In the decades since the advent of video games, the world has been honored with a treasure trove of outstanding characters. Some characters are hated by gamers but there are also characters who are loved by them. It’s undeniable that each character is built separately and they bring different emotions for gamers. So who are the most favorite characters of all time?
Right now, I will introduce you to the top 20 best video game characters voted by fans.
1. Master Chief (Halo)
What attracts you to Halo? For many people, it is the strength of the faceless hero that has never been seen – Master Chief. It’s no coincidence that Master Chief is the hero who saved the planet, and no one has ever seen his face which is hidden behind that helmet.
Perhaps the developer, Bungie, wanted to keep his mystery, that the hero can be anyone, that the hero is a symbol which does not need to be exposed. The aura that shines around this outstanding individual seems to have been a fate-defining thing since his birth.
This person possesses the innate qualities to become an ideal leader: The ability to lead and especially more luck than people. Part of his greatness is that you never doubt him. If anyone can see us through this, it’s John.
2. John Marston (Red Dead Redemption)
As the main character in the first version of the Red Dead Redemption series and also reappears in the second part, John Marston is one of the most tragic pieces on the list but has a strong will to rise.
Born into an unhappy family, his mother was a promiscuous woman who died during childbirth, and his father was practically useless. John Marston lacked love from a young age, so he became stronger and braver than his peers. His father later died when he was 8.
Finally, John had to live in an orphanage, but this was not his environment, so John escaped from the orphanage and joined gangs for a living. With the bravery and cold-blooded in him, John made the first payment at age 11.
This is a very special character, needless, arrogant, making players sometimes quite complacent because of the “savage” of this guy. As one of Rockstar’s most successful games, with John’s thrilling storyline, you definitely want to know more about it, right?
3. Mario (Super Mario)
With a blue jumpsuit, a red hat and a big mustache, Mario has become a familiar image that anyone can recognize.
Instead of the prince going to save the princess, the strange thing that showed Miyamoto’s special mind was the appearance of a simple fat branch.
Mario was famous for rescuing Princess Peach. However, this hero also appears in a series of other games, including football, golf or kart racing. Later games often were accompanied by technological advances, such as the 3D format first introduced in “Super Mario 64” in 1996.
For adults who are still nostalgic about a Mario character, they met when they were children. Mario is still a ‘monument’ after three decades.
4. Solid Snake (Metal Gear và Metal Gear Solid)
Just like bald assassin Agent 47, Solid Snake is no ordinary human being! He is essentially a product born from the US government’s biological warrior project. This is a secret project to create clone warriors based on the DNA of one of the legendary spies called Big Boss.
In terms of description, Solid Snake is depicted as a lone wolf. A person who is intelligent but always tries to hide his emotions under an emotionless face. As a clone of Big Boss, who was dubbed the greatest warrior of the 20th century, it is obvious that Solid Snake also possesses advantages over people.
He has an IQ of more than 180, is fluent in 6 different languages, expertised melee skills, the ability to use many different weapons, hidden skills, hiding and penetrating skill at master levels and especially the competency in to cope with the most modern nuclear weapons. All of them help him survive and overcome the most dangerous moments in his life.
Solid Snake was never under pressure to be one of the three “sons” of the legendary Big Boss. He chose his own path and did not accept being bound by fate. Those are the reasons that he reached the top 20 best video game characters.
5. Princess Peach Toadstool (Super Mario)
Peach is the princess of the fictional kingdom Mushroom Kingdom. In Nintendo’s Mario series, often played the role of “kidnapped girl” in the adventure.
Princess Peach loves pink, almost all of her outfits are pink and platinum hair. Peach is described in a comprehensive manner as kind, pleasant, and noble (The essential description for her in Super Smash Bros).
Melee had said that she was so noble that she was willing to play a tennis match with Bowser, no matter how much trouble he caused her. However, in Mario Party 4 and Mario Superstar Baseball she is described as coy.
Based on the Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series, she has a pure heart and a clear voice. Another point of her personality is that she is willing to help others as soon as possible. Recently, Peach has been portraying a stronger personality, especially in the RPG that she appears in.
6. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
Lara Croft is a heroic character in the most “human” way.
She must fight to grow. The main theme of the game is Lara’s strong will to survive. Her archaeological tour was interrupted when the ship ran aground on a mysterious island after a major storm. Lara got lost from the group, realizing she was completely isolated and unable to defend herself in the wild with the indigenous people.
Gamers will witness her strong determination to survive, and survival is a very important factor for us to cultivate a true heroine. Lara has been shaped in a slim body, less angular face and suitable clothes for the situation. Possessing her brown eyes, inverted “M” lips, and braids, this image is extremely familiar to gamers.
7. Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher 3)
Geralt in The Witcher 3 has gone through too much: Rediscovering memories, unjustly assassinating himself from his plotting to assassinate King Foltest, recovering the lost daughter, Ciri, and fighting the evil Wild Hunt, subjugating demons evil and also saving a city from vampires…
He is a Witcher with superior swordsmanship, a true leader when fighting, a lover is not too bad despite the so-called “Witcher without emotion” and a great friend.
But despite the choices that gamers make, they can still clearly see the character of the legendary White Wolf: a bit irritable, but he is a sarcastic and very “stubborn old father”. He is a champion, a person who lives so honestly that he is not afraid to offend anyone and hate machinations.
8. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy)
With the handsome appearance of a slender male, combined with blonde hair full of personality, behind him is always a powerful sword, Cloud Strife is considered the most noticeable symbol in the Final Fantasy series.
His appearance could not be more “drama”, a cold, arrogant romantic swordsman on the way to find the shattered and lost memories. Final Fantasy VII revolves around his story with the AVALANCHE team on their way to defeating Shinra and Sephiroth to protect the Earth from destruction.
A character with an outside temperament is trying to hide the internal trauma as Cloud has always attracted the sympathy of the majority of gamers. He not only loses his memories but also his best friends, especially Zack and Aerith’s death. Towards the end of the game, the more the secrets are revealed, the more Cloud knows about who he is.
9. Pacman (Pacman)
Have you ever thought that Pac-Man looked a lot like a pizza that took a slice? This is not a coincidence, because the creator of Pac-Man – Iwatani Toru came up with the idea of the character’s design while eating pizza.
He wanted to associate Pac-Man with something to remind people of eating, which he believed would appeal to everyone. Indeed, Pacman’s image has really recorded an unforgettable mark in the hearts of gamers. And 9th place in the top 20 best video games characters is worthy.
10. Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)
Born more than two decades ago (since 1992), Mortal Kombat has transformed into a legend in the fighting game genre thanks to extremely violent gameplay along with brutal finishing moves.
Referring to Mortal Kombat, certainly, the Scorpion warrior – which is the nickname of one of the most magnificent warriors of the Shirai Ryu ninja clan – Hanzo Hasashi.
Hanzo’s father once prevented his son from joining the tribe because he didn’t want him to have to live the harsh life of an assassin. However, in order to ensure a comfortable life for his wife and son, Hanzo became Shirai Ryu’s member.
As long as the Scorpion removed the mask, his enemies would be burned in the flames of hell. Scorpion is an immortal ninja with unrivaled strength from hell that makes the game attractive and dominates the power rankings with a raging fire full of hatred.
11. Kratos (God of war)
One of the games that represent the entire PlayStation system, God Of War never seems to disappoint gamers. And Kratos, the powerful demigod will dominate the rankings for the top 20 best video games characters.
According to the original God of War design, about 1.98 tall, Kratos possessed gray-white skin, scars on his right eye and extremely special tattoos. In God Of War 2018, Kratos had a more Nordic appearance, including a pretty beard.
During the Greek period, Kratos participated in countless adventures in an effort to prevent disasters or change his own destiny. He is often portrayed as heartless, arrogant, and loves extreme violence.
From a Spartan warrior, he became “Ghost of Sparta” after accidentally killing his family arranged by the god of war Ares. After killing Ares for revenge, Kartos captured the title of God Of War.
Moving on to the Nordic era of the series, Kratos has changed. Although still cold and cool before, gamers will feel how Kratos controls his rage. The God of War is now learning how to truly become a father to take care of his new son, Atreus. And of course, the Norse gods are repeating the mistake of the Greek neighbor, behaving badly towards the wrong person.
Kratos has been embraced by critics and has become a new video game icon, a character capable of standing on par with Mario, Link, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Lara Croft.
12. Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)
The Mortal Kombat series features the Sub-Zero brothers. Both are descendants of the Cryomancer people in the Outworld. However, the two Sub-Zero brothers were both born and became members of the Lin Kuei assassin faction at Earthrealm.
There is a reason why the publisher kept letting Sub-Zero and Scorpion come first in a promotional campaign for each Mortal Kombat game. Sub-Zero’s freezing skills have always been one of the most popular attacks in brand history. But Sub-Zero also has one of the most unique storylines in the series.
As mentioned above, Sub-Zero was actually killed in the first game and brought back to life under Noob Saibot’s identity. His younger brother has taken this title in search of vengeance and is the character that many players feel most familiar to date.
