Support NeoGAF

[Dead Man Typing]

This thread is everything I hoped it would be.

List is as good as any other. By that I mean, it's a list, not gospel. Even then, most of GAF doesn't take gospel as gospel... funny that.

 

[Taurus]

No Megaman? Really now?

 

[JdFoX187]

I'm a Halo fan and even I :lol at Chief being on the list, let alone that high.

 

[Toby]

These are just characters from great games.
Master Chief, Gordon Freeman and Samus Aran are not great characters.

 

[viewtiful_dru]

well maybe they are also basing the placements on the actions of the characters and not just by their personalities

because then I can understand why Kratos, Master Chief, Samus and Gordon are there

edit: Mr. X is listed, but I can only think of Mr. X from Streets of Rage and Mr. X from Resident Evil. I wonder which one they're referring to?

 

[TunaLover]

Nice to see Harman Smith, but the lack of Jade is puzzling...

 

[John]

well maybe they are also basing the placements on the actions of the characters and not just by their personalities

Well in that case obviously, faceless shithead who shoots a lot of aliens is about the same tier as subtly-developed believable personality.

 

[gumshoe]

Freeman is ahead of Mario?? :lol :lol :lol

 

[gumshoe]

And while this may be an indication that Nintendo's dumpy plumber isn't as relevant today as he once was, Mario's place in the pantheon of gaming is assured.

:lol

Have they not seen the sales of Mario games this gen??

 

[Nemesis121]

Gordon Freeman????

2 names I hate..

Gordon=PoS family member.
Freeman=Last name of PoS former friend.

:lol :lol

 

[SUPREME1]

Sh*tty list is extra sh*tty.

 

[thecheese]

33. The Announcer (Unreal Tournament)

:lol That's a pretty cool entry.

 

[MDSLKTR]

lol @ "obscure pc characters". Needs more loveless gackt porn amirite? Place 1 is totally justified.

 

[stuminus3]

Gordon fucking Freeman?

Ask any random person on any street in the world who Pac-Man or Super Mario is. Then ask them who Gordon Freeman is.

Gordon fucking Freeman. Pfft.

 

[Patryn]

well maybe they are also basing the placements on the actions of the characters and not just by their personalities

because then I can understand why Kratos, Master Chief, Samus and Gordon are there

edit: Mr. X is listed, but I can only think of Mr. X from Streets of Rage and Mr. X from Resident Evil. I wonder which one they're referring to?

Resident Evil.

 

[The Big Rig]

Gordon Freeman is the best character because he is everyone who controls him. His personality is completely relative.

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

50. Ryu Hayabusa

 

[ultim8p00]

Fucking retarded list. Empty vessel character for number 1 and the most badass ninja to ever grace the planet at number 50.

 

[WrikaWrek]

Gordon Freeman is the best character because he is everyone who controls him. His personality is completely relative.

So he is every multiplayer character ever, he is Zelda, he is every silent hero ever made.

The list has to be a whole lot bigger man.

 

[-COOLIO-]

gordon freeman doesnt say or do shit.

is that why he got number 1?

he's as much of a character as link or gta3 dude

 

[djtiesto]

100% serious: You should really look into some of those characters then. Particularly Dr. Fred Eddison (Day of the Tentacle), Manny Calavera (Grim Fandango) and Shodan (System Shock).

These are some of the best games ever made and they're still very relevant.

Sadly, it's pretty hard to track down copies of those games and/or get them to run on modern machines, at least to my knowledge... I remember I tried playing System Shock and got about 5 min into it before it crashed. Tried it again, crashed at the same spot...

I always hoped that a lot of those old PC adventure games would get remade for the DS.

 

[-COOLIO-]

Gordon Freeman is the best character because he is everyone who controls him. His personality is completely relative.

not really.

within the context of the game's story he's an emotionless mute

 

[Shadow Red]

Dumbest list ever.

 

[rvy]

50. Ryu Hayabusa

Shit yeah, man.

 

[bhlaab]

48. Donkey KOng
37. Pac Man

Really?

46. Vault Boy

Not even a character. Iconography at best.

45. Marcus Fenix

WHAT.

33. The Announcer (Unreal Tournament)

REALLY?

32. Miner Willy
24. Sabre Man

List made by english people

13. Cloud Strife
10. Sephiroth

Really?

11. Minsc & Boo

Ugh.

8. Master Chief

Really?

1. Gordon Freeman

And Time's Man of the Year is.... you!! derp.

 

[epmode]

Sadly, it's pretty hard to track down copies of those games and/or get them to run on modern machines, at least to my knowledge... I remember I tried playing System Shock and got about 5 min into it before it crashed. Tried it again, crashed at the same spot...

System Shock 1 or 2? 1, along with a whole bunch of old PC stuff, is a DOS game so it'll work with DOSBox. DOSBox runs on just about everything so it should certainly be able to handle System Shock 1.

