Classic Games
Rank 35 iconic video game characters, from Mario, Pikachu, Link, and Sonic to Wukong, Sephiroth, Jin Sakai, Wolf, and V, by gameplay legacy, design, story impact, cultural reach, or personal nostalgia.
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This set brings together 35 instantly recognizable video game characters across platformers, action adventures, shooters, RPGs, fighting games, open-world stories, and modern mythic adventures. Rank them by gameplay legacy, design, personality, story impact, cultural reach, or the memories they created.
Editorial review: 2026-09-08
Mario is Nintendo's signature hero, defined by precise platforming, inventive power-ups, and an optimism that carries him from the Mushroom Kingdom to almost any genre. His longevity and ability to make movement feel welcoming are central to his legacy. As the protagonist of the Super Mario games, he repeatedly rescues the Mushroom Kingdom while turning simple movement into expressive play.
Official sourcePikachu is the electric mouse Pokemon whose expressive design, Thunder Shock, and bond with its trainers made it a global mascot. It represents approachability and personality as much as battle utility. A high-popularity partner in Pokemon, Pikachu is brave enough to stand beside Ash and other trainers when loyalty matters more than raw power.
Official sourceLink is the usually silent hero of The Legend of Zelda, relying on exploration, swordplay, tools, and problem-solving to protect Hyrule. His many incarnations share courage while adapting to very different worlds and stories. As the recurring protagonist of The Legend of Zelda, Link leaves the familiar village, gathers courage and tools, and confronts threats tied to Hyrule's fate.
Official sourceSonic is Sega's blue hedgehog, built around speed, momentum, and a rebellious confidence that turns level traversal into spectacle. His rivalry with Dr. Eggman and his instantly readable silhouette made him a defining mascot of the 16-bit era and beyond. The Sonic the Hedgehog protagonist protects friends and the world from Dr. Eggman, with independence and quick decisions defining his heroic confidence.
Official sourceLara Croft is the archaeologist-adventurer of Tomb Raider, combining climbing, gunplay, puzzle solving, and archaeological curiosity. Her evolution from polygonal action icon to more vulnerable survivor broadened what a game protagonist could be. The Tomb Raider protagonist follows clues through ruins and disasters, balancing scholarly curiosity with the resilience needed to survive hostile expeditions.
Official sourceKratos is the Spartan warrior at the center of God of War, first driven by rage against the Greek gods and later by a difficult attempt to guide his son. His brutal combat, guilt, and guarded tenderness create a long-running arc about violence and responsibility. Across God of War, Kratos moves from a revenge-driven Greek tragedy to a guarded father trying to give Atreus a better example than his own past.
Official sourceMaster Chief Petty Officer John-117 is Halo's Spartan supersoldier, valued for battlefield discipline, tactical improvisation, and an understated sense of duty. His armor is iconic, but the character's endurance and bond with Cortana give the military science-fiction hero emotional weight. The Halo protagonist survives the Covenant and Flood wars while learning that duty also means protecting people, not merely completing a mission.
Official sourcePac-Man is the round arcade hero who turns a maze into a contest of routing, timing, and risk. His simple shape, memorable sound cues, and chase dynamic made him one of the earliest video game characters to become a worldwide pop-culture symbol. The Pac-Man arcade protagonist turns pursuit by the ghosts into a readable story of nerve, route planning, and persistence under pressure.
Official sourceCloud Strife is Final Fantasy VII's mercenary with a massive Buster Sword and a carefully constructed identity. His cool exterior, fractured memories, friendships, and eventual honesty make his story as influential as his action-RPG combat style. As Final Fantasy VII's central protagonist, Cloud joins the fight against Shinra before confronting false memories and learning to define himself honestly.
Official sourceGeralt of Rivia is a professional monster hunter whose enhanced senses, swordsmanship, alchemy, and dry wit define The Witcher. Contracts are only part of his appeal: moral ambiguity, chosen family, and the cost of neutrality shape his most memorable decisions. The Witcher protagonist travels from contract to contract while protecting Ciri and the people he chooses as family, even when every option carries a cost.