13. Max Payne (Max Payne)
As an inspector of the New York City Police Department, Max is aware of his integrity, not bureaucracy and always perseveres in pursuing the truth.
It was his precious qualities that tons of drama hit the head of the “messenger of justice”: his family was murdered, his career failed, and his close friends also turned against him. Everything seemed to be able to defeat Max but he still stood firm with his forged skills, the ability to shoot two hands make Max a fear of criminals.
14. Mega Man (Mega Man)
30 years of development, reaping countless successes as well as becoming one of the classic games associated with the memories of many generations of players. Mega Man has become the childhood memory of many gamers.
Rock is a humanoid robot created by a scientist Dr. Light. Before the betrayal of Dr. Wily, Rock is transformed into a fighting robot to protect the world from the threat of Dr. Wily’s evil army. From here, Rock became Mega Man.
After many years of improvements, Mega from a blue seemingly simple character was upgraded to 3D. Perhaps like any gamers in the generation 8x, 9x know Mega Man.
15. Marcus Michael Fenix (Gear of Wars)
Marcus Michael Fenix is the typical hero model in the latest generation game consoles. His courage, adventurous nature, and strength always attract gamers. In the world of Gear of Wars, the world invaded by the Locust race and generations of warriors like Marcus called Gear will have to fight against this force.
With his strong, confident assertiveness, Marcus led his team to fight bravely in all the battles he participated in. He was awarded the Embry Star title, the highest honor in the COG force he served. 10 years after Locust arrived on the planet Sera, Marcus decided to leave his team to find his father.
Finding a father alone but not successful, not only had to hear that his father was dead, but Marcus was also sentenced to prison in desert for 40 years while the war was still going on.
Later when the battle came to an end, he was rescued by his friend Dominic Santiago and was promoted to captain of the Delta Squad, successfully destroying many large enemy bases.
16. Bowser
The fire-spinner, filled with spikes in the plumber Mario’s game, maybe the most famous of all the villains, but if you think about it a bit, Bowser is not really a Trivial villain.
Failure after failure, every attempt to take over the world is meaningless, all hampered by an unkempt bearded Italian plumber. Bowser’s nefarious plots rarely make sense and are beaten as many times as the stars in the sky.
However, you must respect Bowser’s perseverance. Without the biggest fear of tamarind leaves, we wouldn’t have all those super fun “Super Mario Bros” games! Despite being the villain, no one can deny its popularity.
17. Sarah Kerrigan (StarCraft II)
With the psychic ability, unmatched courage, sharp melee ability as well as an expert on ballistic weapons, motor vehicles, Kerrigan‘s power transcends all boundaries in the program. Ghost.
However, the dark forces have pushed her into the hands of the Zerg army – under the control of Overmind’s central brain, courage and tenacity from being a Ghost soldier, making later, Kerrigan becoming a traitor against the Alliance, this gives her the right to rule other alien tribes.
Currently, Kerrigan is in command of the Swarm and countless monsters ready to sweep humanity from the Koprulu area.
18. Cortana (Halo)
As a beautiful companion of gamers throughout the Halo series, Cortana truly deserves the title of the sexiest AI of all time. More than that, she also plays a very important role in the series.
Besides a silent Master Chief, the “job” that the game makers entrust to Cornata is to help you understand the plot, introduce you to the necessary information about the context, goals, orientation … and everything else you need.
In addition to being a useful source of information, Cortana is also a very complete female character. She is smart, edgy, interesting, and (almost) loyal to Master Chief, who is herself throughout the series.
19. Rayne (BloodRayne)
Rayne is the protagonist of the action game series BloodRayne. Rayne is the most tragic villain on this list when she is orphaned after her mother was murdered by her vampire father.
Half-vampire blood through red hung hair, “fiery” body with a sharp blade draped in the hands of BloodRayne ants seem to be the most successful vampire model in the field of games.
20. Pikachu (Pokemon)
As the star of the hit Japanese Pokémon series, Pikachu is worthy of the title of one of the most iconic cartoon characters.
Pikachu is the protagonist of the series that sold more than 260 million copies worldwide, being part of a card game series that sold 21.5 billion pieces, being the star of an animated series that spanned 800 episodes (and keep coming), not to mention appearing in 17 other movies.
Conclusion
So, I have listed for you the top 20 best video game characters of all time. In the list, although there are presenting not only many protagonists, supporting characters, but also the presence of few villains, it is undeniable the width of these characters. It seems that they have become the brand of its games, so when looking at them all gamers will immediately recognize. How about you? Which game character do you love?
