darkSpyro

Pretty self-explanatory really, just post your Top 10/5/whatever characters from video games.
A few rules though:

These characters have to be most known from video games, no Harry Potter or Homer Simpson or anything like that.

One character per franchise. You don't have to follow this rule, but I would recommend it since it keeps the list from becoming too overcrowed with characters from one franchise.

Here are mine:

10. Kirby (Kirby Franchise)
How can you not love this little guy? He's very care-free, heroic, cute, funny and has a cool, simple design. Also infinite jumps plus the ability to steal your enemies powers: awesome.

9. Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda: Skywards Sword)
Nintendo did a really nice job designing this damsel in distress. Instead of the usual Princess Peach clone with zero personality, this re-incarnation of Zelda is incredibly sweet, gentle and caring. I don't know about you but the main motivation for me playing through 'Skyward Sword' was to save Zelda, that's pretty good character designing Nintendo... too bad Skyward Sword got boring very easily... *hides*

8) Sgt. James Byrd (Spyro Franchise)
Yep, Spyro's not my favorite Spyro character, this guy is. You can tell Sgt. Byrd is going to be awesome just from hearing about what he is: A British Military Penguin, that flies around with a jet-pack and shoots missiles, drops bombs and is dating a fairy.... need I say more? I will also say that I preferred him in 'Spyro: A Hero's Tail' in terms of design and personality, he just seems that little bit more bad-ass in that game.

7) Noble Six (Halo Reach) Warning: Contains Spoilers to 'Halo Reach'
Master Chief is a tool with next to no personality. (Except the ending of Halo 4 but even then...) I much prefer the main protagonist of 'Halo Reach', Noble Six is a rookie who slowly begins to become one of the most noble (no pun intended >.>) warriors I've ever seen in a video game. I won't spoil the ending of Halo Reach... actually screw it... In the final mission of Halo Reach where all his teammates have died and his commanding officers have abandoned him on the barren Covenant planet, he still continues to fight to the very end for the sake of his friends. Playing the last few minutes of his life is one of the most emotional moments in a game as the atmosphere is perfect when it happens. All hope is gone, you know deep down that they're not coming back for you and that the Covenant aliens are eventually going to kill you, but you still fight like the solider you are. What a great guy.

6) Dimentio (Super Paper Mario) Warning: Contains Spoilers to 'Super Paper Mario'
This guy is the absolute definition of a well designed bad guy. Everything about Dimentio is awesome, his design is original and cool, his personality is creepy, funny, and threatening all at the same time. And his secret plan is one of the most awesome twists in any form of media. This guy really freaking means business, he brainwashes Luigi, steals the power of the 'Chaos Heart', betrays the main bad guy of the game, and plans to rule existence after whipping out everything with 'The Void'. I mean wow, you can tell he isn't your average henchman, far from it. Sorry Luigi, as much as I love your character, Dimentio is my favorite Mario character.

5) Chikorita (Pokemon Franchise)
Yeah, Chikorita is my favorite Pokemon of all time. Why? Well I do like him quite alot in the main RPGs, he's my favorite Gen 2 starter in terms of design, his move-set is pretty good, but the main reason why I love him so much is because of 'Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness'. I played as the little guy throughout the whole game, and for those of who have played 'PMD2' should all know that it's a very emotional game, and in such an emotional game I couldn't help but feel an emotional attachment to my character, it's hard to explain but that's my reason.

4) GLaDOS/Wheatley (Portal & Portal 2)
I simply cannot decide who I prefer out of GLaDOS and Whealtey from the Portal games. They're both awesome for many different reasons. I guess I start with GLaDOS: She is the sarcastic, insane robot we all know and love. Her constant funny comments and cruel remarks towards Chell are just a delight to hear throughout both Portal games, I mean could you imagine Portal without GLaDOS... 80% less awesome of a game. Wheatley is very different to GLaDOS, in the sense of him being well... a moron. I won't spoil his little 'outbreak' in Portal 2, but I'll just say that there's more than meets the eye about the little robot eye... thingy. Also he is SO FUNNY! Every single line of dialogue that comes from this guys voice box is sheer comedy gold, also he's voiced by Steven Merchant... I think I've proven my point.

3) Crash Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot Franchise)
Crash is not your average hero, he's stupid, carefree, and lazy... and that's the reason I love him so much! He's easily one of the funniest characters in any form of media. Bring him back, Activision!