Official sourceArthur Morgan is Red Dead Redemption 2's veteran outlaw, a capable gunfighter whose loyalty to the Van der Linde gang is tested by its collapse. His quiet observations, acts of mercy, and awareness of a changing frontier give the western epic its emotional center. Red Dead Redemption 2 follows Arthur from unquestioning gang loyalty toward a clearer sense of responsibility, making his final choices feel earned rather than heroic by default.
Official sourceLeon Kennedy grows from an idealistic rookie officer into a seasoned government agent across Resident Evil. His accurate shooting, improvised survival skills, and dry humor keep him human while he faces increasingly impossible biohazard crises. Resident Evil places Leon between ordinary people and bioterror threats, and his professional growth is matched by a refusal to abandon compassion.
Official sourceSolid Snake is Metal Gear's infiltration specialist, relying on stealth, reconnaissance, and a soldier's judgment rather than brute force. His cynicism, genetic legacy, and resistance to the systems that created him anchor the series' political drama. The Metal Gear protagonist repeatedly infiltrates facilities built by the military-industrial systems that shaped him, turning survival into a question of free will.
Official sourceNathan Drake is Uncharted's charismatic treasure hunter, mixing climbing, gunfights, improvisation, and a collector's enthusiasm for lost history. His recklessness is balanced by humor, loyalty, and the growing realization that adventure has a cost for the people around him. In Uncharted, Nathan's pursuit of lost civilizations repeatedly collides with the safety of his friends and family, forcing a charming risk-taker to grow up.
Official sourceEzio Auditore is the Assassin's Creed protagonist who transforms from a privileged Florentine youth into a mentor of the Brotherhood. His parkour, social stealth, and patient pursuit of justice carry a decades-spanning story of grief, leadership, and legacy. Assassin's Creed II begins Ezio's story as a family vendetta and follows him through decades of training, leadership, and an eventual commitment to the Brotherhood's future.
Official sourceThe Doom Slayer is the near-silent demon hunter whose relentless movement, heavy weapons, and refusal to stop define Doom's power fantasy. His mythic reputation grows through action rather than dialogue, making momentum and aggression part of his identity. The Doom protagonist is defined less by speeches than by an unbroken refusal to let demons dictate the fate of Earth and humanity.
Official sourceEllie is The Last of Us' sharp-witted survivor whose humor, curiosity, and hard-earned skills develop alongside the burden of violence. Her relationships and attempts to choose a future make the series' post-apocalyptic conflict personal rather than purely tactical. The Last of Us follows Ellie from a guarded teenager into someone forced to decide what revenge, forgiveness, and a possible future mean after repeated loss.
Official sourceJoel is The Last of Us' hardened smuggler, shaped by loss into someone who values survival above almost everything. His practical competence and fierce capacity for attachment create the moral tension at the heart of his journey with Ellie. As The Last of Us's co-protagonist, Joel's bond with Ellie reopens a life he had sealed away, but it also makes every protective choice morally costly.
Official sourceSamus Aran is the bounty hunter of Metroid, combining agile exploration, arm-cannon upgrades, and a calm willingness to face alien isolation. The Power Suit is iconic, but her independence and environmental storytelling made the character powerful even without constant dialogue. The Metroid protagonist investigates hostile planets alone, and each upgrade reveals both practical adaptability and a deeper history with the threats she hunts.
Official sourceAloy is Horizon's resourceful hunter and outcast who uses a bow, traps, and recovered technology to uncover the history of a machine-filled Earth. Her curiosity and refusal to accept inherited rules turn a personal search for identity into a civilization-scale investigation. Horizon casts Aloy as an outcast who becomes the key investigator of a ruined Earth, combining empathy for living communities with a drive to uncover the past.
Official sourceCarl 'CJ' Johnson returns to Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas after his mother's death, rebuilding family, crew, and territory through street missions and expanding ambition. His adaptability across driving, combat, business, and social choices makes him a defining open-world protagonist. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas makes CJ rebuild his life in Los Santos, where loyalty to family competes with ambition, crime, and the freedom of an open world.
Official sourceDante is Devil May Cry's demon hunter, combining acrobatic swordplay, firearms, transforming styles, and a joking confidence that masks real grief. His combat identity rewards improvisation, while his family history gives the spectacle a personal stake. The Devil May Cry protagonist turns grief over his family into a flamboyant career hunting demons, but his jokes never fully hide the loyalty beneath them.
