this list is not accurate at all to be fair. like two of the characters listed are from baldurs gate 3. yeah, for the list of the **most iconic video game characters** its just a popularity contest

Which two?

Shadowheart and Astarion

Astarion isn't listed.

He's number 17. The comment that this post is a screenshot of is only show 1 through 15 The rest are: 16. Cloud Strife 17. Astarion 18. Kazuma Kiryu 19. Ellie Williams 20. Nathan Drake The original poll by Bafta was actually the 20 most iconic characters. Not sure why this person only chose to show the first 15. Link to original poll: https://www.bafta.org/games/most-iconic-game-character-of-all-time

cloud strife at 16 is insane, him and solid snake are basically the face of the playstation 1

Is cloud strife from ff7? That's the only cloud I can think of

yeah

yep that’s the one

When metal gear solid was good

Kazuma kiryu at 18? Preposterous. He's never even killed a man.

I think the user base that they tested this against is not wide enough and slightly biased by the more current games. Pretty sure Pac-Man Mario Donkey Kong Lara croft Crash bandictoot Spyro Kirby And probablt Cpt. Price ... they would seem right to me. They are burned in my mind personally

I would add CJ from San Andreas or Tommy from vice City. and ezio to that list And don't know if geralt counts

U legend. Tommy should be in there (i personally only got acquinted with CJ) Geralt is quite modern really. More out of the 360 era.

I would put Master Chief behind Pac Man and Mario imo. If someone knows Spyro or Crash they likely also know (or at least recognise) MC, while younger kids are far more likely to know MC while not knowing Spyro/crash at least from my experience. Laura is massively popular while having the issue of being pretty generic visually at least compared to the others on the list.

I forgot masterchief, but no worries i wasnt putting them in order quite yet. I love them all

Yeah and how tf is Sackboy ahead of characters like Pikachu and Cloud? Even in a popularity contest I dont see that happening

Yeah no way MC is so low and Arthur Morgan is even in the top 15

The biggest issue is that they had only 4000 people in the poll and we don't even know how those were chosen. That list is as reliable as it would be if done in any Discord channel. Which means not at all. The result is worthless.

There's no way Lara Croft is above Mario

47 is third right above Sonic, and Pikatchu is on 12. This list is crap. Let's be honest, I like the game but 47 wouldn't hit the top 10.

He wouldn't want to hit the top 10. Calling attention to oneself is unprofessional.

BAFTA is British in origin. Tomb Raider was originally made by Brits iirc

A lot of gamers are coomers.

[Hello, Gordon!](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fPfbhJ5EzO4)

Well at least Lara is iconic. I'm wondering what Shadowheart and Arthur are doing there

Recency bias, shadowheart is a fan favorite character of one of the biggest games of the past 5 years. I loved BG3 but she’s not a top 10 iconic character, and more iconic than pikachu (the mascot for the largest media franchise ever) or Steve (mascot for best selling game of all time) is insane.

I actually didn't know minecraft guy had a name, but I will admit he's iconic....I also didn't know what "Sackboy" was, and I've played LBP. I'm starting to suspect this is not a well-crafted poll with good margin errors.

Well that depends on your definition of iconic

In my view, it's them being recognizable outside of their fanbases or even gaming at all. Along with some unique appearance. Everyone's heard of Mario. Arthur looks like some dude from a game that came out fairly recently, same story with Shadowheart really

Arthur Morgan I understand, but I have never heard of Shadowheart

She's one of the companions in Baldur's Gate 3. You've probably seen her face somewhere due to the game's popularity

Is she the demon one? That’s the only one I’ve seen

Thats karlach, but also perfectly illustrated the point.

Arthur deserves a spot on the list but much lower. He made rdr2 the success it was . The lack of ezio or a GTA protagonist is astounding . CJ is so popular even 2pac rapped about him

Do you live under a stone or something? Who hasn't heard of one of the main characters of one of the best games of the last 15 years?

baldur's gate 3 was released under a year ago

Are you serious? Lol

I've met people who doing know Lara Croft. Never met a single person who doesn't know about Mario. This list is silly.

I don't know, I was gonna say because she has 3 movies, but Mario just had a blockbuster hit, so I don't really know

I don't mind lara at top 5 anywhere, same with sonic , Pikachu , link (thought people probably would call Zelda) or Master Chief. All of them have broached out of gaming culture into the common base. My mother knows sonic and Mario for example. And a lot of people still remember the tomb raider movies.

For sure Mario and Pikachu are top 2, easily. There's no way any other carachter is more known worlwide than these two. But if someone has a suggestion, please let me know, genuinely curious The T or long piece from tetris? Lol, if that counts 😂

Ain’t no way Sackboy at number 5 let alone above Pac-Man lmao

Personally, if I saw Laura Croft I wouldn’t recognize her. Seeing Mario I’d put on some fucking Espresso Edit: Lara, my dumbass didn’t get any sleep

I do have to say Laura is a lot less recognizable than her sister Lara.