2) E102 Gamma (Sonic Adventure)
The only character from a game to make me cry. Gamma's concept is very cliched but Sega did such a good job designing Gamma I honestly don't care. He's a robot built by Eggman to do his evil bidding and what not, although after a long chat with Amy who was trapped in one of Eggman's prison cells, he begins to realize what he really is and what needs to be done for the good of the human race. He knows that an innocent bird is inside of him and the rest of E Robots, so he has to kill each of his own brethren to set the animals free and eventually without a word, kills himself setting the bird within free. What a noble warrior indeed, I quite simply love Gamma and declare him as the second best video game character IMO.

1) Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes Franchise)
Gamma may be noble, Crash may be funny, Dimentio may be bad-ass, but what happens when you combine the three? You get the main character of NMH and NMH2, Travis Touchdown. In the beginning of NMH he is loser that is obsessed with anime and wrestling living in a two room apartment with his cat, he then enters a ranking fight contest to have sex with a girl at the end. So basically he's a complete jackass in the beginning of the game with some incredibly hilarious lines, in fact I'm gonna say that he's the funniest character EVER IMO. But throughout the two games he begins to realise that killing is wrong and alot of other deep stuff. Not that great of a premise but it's the delivery that gets me every time. Every single cutscene just adds to sheer amount of love to this character, you may not understand what I mean and I don't blame you for it, but if you do play either of the NMH games, you'll know what I mean. Sorry for a kinda bad description but I can't really put it any other way.

Hey, don't you dare insult Crash! His older games were awesome!

Quote: Matteomax

Hey, don't you dare insult Crash! His older games were awesome!

Dude, I love Crash! But you gotta admit that he's kind of stupid, especially in Twinsanity.

First off, I'd like to say that a majority of the games I play are ones of animes I like so they end up not counting. This leaves rather slim pickings.

10. Kirby (Kirby)
While I have never actually played a Kirby game and have no intention of ever doing so, I have played as Kirby in Super Smash Bros. and find him to be my favorite to play as in this series. I quite enjoy his ability to eat people and absorb their powers while staying cute.

9. Red (Pokemon)
Let's be honest, everyone expected someone to say Red. The original Pokemon trainer in the Pokemon games. He is a better form of Ash, and while since you play as him you never really get a feel of his personality, one still feels like he is a tough trainer who is serious when it comes to Pokemon battles. He even becomes the Pokemon champion then even though he doesn't stay atop the Hall of Fame to do his duties as champion, he remains one of the toughest trainers in the series.

8. Luigi (Mario)
Though often overshadowed by his brother Mario in the main games, Luigi has a chnce to shine in the spin-offs and even has his own game that is like Ghostbusters. I can't quite put my finger on why, but I like him alot better than his brother.

7. Amy (SoulCalibur)
A rather misfortunate youth who lived on the streets for awhile before being taken in by Rafael. She is often rather moody and depressed in nature, but considering her background it is a bit understandable. She is quite skilled with a rapier and is actually more fun to play as than her mentor and adoptive father.

6. Shy Guy (Mario)
This adorable little thing comes in a wide variety of colors. I was overjoyed to learn of his playability in MarioKart DS and more so in MarioKart 7 when he returned as a fully playable character in the character selection menu. I love this thing so much that I wish I had a stuffed one to snuggle all day. I wonder what he hides behind his mask...

5. Tira (SoulCalibur)
An evil psychotic *****. Pretty well sums her up. Tira is like Harley Quinn and dresses a bit like she would too, though Tira seems to have the blood lust of the Joker added in and will do anything to satisfy her master (SoulEdge)'s craving for blood. She is quite fun to paly in SC3, though seems rather nerfed in Broken Destiny. However, Broken Destiny adds to her insanity by giving her split personality which has a heavy impact on her character overall.

4. Luxord (Kingdom Hearts)
A man who believes highly in fate. Luxord is a very interesting boss yet annoying, both because of his special set of rules for fighting him where his health bar and yours are set on a timer with dealing damage to either side knocking the bar down a bit further. His use of playing cards as a weapon and weilding time as an element adds to his appeal for me.

3. Chandelure (Pokemon)
A ghost/fire type chandeliere introduced in generation 5. Chandelure can prove quite dangerous in battle especially with the chance of haivng the ability Flash Fire making him immune to fire attacks or the hidden ability of Shadow Tag preventing your opponent from switching out. This Pokemon is all kinds of nasty and one of Pokemon's darker points as its PokeDex entry notes it as eating the souls of humans and other Pokemon, what's not to love?

2. Aqua (Kingdom Hearts)
Aqua is arguably the best character to play as in the Kingdom Heart series. While her stats focus her more for Magic than Strength, her use of Cartwheel as a dodge maneuver and Barrier for defense (both things she can only do) give her a great defense to make up for her lack of strength. I'd choose her in a PvP any day over any other character.