2 is a little more tricky, but it has a bunch of fan-made patches that make it much easier to get a stable installation on new operating systems (with support for higher resolutions and widescreen). There's even a DirectX 10 video plugin/mod/whatever. It's lovely.

Really, with PC games, if the game has a sizable following, someone has spent the time getting it working with Windows 7 64. There's almost always a way.

 

[harry4000uk]

pretty fantastic list even if the ordering is a bit out of whack

 

[The Big Rig]

not really.

within the context of the game's story he's an emotionless mute

I thought the smiley face expressed my sarcasm.

 

[A Huge Battleship]

Needs more Eggman. I mean Robotnik. Whatever.

 

[Mdk7]

45. Marcus Fenix

I stopped reading here.

Marcus Fenix?
REALLY?

 

[MNC]

I can taste the tears already yum!

My god :lol :lol

 

[Regulus Tera]

What the fuck is Sephiroth doing in the Top Ten.

 

[ntropy]

Did they correct it?

yes, it was originally "Bioware" instead of "Black Isle." probably prompted by someone eager to correct them in the comments.

 

[cartman414]

I can taste the tears already yum!

Who was this and when was this from? This is too funny.

 

[Kinyou]

Just came in to make sure that Mario is number one.... WHAAAAAA?

 

[HK-47]

Tell me something about Gordon Freeman that doesn't take place within Half Life or its sequels. It's just the name of a floating crowbar, man. A crowbar that has a beard and glasses.

lol its true.

 

[HK-47]

:lol

Have they not seen the sales of Mario games this gen??

I nearly spit up my drink when I saw that, and I'm no fan of Mario as a character.

 

[AColdDay]

Mixed feelings about this list. I don't know if I buy Gordan Freeman as a character, rather than a blank slate to project the player into the game.

 

[ColonelColon]

Any video game character is better than Gordon Freeman. Seriously, list any video game character, and there is a 99.9% chance that it is more interesting than a mute "engineer" with virtually no history or remarkable traits. He only just qualifies as a character by technicality. He doesn't really have any defining characteristics.
On the other hand, I could understand lauding video game characters for their aesthetic appeal in the absence of a more complex personality. Iconic characters like Link, Mario, and Pac-Man deserve spots on lists like these just as much as any other characters. But of course, Gordon Freeman doesn't even have that. He is literally no more than a floating hand and weapon.

 

[Oyashiro]

Expected Mario to be #1.

 

[Stop It]

As soon as I seen what #1 was I knew this thread would end up like this.

I think it is also indicative of the differences between the UK and the US when it comes to our attitudes on gaming. PC gaming is (or, was) much bigger here in the UK than the US and it shows.

Oh, Lara Croft being so high up is not a surprise. For years she was the face of Playstation here in the UK so while her stock may have declined in recent years she is still well remembered.

 

[theluma]

Guess they thought Mario would be too obvious. Doesn't stop him from deserving to be first...

 

[WrikaWrek]

Why is Mario a great character again?

 

[2 Minutes Turkish]

Kratos at 14?

Fuck off.

And Chief above Snake = <3

Freeman at number 1 is just dumb. He speaks less than chief and isn't even as bad ass.

 

[Sadist]

Ah a list and Neogaf...

It's like a fountain of awesome

 

[JdFoX187]

Why is Mario a great character again?

He's iconic. He's no more shallow than half the other characters on that list.

 

[mantidor]

You know whats even dumber? no mention of Pikachu anywhere.

Why is Mario a great character again?

In terms of characters of other mediums like literature or films game characters are simply terrible, void, lifeless empty husks. Almost none of the characters on lists like this are worth anything, their only drive is to be "cool" or "weird". Story driven games don't have many interesting or appealing examples either.

But in terms of videogame characters, Mario is the ultimate icon. Whether is sales, critical aclaim or influence, no other character comes close. Thats an overused sentence, but is absolutely true regarding Mario. Not even Pikachu or a Sim, characters known worldwide and the face of the second and third biggest gaming franchises, come close.

But is not really even that, which would be reason alone for Mario to be on the top, is the fact that he isn't attempting to be "cool", "weird", "epic", "adventurous" or anything, Mario is the way it is only because of gameplay choices. He's the purest form of a gaming character we can have without saying that the blocks from tetris are characters.

 

[WrikaWrek]

So he sucks big time. But because he is the most popular he is the best. Ok.

 

[mantidor]

So he sucks big time. But because he is the most popular he is the best. Ok.

I never mentioned popularity. Actually Freeman is more popular if we are to believe internet polls.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

As some have pointed out, threads about 'the top...' are rarely (read: never) welcomed with open arms here on planet GAF...

Quite honestly, if everyone who has ever visited NeoGAF was given this very same list of characters and asked to sort them...you would not find two lists that were even close to being a match. That's the nature of personal preference.