BAFTA has revealed the results of its landmark players’ poll to establish the Most Iconic Video Games Character of All Time. Launched to celebrate the 20th BAFTA Games Awards on Thursday 11 April, the poll was engaged with by over 4,000 players from all over the world.

What an… interesting list. What are we thinking?

Personally I’m stunned Lara Croft made the top five and Agent 47 seems like an odd choice. Small sample size?

**The full list: **

  1. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider

  2. Mario, Super Mario

  3. Agent 47, Hitman

  4. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog

  5. Sackboy, LittleBigPlanet

  6. Pac-Man, Pac-Man

  7. Link, The Legend of Zelda

  8. Master Chief, Halo

  9. Kratos, God of War

  10. Shadowheart, Baldur’s Gate 3

  11. Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2

  12. Pikachu, Pokémon

  13. Steve, Minecraft

  14. Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid

15.Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot

  1. Cloud Strife, Final Fantasy VII

  2. Astarion, Baldur’s Gate 3

  3. Kazuma Kiryu, Yakuza

  4. Ellie Williams, The Last of Us

  5. Nathan Drake, Uncharted

  • bionicjoey@lemmy.caEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    Putting Lara Croft above Mario is insane. Hell, I’d put Luigi above Lara Croft.

    • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
      English
      1·
      3 months ago

      Yup, this list is biased as hell. It was trying to determine iconic characters. Put Mario and Lara Croft in front of a 90 year old person. They’ll recognize Mario immediately, but almost certainly won’t recognize Croft. Hell, I’d put Bowser, Peach, and Luigi over Croft.

  • Broken_Monitor@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    3 months ago

    They polled gamers, for sure. Non gamers are only gonna recognize part of this list, and thats what makes them truly iconic - being known by people who dont even care about video games.

    Thats gonna be mario, sonic, pikachu, pacman, and maybe Zelda (but probably not Link). The average person will know those but would have no clue who Lara Croft, Nathan Drake, or Solid Snake is. Kazuma Kiryu?? I’m an avid gamer and wouldn’t recognize that name.

    • OsaErisXero@kbin.run
      1·
      3 months ago

      I think it could be successfully argued that Pikachu is only top 10 if we include presence in non-gaming media.

      Sackboy being on the list though is wild

    • SbisasCostlyTurnover@feddit.ukOPMEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      I’m interested to see if they provided a list or if they asked people to submit their own choices. Sackboy and Arthur Morgan are…I mean I’d argue Arthur isn’t even the most iconic character in his own game. Surely that honour goes to John Marston?

  • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.deEnglish
    01·
    3 months ago

    Shadowheart? Astarion? Don’t get me wrong, I love BG3, it’s my favourite game at the moment. But any character my mom wouldn’t recognise shouldn’t be on that list.

    Granted, Lara Croft fits that bill, but how did they determine that she should be above Mario or Pac-Man?

    • Björn Tantau@swg-empire.deEnglish
      01·
      3 months ago

      I couldn’t ask my mom, she has too much work today but I could ask my father and thus can present you with the 100 % super scientific and objective list of most iconic video game characters:

      1. Mario
      2. Pac-Man
      3. Pikachu
      4. Lara Croft