1. Larxene (Kingdom Hearts)
Naturally the top 2 would be Kingdom Hearts characters with none other than Larxene getting the number 1 spot. She is a cruel, somewhat egotistical ***** who spends most of Chain of Memories screwing with Sora's mind and playing tricks on him, as well as her brief appearence in 358/2 days being spent griping about having to train Roxas. There is nothing nice about her, yet for someone reason I have a bit of a fan-crush on her.

5. Dimentio
Same reasons as tou

4. Crash Bandicoot
Just amazing.

3. Kirby
......kirbeh....

2. Gardevoir
Pokemon. She is amazing

1. Ratchet
He is my childhood

Quote: TorchSheep

Quote: Matteomax

Hey, don't you dare insult Crash! His older games were awesome!

Dude, I love Crash! But you gotta admit that he's kind of stupid, especially in Twinsanity.

I like him too, but he dies when a harmless animal touches him.

Here it is, and I'm sorry if I do drone on for too long. I'm boring like that.

10) Metal Sonic, from Sonic CD
If there's one character I'm sure to like from any classical video gaming franchise, it's the copycat villain - the bad guy who is essentially built to be the alter ego of the hero. So, logically, you'd think that Shadow were my favorite, right? Wrong. Metal Sonic always had this appeal to me - he seemed to be the exact opposite of what Sonic was. Metal Sonic is a robot, and in a twist of (almost) irony, Sonic spends his time freeing animals from robots. Metal Sonic has also always appealed to me because of his unique design, which is an interesting take on Sonic's design.

9) Mister Freeze, from Batman: Arkham City
I really don't know if this one counts, since he is a comic character, but the fact is that Mister Freeze hasn't really had any decent portrayals in any Batman movie so far, at least, not one that I'm aware of. Mister Freeze is a great villain, because even though he is a "bad guy", he's a sympathetic character - I really felt bad for Mister Freeze, considering all that he had gone through, and all he wanted was to cure his wife. I can respect this character, which is certainly something special.

8) Isaac Clarke, from Dead Space
It's quite clever how the development team somehow made Isaac Clarke both a mute and a developed character in the Dead Space universe. I think that most of the characters backstory is established through logs that the player can find in-game, and across the series, we see him mature and change, making him all the more human in nature.

7) Nemesis, from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but put this character on the list. And what is there that I can really say about him? He's terrifying, and when I played the game as a kid, I found myself suffering from nightmares of this guy for weeks. Thanks for the memories, Nemesis!

6) Faith Connors, from Mirror's Edge
This is a character who I can really sympathize with. Faith lives in a dystopian future, where advancements in technology and law enforcement have reached a point where there is no longer freedom, and, to put it simply, seeing the world through Faith's eyes is simply breathtaking. We clearly establish everything she does and does not like about the world she lives in, and we come to understand this through in-game experiences.

5) Sackboy/Sackgirl, from LittleBigPlanet
This was a difficult one. On one hand, the character starts off as a blank slate for the player to fill in and create, on the other hand, there are limitless possibilities for the character, what with the awesome selection of costumes that he/she can create and wear. I was struck at the possibilities and customization that was available to me the first time I played LittleBigPlanet, and if the magic of the game itself didn't capture my imagination, it was the customization.

4) Claire Redfield, from Resident Evil 2
Most people put in my position would have chosen Leon S. Kennedy over Claire Redfield, but honestly, I like Claire better. Over the course of the game, she's developed, and we establish what kind of a person she is. Like when we meet Sherry Birkin, Claire shows that she can be a motherly person when put into the situation, and considering the hell she's living through, I'd say that she were a very strong lead.

3) Spyro, from Spyro the Dragon
I suppose that it would only be logical for me to give the purple guy a mention on this list, even if it's a brief one. I've often marveled over which character I discovered first - Spyro the Dragon, or Crash Bandicoot? Well, it doesn't matter, both helped to shape my sense of humor, as well as my appreciation of the original Playstation console. I just can't help liking Spyro - he's very child-like, with his energetic attitude and his countless friends, and considering the target audience of the original trilogy, they did a good job of making us relate to the character.

2) Crash Bandicoot, from Crash Bandicoot
Like with Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot is an important piece of nostalgic memory to me. I love the character of Crash, what with his wacky personality and his insane skills (seriously, who spins into people as an attack form?) The reason that I prefer Crash to Spyro though is because of his non-nonsensical adventures, at least from the first three games. I didn't really take much notice in the plot, all I really cared about was eating Wumpa Fruit and collecting Crystals. Compared to Spyro, Crash had a very Looney Tunes-eque personality, and even to this day, it still entices a giggle from me.