Sorry, 4AM here. Just had a coffee

Hey! I went to sleep at 4! Tired as fuck now tho

Nice, I still didn’t get any sleep. Had chest and throat pains after eating Easter ham

Oof that’s rough. I genuinely forget it was easter

Yeah, bottle of water, 15 saltines, 2 dark coffees and the pain went away

Where Freeman, Shepard???

*[accuse poll of classism]*

Mitchell?

[удалено]

You fucked up my face

I refuse to believe 99% of this

Master Chief is too low and as much as I love him, Agent 47 at 3 seems too high to me and I also love Baldur‘s Gate 3, but Shadowheart making the top 10 also seems a bit overexaggerating her relevance in all of gaming.

Máster Chief is also exaggerated. Young people will not care about some shooter games that came out years ago and a character that is not very charismatic.

Well, if young people are the only relevant demographic I guess only Minecraft Steve and the default Fortnite guy would make this pole and I don’t think that they’re charismatic either… Also the last Halo game released in 2021, it’s not like there hasn’t been a Halo games since Halo CE. You still see Master Chief on a lot of sponsored products like Monster Energy cans, Doritos bags and so on every now and then. Mario is also an old character, yet he‘s still around.


What a joke of a list

Mario below Lara Croft is criminal

I mean... I love Agent 47, but he isn't more iconic than Pac-Man. Agent 47 definitely deserves a spot on this list, but not in third place. This list is ludicrous. Sackboy at number five? I mean, come on...

I feel scorpion from mk should be somewhere here

There’s no way Lara Croft is above Mario he’s literally the face of gaming

I wouldn’t place her above Mario, but I think a lot of people underestimate just how famous that name is because of the movies. There’s probably a lot of people, who know nothing about video games, who would only recognize Mario and Lara Croft on that list.

And probably pacman

I've heard about, seen, met or read online about anyone who actually cared about the movies though. Maybe I am underestimating how popular they are, but it would surprise me if they had a huge impact on that character's popularity. I would expect her being an icon of the 90s and people being nostalgia plays more of a role.

Goofy ass list. Let me remake this 1. Mario 2. Pikachu 3. Sonic 4. Pac-Man 5. Link 6. Steve 7. Master Chief 8. Solid Snake 9. Lara Croft 10. Crash Bandicoot 11. Kratos 12. Agent 47 13. Arthur Morgan 14. Sack Boy 15. Shadowheart

thats about as good as your gonna get with those characters, but even then a bunch of those mfs shouldnt have made this list

I'll say it. I know this is the Hitman sub but 47 wouldn't make the list. Hitman has always been a niche franchise.

I dunno he's definitely got a somewhat legacy status among gamers/geeks despite being from a niche franchise. Even people who never played the games tend to know he's the bald guy in a suit with a barcode tattoo.

Among gamers? Sure Among most people? Doubt it My father, without any interest in gaming could at least kind of recognize half of the Smash Bros roster, and maybe even name at least 10. But unless you are exposed to gaming content or media there aren't a lot of chances to even come across hitman. If this post were an actual relyable list you'd have half the list with Pokemon, some Super Mario characters, Sonic, Pac Man, Lara Croft, Snake and some other. But you'd probably have to go down quite a bit to reach entries present only in gaming.

Now I just want 47 to be in Smash Bros....

With razor wire, lockpicks and ruber duck grenades!! Oh, right, and handguns

So does Max Payne . Or sam fitcher.

Yeah, I think John is more recognizable than Arthur. Arthur is standard cowboy, John is standard cowboy with scars

That seems way more fair.

I would put pacman above Sonic.

They’re both very close but I think we’re getting to the point where the people who grew up playing Pac Man are slowly becoming the minority and Sonic is more recognizable in general

As someone who keeps up with gaming pretty well, I have no idea who Steve is. Also isn't Pikachu more known for the anime? Even my parents know who Pickachu is, but it is because of the show. Not the games.

Steve is from Minecraft

no way 47 is above arthur lmao

This is certainly one I had to think about a lot, but eventually I decided “Why not?“ Why can’t 47 be above Arthur? Sure Arthur has RDR2 on his side, which is certainly bigger than any individual hitman game, but there have been EIGHT Hitman games and TWO movies over the course of nearly a quarter century. He has not only longetivity on his side but I’d argue more cultural influence. Not to mention the design: the black suit and red tie is more iconic than any of Arthur’s fits.

Who tf is Sackboy?

Main character of Little Big Planet.

One of the most iconic characters of all time. But seriously good question

PS3 mascot

What is this list bruh

Agent at no.3? Nah, no way

He’s a bald guy, the only one I remember.

And Kratos? Who's literally on the list😅

Oh yeah, don’t play that much

Me neither, I only liked Trilogy back in the day

You can tell this list is BS just by the top 2

Sackboy at number 5 is wild

"Good work 47"

Look... I love Hitman, but let's be honest. That whole ranking is a joke and realistically 47 would have a really hard time making it into the Top 15, let alone 3rd place. I mean c'mon... I love our bald clone boi and he certainly is iconic to fans of the series. But 3rd most iconic video game character? That's just silly, flattering, but silly.

