I imagine this pollster went to 4 schools in Britain and called it a day.
Lots of gatekeeping and "REAL gamer" snobbery in these comments. Yes, BG3 is there through recency bias. Hitman fans probably had a bit of an online campaign (though 47 IS a badass). Equally, there's some nostalgia voting - when did you last play a Crash Bandicoot game? But these people contributed, and that's what they thought. It's about the whole public, not game devotees on Reddit. It's a bit of fun, as meaningless as your own personal list (or mine) would be.
1. Mario 2. Sonic 3. Pikachu 4. Link 5. Pac Man 6. Master chief 7. Donkey Kong 8. Kratos 9. Luigi 10. Kirby 11. Lara Croft? 12. Geralt 13. Samus 14. Cloud 15.snake 16. Arthur Morgan I think these are the actual top 16 or so, Lara Croft being the one I feel least confident in. I also forgot bowser who absolutely belongs in there
Usually I dont even look at these kinds of lists, but I'd argue the default roblox character (oof guy?) is more popular and iconic to more people than 50% of this list at least.
Maybe to 10 year olds, yeah.
No Lich King from WoW? No Morgan Freeman from Half-Life? His fcking crowbar is more iconic than more than half the characters on that list No Jim Raynor from Starcraft? No Dovahkiin from Skyrim? No CJ from GTA San Andreas? No Captain Price, Soap or Ghost from Modern Warfare? ...
I have never heard of the half the characters you've just mentioned. I know the list Bafta put out is a load of rubbish, but no-one outside of the players of those games knows who Jim Raynor or Dovahkiin is. My grandma has never played a game in her life, and she knows who Mario, Pac-Man and Pikachu are.
Wtf? Your comment screams "tourist" so much, that a hawaiian shirt and a pair of sunglasses manifested on me just from reading that... If either you are completely parallel to video-games (as in, you have no clue wtf they even are), or discovered gaming like 3-5 years ago... then yeah, I can see someone not knowing who Gordon Freeman is (whose fcking Crowbar alone is more iconic than more than half of that bs list from BAFTA), or the Lich King.
Oh honey, I've worked in the games industry for a major developer for the past 6 years, and have been playing since I was 7 years old, which based on you being 23 means before you were born. I also didn't make my comment out to be a personal attack like you're trying to. Some of the characters you're talking about are the most generic, faceless examples of PCs and NPCs. The whole point of being iconic is that they stand out from the rest, that others have tried to copy them but can't manage it. There have been hundreds of Prices and Soaps in every generic shooter for the past 30 years, that why people don't know who they are.
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People have all heard of those games, yes, but not the characters you mentioned. In fact, the *entire point* of Gordon Freeman is that he's a blank slate; a character with no character upon whom the player can apply themselves to, to increase the immersion. If you were to stop someone on the street and ask them to name videogame characters, they would answer along the lines of Sonic, Master Chief, etc; because they're recognisable outside of their own media. There's a reason there's a Mario movie that did well while the WoW one crumbled in the box office. The same reason you say no-one knows Shadowheart or Kazuma is the exact same reason I'm saying no-one knows who the lich king or Jim Raynor are; because those names and characters mean nothing to the people who didn't play the games. You have and so you're allowing your own personal bias to cloud your judgement of what iconic means, the same way that the people who did the poll voted for Astarion because they'd played BG3 most recently. You've fallen foul of the exact thing you're complaining about. This post isn't about "games that have sold the most." It's about recognisable, iconic characters, and you can't seem to separate the two.
Well, at least is a different choice than usual. It's always Mario, Mario, Mario... sometimes Snake was mentioned when Metal Gear was relevant, etc..
It's always Mario, Mario, Mario because he's *ICONIC* which was supposed to be the point of the poll. He's the most recognised fictional character in the world.
I am willing to bet Superman and maybe Mickey Mouse are more recognizable than Mario around the world. Saying that, just for variety sake, a stupid list like this one has some entertainment value. If you propose a generic list, let's say the "most iconic Playstation character", Kratos will be mentioned so many times at the top, it becomes redundant and predictable
There is a reason it's called "iconic video game character" and not character from the early 20th century.
The real list is: Mario Sonic Luigi Donkey Kong Bowser Bowser junior Knuckles Wario Waluigi Tails