1) Heather Mason, from Silent Hill 3
Heather Mason holds first place mostly because she's the best developed character that I've ever seen in any video game, let alone a survival horror video game. She's a strong and independent character, but her weaknesses do show time to time, which makes her all the more relatable. Like the fact that she's willing to go up against unfathomable nightmares for the sake of revenge - the fact that she's embracing revenge implies that she's a gullible person, but the things she is willing to do to get this revenge is remarkable, and that's certainly something positive to see in the character. Also, since Silent Hill 3 is a direct sequel to the original game, the characters carried over from the first game makes it all the more personal a pursuit not just to Heather, but to the player him/herself, and Heather's very looks and personality sells "frightened innocent teenage girl" to me without any complaint.

In no particular order...

Wheatley - Portal 2
Portrayed by: Stephen Merchant
Quite possibly one of the best characters introduced to gaming in a very long time. All of his lines are absolutely hilarious. And Valve was genius enough to program him with a lot of dialogue if you decide to stand around let him keep yammering. Seriously, his dialogue adds up to over an hour of stuff. That's more than most games will have as cutscenes these days. It also helps that the boss battle against him at the end of Portal 2 was much more entertaining than the one with GLaDOS at the end of Portal.

Magolor - Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Kirby's Dream Collection
Some 90s purists will argue Magolor is just a clone of Marx. Well between Super Star and Super Star Ultra, we see very little of Marx. Magolor gets much more of a backstory and much more buildup as a friendly helper. Making his turn at the end of Return to Dreamland all the more shocking. His battle music (both of them) are the best tracks in the history of Kirby, in my opinion. And all of his attacks have references to Kirby's history. I do hope that Nintendo and HAL will have Magolor be the "fifth" character (the Wii U Gamepad character) if they make a Kirby WiiU.

Bowser - Mario series
Portrayed by: Kenny James
Yes, some might call him a might cliché. But I do find Bowser a loveable goofball, especially in the spinoff games. The RPGs treat him significantly better than Miyamoto does these days, except for Sticker Star but Miyamoto really screwed that game up.

Yoshi - Mario series
Portrayed by: Kazumi Totaka
Yoshi is just adorable. Everything about him and his games scream CUUUUUUUUUUUTE. :3 He adds a lot of innovation and new abilities to Mario's repertoire, so he's always a welcome addition to the games, in my book.

Luigi - Mario series
Portrayed by: Charles Martinet
Luigi is much more fun for me to play as. Unlike his older brother, he's got much more of a personality. Although we tend to only see it shine in some of the spinoff games. It's nonetheless a major step up from Mario. Look, I like Mario. But he's about as characterized as a piece of cardboard.

Fassad - MOTHER 3
Not only does he have two of the tougher boss fights in the game if you're not prepared, he has rather interesting backstory. And a lot of it gets left up to interpretation and/or required a second viewing of the game to properly piece the puzzle together, if you ask me.

Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney series, Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Portrayed by: Sam Riegel
He's such a loveable, dopey butt monkey. But nonetheless his courtroom antics never fail to have me sway between startled and laughing hysterically. There don't tend to be many playable hero types with luck as bad as Phoenix's. That only makes you want to root for him even more, though. Glad to see he's back in the driver's seat for Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies.

Dante - Devil May Cry 1-4, Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Portrayed by: Reuben Langdon
Dante is one of the most over-the-top, in-your-face heroes I've seen. And it's extremely entertaining. Ignoring all the controversy surrounding the reboot, Dante is wildly entertaining with his snarkiness and sarcasm in DMC 1, 3, and 4. But I love all the ridiculous combos of the Devil May Cry games.

Dimitri Lousteau - Sly Cooper series
Portrayed by: David Scully
I'm a sucker for ridiculously crazy characters. Dimitri's definitely taking up residence in Cloudcuckooland. And I am completely okay with that. His phrases are all backwards and jumbled, but he's got a permanent case of DISCO FEVER to make up for it. I was greatly disappointed that, despite appearing in Sly 4, he had not a single line of a dialogue (despite being the first to speak in the first teaser trailer for the game). Hopefully Sanzaru will fix this for Sly 5.

Doctor Nefarious - Ratchet & Clank series
Portrayed by: Armin Shimerman
I'd say this is predominantly thanks to brilliant writing by TJ Fixman, but I have never seen a villain pull off such a perfect blend of comedy and theatrics as Dr. Nefarious. His constant yelling and psychotic ramblings are hilarious, but there's no doubt that his plans are some of the most sinister in the Ratchet & Clank franchise, especially when you consider he was willing to destroy the entire universe so he could control time. He's also the only main antagonist in the games to not need some ridiculous mech to attack the heroes, using his own abilities. It definitely helps that his battles in Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time are just so much fun.