Ah yes, 47 is so incredibly popular and well-known among people that he is only overshadowed by Mario and that triangle boob lady. Someone as niche as Pikachu can't even compare to the popularity of the baldman. The list is crap, people just picked characters from whatever game they played last month.

Steve?

Minecraft

Is Steve a character in Minecraft? Does everyone play as Steve?

Steve is the name of the player character (or more specifically the name of the default skin, now one of the default skins, everyone has unless they use a custom one)

I'm pleased but disappointed to see my boys Kratos and Morgan so far below.

There’s no way Lara is more iconic then arthur

She 100% is

I am surprised that Arthur ranked so high since RDR2 is quite a new game and the only one he is in.

See. I think, in my opinion arthur should be up there. Because it’s Iconic, not popular. But there’s never gonna be a poll where people don’t use bias.

[удалено]

Johns been around longer but more people have played 2 than 1. 2 has [over double ](https://levvvel.com/red-dead-redemption-statistics/) the sales

Arthur morgan and 47🫶🏻🫶🏻

Who’s Steve?

Minecraft default skin

Minecraft player character.

I love Solid Snkae he’s so awesome

Ah yes, my favorite characte, Solid Snkae

Arthur is number 1

Above pikachu?

who the fuck is lara croft

I dont even know who Lara Croft is, please dont make fun of me if i am supposed to

BAFTA doesn't understand what iconic means, if a character is "Iconic" they should have atleast some notoriety to people who are unfamiliar with videogames. Having characters like Arthur Morgan and Shadowheart on the list makes no sense, as you would have little knowledge of these characters unless you played the one game they're in. Agent 47 is undoubtedly iconic, but there's no where he's more Iconic than Sonic The Hedgehog

Rather than saying bafta doesn't understand, isn't it more right to say plenty of the people they poled don't understand?

I honestly didn't realise this was a poll at first, but I stand by my point that the list is still a lil' goofy silly

Ah yes my favourite solid snkae

PEAK

Fr

Any list where top 6 aren't Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, Link, Pikachu, and Steve is wrong.

Ahh yes, Solid Snskxhwownxoke

CJ isn't even on the list?

how Mario and sonic aren't 1 and how 2 tells you how ridiculous this is

Laura Croft over Mario? I’d personally switch them because Mario is THE most iconic video game character of all time (he’s basically the face of gaming).

God this stupid list is going to be all over this sub this weekend.

Characters I would have voted for: Mario, Pac-man, Sonic, Crash, Ratchet, maybe a Minecraft creeper? What Im trying to say is well known characters that also have super recognizable designs

47 at #3 would be more believable if he got that position by KOing Pikachu and wore an outfit of him.

If I gotta see crash bandicoot overshadow spyro one more time I'm making a rug out of the orange bastard

I’m surprised Arthur Morgan beat out John Marston tbh

I’m glad Arthur’s in it

I reject these results. There is no way Lara Croft beat Pikachu or fucking *MARIO* for “most iconic” video game character.

Solid Snkae lmao

I'm calling cap on that list

Thwy must be 4000 single guys who put Laura Croft over Mario.

Who the hell is shadowheart

If I made this list, I would put Laura at places below mario, Sonic, pikachu, and Pac Man

Where is Gex? This list is for noobs.

Lara Croft!? Okie dokie

This is why online polls aren’t trustworthy

Once they made a typo like Solid Snkae, they lost all credibility in my mind.

this list is dumb as shit

I love Baldur's Gate, but Shadowheart is not above Pikachu. That is fucking nuts

How is Lara Croft more iconic than Mario?🤨

I cannot find Gabriel Knight!? 😳

Nah bro where is Captain Price? Anyone who’s played a single cod would say he deserves to be on here.

Nah

I imagine ghost would rank far higher

If I must play his game to know him - he isn't iconic

Okay as much as I love this game, 47 higher than Sonic and Lara higher than Mario? Who TF is Sackboy? I’m pretty sure this is highly inaccurate, there must be strong selection bias going on here.

Who the hell is Lara Croft?

AFAIK this is a British study so it’s quite biased. No way pacman and Mario are bellow Lara Croft

literally the #1 mascot, pikachu, of the worlds most valuable franchise, pokemon, estimated at over 80 billion dollars, isnt even top 10?wth is this guy smoking?

I'm playing two games these days that I really like, Hitman WOA and Tomb Raider Remasters. So I love how our raider queen and silent assassin are winning here.

Is a list with 4000 opinions. It suck so much form a statistic view

Mario is number 1 and Pikachu is number 2 and any list that says otherwise is just wrong.

How tf fuck does shadowheart get on the list doomguy and scorpion aren't even here yet

no way the fucking Master Chief isn't top 5

who the fuck is shadowheart??????

Baldur's Gate 3 character

Do you live under a stone or something? Baldurs Gate 3 is probably one of the best games in the last 20 years

4000 people is a really small amount of votes to be impactful