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Today Guinness revealed its list of the top 50 video game characters of all time, and if you don't agree with it, you only have yourself to blame.
And something tells us that gamers will find plenty to disagree with. While no-brainers like Mario, Link, and Solid Snake made the top five, some of the other choices are more controversial, such as "Soap" MacTavish edging out Nathan Drake, Naruto topping Altair, and "Leisure Suit" Larry Laffer beating Street Fighter's Ryu. The list was chosen via an online poll on the Guinness website, during which more than 13,000 gamers voted. Here's the complete list -- what do you think?
1. Mario (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)2. Link (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)3. Master Chief (Halo: Combat Evolved, Microsoft, 2001)4. Solid Snake (Metal Gear, Konami, 1987)5. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)6. PAC-Man (PAC-Man, Namco, 1980)7. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, Eidos 1996)8. Gordon Freeman (Half-Life, Valve, 1998)9. Kratos (God of War, Sony, 2005)10. Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega, 1990)11. Crash (Crash Bandicoot, Sony, 1996)12. “Soap” MacTavish (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)13. Nico Bellic (Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar, 2008)14. Samus Aran (Metroid, Nintendo 1986)15. Ratchet (Ratchet & Clank, Sony, 2002)16. Nathan Drake (Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Sony, 2007)17. Captain Price (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)18. Kirby (Kirby’s Dream Land, Nintendo, 1992)19. Marcus Fenix (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)20. Pikachu (Pokemon Red/Green, Nintendo 1996)21. Yoshi (Super Mario World, Nintendo, 1990)22. “CJ” Johnson (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar, 2004)23. Mega Man (Mega Man, Capcom, 1987)24. Sam Fisher (Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Ubisoft, 2002)25. Shadow (Sonic Adventure 2, Sega, 2001)26. Jak (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Sony, 2001)27. Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem, Apogee, 1991)28. Dante (Devil May Cry, Bandai, 2003)29. Naruto (Naruto: Konoha Ninpoch, Bandai, 2003)30. Altair (Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, 2007)31. Zelda (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)32. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)33. Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)34. The Prince (Prince of Persia, Broderbund, 1989)35. Ezio (Assassin’s Creed II, Ubisoft, 2009)36. Leon S (Biohazard/ Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)37. Ash Ketchum (Pokemon Red/Green, Nintendo, 1996)38. Guybrush Threepwood (The Secret of Monkey Island, LucasArts, 1990)39. Spyro (Spyro the Dragon, Universal, 1998)40. “Ghost” Riley (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Activision, 2009)41. Goku (Dragon Daihikyoe, Epoch, 1987)42. Max Payne (Max Payne, Rockstar, 2001)43. Jill Valentine (Biohazard/ Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)44. Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)45. Larry Laffer (Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Sierra, 1987)46. Augustus Cole (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)47. Bowser (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)48. Eddie Riggs (Brutal Legend, EA, 2009)49. Ryu (Street Fighter, Capcom, 1987)50. Sackboy (LIttleBigPlanet, Sony, 2008)
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Not the best list, in my opinion.
Marcus top 20 yeaya! And Snake number 4. Well deserved.
I'd say the top 10 are pretty definitive, but I wouldn't necessarily put them in that order...
Gordon Freeman is always #1. :D
Also, the very presence of any Call of Duty characters, while not surprising (when you ask the people, they will always reply HALO COD HALOOOOOOO COOODDDDDDD), is just sad... Come on people. Of ALL TIME you pick some generic soldier nationalistic stereotypes? Get real.
Does Call of Duty rank up as a definitive series? Yes. Do any of the characters warrant placement on this list?
Ah, no. No they don't.
Gordon Freeman Number 8, son. Thas how he roll.
I agree with who's on it...I don't understand the order...
Clearly this list sucks. I won't waste my time pointing out why. This is why you don't ask people who the best characters are, people are mostly dumb and have no idea what they're talking about.
I would have put Sackboy higher, personally. He may not have the longest history in the business, but you can't deny the success of LittleBIGPLanet as a franchise and an all around excellent game.
Echoing the most common sentiment, I'm confused by Shadow's appearance here. In the top half, no less. I would have placed him in the bottom 10, if I put him in at all.
Crash at #11 was a surprise. I didn't know he was that popular. I'd have expected to see him down by Spyro around #39.
Where's GlaDOS? Or does this list only count playable characters? I would have nominated her regardless.
Other than the above, this list is about what I expected.
Sweet Tooth or Axle would have been better than COD characters. There shouldn't be any characters on here that you can't play. If you cant play them they should not be on here. It's a poor excuse for a list.
im supprised goku is on this list wow but DBZ will live forever
Guinness included Sam Fisher as one of the 25 best video game characters of all time.
Why didn't GameInformer even include him in the best of the decade? Tsk Tsk.
How the hell do they forget Commander Shepard?!