Quote: HIR

Fassad - MOTHER 3
Not only does he have two of the tougher boss fights in the game if you're not prepared, he has rather interesting backstory. And a lot of it gets left up to interpretation and/or required a second viewing of the game to properly piece the puzzle together, if you ask me.

he's also really horny tee hee

I don't like Fassad : ( I luv porky though

OK I will try to come up with a list here, no order

Big Boss
Porky Minch
Dante (old good dante only)
Link
Vivian (paper mario)
N
Spyro (classic spyro only; just because he is a cutie)
Layton
Wander
Crono

I tried to get one character per series since otherwise the list would be overrun with Mother and MGS characters and I wanted some diversity up in here. Honorable mentions go to basically everyone in Mother, evil Cynder (just because her evil design looks cool. too bad good little cynder is terrible) and basically everyone in MGS. Might change this list later

GLaDOs
Louis (Left 4 Dead)
Niko Bellic
Carl Johnson
The Medic
Jak

My character list. In no particular order.

Link
Sir Daniel Fortesque
Crono
X (From Mega Man X)
Doom Guy
Classic Spyro
Simon Belmont
Solid Snake
Kumatora
Arthur (Ghosts 'n Goblins)

This is in no particular order, and they are not necessarily my top 10, just 10 that are among my favourites. To be honest, I'll probably pop in and out of this topic to talk about characters whenever I feel like, rather than making a list.

Sonic the Hedgehog
While some may feel this is a shallow choice if I'm basing it solely off of the games, I beg to differ.
Going with the Classic games, I find him to be one of my favourite silent protagonists. Watching a character get impatient with me was quite immersive when it first happened, and it still charms me to this day. I always smile when Sonic impatiently taps his foot at me if I end up texting on my phone without pausing. And overall, he was just edgy and slick, and was cool to watch.

But in the later, more story driven games (most of them, anyway...), his free spirit and genuine nature is always refreshing to see, especially with how society is now and how those realities trickle into modern video games (failing economy, war, etc). I know there are plenty of free spirited characters in video games, but if I like any of them as much as Sonic, then it's not for their free spirited nature.

Sonic manages to balance doing what he wants, keeping his friends close, and fighting for the things he believes in perfectly, and I think that's admirable. Definitely wish I could.

His theme song from Sonic Adventure, "It Doesn't Matter", is one of the most inspirational songs I've ever heard. And the fact that his past has never been discussed in the games, and the fact that he never mentions it, has always intrigued me.

Kirby
He's just an adorable marshmallow of mass destruction and consumption. What's not to love?

Luigi
I've always preferred Luigi to Mario. Mario is just a cheerful mascot. Luigi is a loveable CHARACTER. Despite having no real dialogue in his Luigi's Mansion games, he shows tons more personality than most characters do these days, especially in LM2. I never root for Mario in any game because he has no character in his own games, but I always root Luigi, even if he is just a skin change in some games. I honestly wish he could replace Mario as Nintendo's main mascot. It'll never happen though. So at the least, I think every Mario platformer game, 2D or 3D, should feature Luigi as a playable character from the get go. I shouldn't have to 100% Super Mario Galaxy to play as Luigi. Heck, Luigi was considered the Hard Mode in Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels. Why don't they keep that as a staple of the franchise?
Also, although I've been considering getting NSMBU, I might just get the recently announced physical copy of New Super Luigi U. That expansion was one of the reasons I wanted NSMBU in the first place.

Luigi


Chinchou <3


Chimchar Line (My very first pokemon!)


Lucario (In SSB, in Pokemon I find him bad)

5. Bowser: Not much to say that hasn't been said already, but I like how he isn't totally evil, in the RPG games, Bowser often actually plays an almost heroic role, which I like.

4.Shadow the Hedgehog: any one who played (and enjoyed) his game will agree with me here, his personality really shines through in final story, which really defines him as a chaotic/neutral character. Also his abilities in the space/time department just make him that much better.

3.Magolor: I agree with HIR on this one, although I found him fairly easy at first, his EX mode more then makes up for it. Him using the anti super abilities in his last form was something I never expected. Plus the eyeball as his mouth....

2.Midna: If anyone knows me at all here they know that I LOVE Midna, looks, personality, making Link her tool. Simply amazing.

1.Ausar the Vile/Siris: The moment in Infinity Blade when you realize that the whole time YOU where one of the deathless is really shocking, but makes sense. All the clues add up, and make you realize that it wasn't different people fighting the God King, it was all you. It really makes you look back and realize what all you went through and why.