Guinness lists the 50 most prestigious characters of all time

The Guinness World Records - Gamer's Edition 2011 highlights the 50 most acclaimed figures in the history of video games. The list was compiled based on the votes of more than 13, 000 readers, in which the results included many famous characters – heroes and villains alike – that have spanned more than 30 years of gaming history.
 

The list records the names of the characters, the franchises in which they appear in, the company that owns the particular franchise(s), and the year in which the character first appeared. As expected, the iconic, mustachioed plumber Mario topped the ranking. Another one of Nintendo’s stars came in second place; Link. The full list can be viewed below:


Mario (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)
Link (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)
Master Chief (Halo: Combat Evolved, Microsoft, 2001)
Solid Snake (Metal Gear, Konami, 1987)
Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)
Pac-Man (Pac-Man, NAMCO BANDAI, 1980)
Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, Eidos Interactive, 1996)
Gordon Freeman (Half-Life, Valve, 1998)
Kratos (God of War, Sony, 2005)
Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog, SEGA, 1990)
Crash (Crash Bandicoot, Sony, 1996)
“Soap” MacTavish (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)
Nico Bellic (Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar Games, 2008)
Samus Aran (Metroid, Nintendo 1986)
Ratchet (Ratchet & Clank, Sony, 2002)
Nathan Drake (Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Sony, 2007)
Captain Price (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007)
Kirby (Kirby’s Dream Land, Nintendo, 1992)
Marcus Fenix (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)
Pikachu (Pokémon, Nintendo 1996)
Yoshi (Super Mario World, Nintendo, 1990)
“CJ” Johnson (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar Games, 2004)
Mega Man (Mega Man, Capcom, 1987)
Sam Fisher (Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Ubisoft, 2002)
Shadow (Sonic Adventure 2, SEGA, 2001)
Jak (Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Sony, 2001)
Duke Nukem (Duke Nukem, Apogee, 1991)
Dante (Devil May Cry, NAMCO BANDAI, 2003)
Naruto (Naruto: Konoha Ninpoch, NAMCO BANDAI, 2003)
Altaïr (Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft, 2007)
Zelda (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)
Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix, 1997)
Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)
The Prince (Prince of Persia, Broderbund, 1989)
Ezio (Assassin’s Creed II, Ubisoft, 2009)
Leon Scott Kennedy (Biohazard/Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)
Ash Ketchum (Pokémon, Nintendo, 1996)
Guybrush Threepwood (The Secret of Monkey Island, LucasArts, 1990)
Spyro (Spyro the Dragon, Universal, 1998)
“Ghost” Riley (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Activision, 2009)
Goku (Dragon Daihikyoe, Epoch, 1987)
Max Payne (Max Payne, Rockstar, 2001)
Jill Valentine (Biohazard/Resident Evil, Capcom, 1996)
Princess Peach (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)
Larry Laffer (Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Sierra, 1987)
Augustus Cole (Gears of War, Microsoft, 2006)
Bowser (Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, 1985)
Eddie Riggs (Brütal Legend, Electronic Arts, 2009)
Ryu (Street Fighter, Capcom, 1987)
Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet, Sony, 2008)


It is also interesting (and surprising) to note that other notable characters like Luigi (Mario's brother), Scorpion (Mortal Kombat), Big Daddy (BioShock), and the titular Lemmings do not appear on the list. Nintendo dominates the ranking, hands down, simply because 11 of their characters (out of the possible 50) made the list. Other publishers such as Sony and Capcom came up with five characters each.


Gaz Deaves, editor of Guinness World Records Gaming, had this to say:

“The world has seen so many characters in the history of video games that asking for our readers to suggest only 50 has been a challenge. Some of the choices on the list are obvious, others are a surprise, but what is guaranteed is to make gamers talk about their favorite characters.”



Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed