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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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Order schmorder, but Nathan Drake should be in the top five. Numbering things is dumb as a general rule.
Wheres Galdos?!?!
Sonic shouldn't be only one slot above crash for crying out loud. And Niko shouldn't be above Samus.. this list is horrible..
I'm actually pretty happy with this. I'd probably switch a couple around, but over all it's very well put together
At least Sam Fisher made this list. Just sayin'
Not too bad. All those on the list I feel should be there but I definitly think some spots should be switched around.
Good to see Sam Fisher on there.
Who voted for shadow the hedgehog? And Gears of war may be fun to play but Mark Fenix? WTF?
and also a few others don't belong. Probably could find some that do if I thought about it.
How does Soap MacTavish out rank Captain Price? That makes no sense at all.
Call of duty campaigns suck so why did the series get 3 in the top 50??? Other than a load of Japanese crap I was okay with the list... except that shepard wasnt there
This list is pretty underwhelming...
Mega Man should be higher. Higher than Master Chief and Kratos. Anybody that says "personality", no. X had some kind of emotion to it, the whole Zero debacle.
I think these people need to realize that there's a difference between a good character and an icon. I mean is Sonic really that well developed of a character compared to Nathan Drake?
Naruto? lol
I'm really surprised about the anime characters Naruto, Goku, and Ash Ketchum being there. (For all you who would argue with me about Ash, he is unnamed in the Pokemon games, and Ash is just one of the many suggestions.) I mean, should they really qualify?
Also, can someone tell me why mr. no personality, Master Chief, is number 3? Certainly he is identifiable, and his games are awesome, but does he as a character contribute anything? Nope, you can pretty much replace him with any generic space marine.
I also need to point out the strange lack of Gato from Chrono Trigger. He should be number 1 because he's awesome.
YAY LINK AND ZELDA AND MARIO AND YOSHI!!!!!!!
HOW DARE SACKBOY BE #50!! HE SHOULD BE RIGHT BEHIND NATHAN DRAKE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!