Official sourceSora is Kingdom Hearts' cheerful Keyblade wielder, traveling between Disney and original worlds with Donald and Goofy. His strength comes from empathy and connection as much as combat, allowing friendship to function as the series' central form of power. Kingdom Hearts sends Sora across connected worlds to find his friends, and his empathy repeatedly turns bonds of trust into a literal source of strength.
Official sourceRyu is Street Fighter's wandering martial artist, devoted to disciplined training and the search for a worthy challenge. His Hadoken, Shoryuken, and honest competitive spirit form the template for the modern fighting-game protagonist. Street Fighter treats Ryu's journey as lifelong discipline: he travels to test himself, resists corruption, and measures victory by how honestly he improves.
Official sourceChun Li is Street Fighter's pioneering investigator and martial artist, known for lightning-fast kicks, disciplined technique, and a strong sense of justice. She balances personal resolve with a role that helped make women central to fighting-game iconography. As Street Fighter's pioneering woman protagonist, Chun-Li pursues justice through disciplined martial arts while carrying the personal memory of her father's death.
Official sourceScorpion is Mortal Kombat's revenant ninja, remembered for the kunai spear, the cry of 'Get over here!', and a revenge story that evolves into protection and reluctant honor. His fire, teleportation, and iconic silhouette make him immediately readable in a crowded roster. Mortal Kombat first presents Scorpion as a revenant seeking revenge, then gives him chances to protect the Shirai Ryu and choose purpose over vengeance.
Official sourceKirby is the cheerful pink hero whose inhale ability turns enemies into temporary powers. The contrast between his gentle appearance, copy abilities, and willingness to face cosmic threats gives the character a rare mix of accessibility and surprising scale. The Kirby protagonist looks harmless but repeatedly saves Dream Land and distant worlds, with curiosity and generosity proving as important as copy abilities.
Official sourceSteve is Minecraft's player avatar, a deliberately open-ended figure who turns gathering, crafting, building, and survival into personal stories. His blank expression lets the player's choices supply the character, which is why his cultural reach extends far beyond a fixed narrative. Minecraft's Steve is a player-shaped survivor who turns an empty world into shelter, tools, and shared creations, making resourcefulness his defining quality.
Official sourceDonkey Kong is the powerful ape who began as an arcade antagonist and became the hero of his own platforming adventures. His expressive strength, barrel-throwing gameplay, and connection to Nintendo's earliest character history make him an unusually durable icon. The Donkey Kong protagonist protects his island and banana horde with physical strength, loyalty, and a surprisingly broad willingness to work with rivals.
Official sourceMega Man is the blue robot hero who defeats Robot Masters and adapts their weapons in a cycle of precise platforming and strategic choice. His clean silhouette, charged Mega Buster, and modular powers made him a model for action-game design. Mega Man is the heroic robot who repeatedly faces Dr. Wily's armies, turning copied abilities and a strong sense of justice into a hopeful vision of technology.
Official sourceWukong is the Destined One, the playable hero of Black Myth: Wukong. He travels through a mythic version of China, defeats powerful yaoguai, and gathers relics while confronting questions of memory, inheritance, and the legacy of the Monkey King.
Official sourceSephiroth is the legendary SOLDIER and central antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, admired for his impossible skill before a revelation about his origins turns him against the world. His obsession with identity, reunion, and control makes him one of gaming’s most enduring villains.
Official sourceJin Sakai is the protagonist of Ghost of Tsushima, a samurai defending his island after the Mongol invasion. As conventional honor collides with the need to use stealth, poison, and deception, Jin must decide what kind of protector Tsushima needs.
Official sourceWolf, also called Sekiro, is the protagonist of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Bound to protect the Divine Heir, he survives betrayal and resurrection, using a prosthetic arm and relentless resolve to challenge a cycle of immortality and violence.
Official sourceV is the player-defined protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077, a mercenary whose search for a legendary score becomes a fight for survival after an experimental relic rewrites their mind. V’s choices explore identity, friendship, ambition, and what a person can leave behind in Night City.
Official sourceIconic Video Game Characters comes with preloaded items so you can begin ranking immediately, but the board is still flexible enough to reflect your own criteria.
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