Here is MY list of most iconic video game characters of all time

Master Chief
I call him “the man without a face.” Let’s face it, at one point we all wanted to see what Master Chief looks like. I still do.

The concept artist of Master Chief was made by Shi Kai Wang for Halo: CE in 2001 after being hired by Rob McLees and the art director at Bungie, Marcus Lehto for that purpose. Wang’s design was accepted as a base art but, after depicting the character in 3D it was decided that the character looked too slender for a male space super marine. The character was later bulked up and underwent several stages of armor modification to make him look like the green-tinted armor space marine that looked like in games till date.
Master Chief’s first appearance was in Halo: combat evolved in 2001 and was voiced by Steve Downes, David Wald and Alex Puccinelli.

Master Chief was a kind of character who was made in terms of voice to sound similar to Clint Eastwood. Master Chief almost doesn’t talk in games even in cut scenes, he says little and mostly punch lines used by most of his fans.

In recent years it was argued that Master Chief could survive a fall from space. I haven’t confirmed that as I haven’t played all the Halo games but, with his iconic nature and advanced suit, it could be possible.

It would be blasphemous not to add master chief as one of the most iconic (if not the most iconic) characters in video games history. He is probably one of the main reasons Xbox is still relevant. I mean what would I use an Xbox for If Halo’s master chief was killed off, right?

Dante

Dante was my favorite game character until they introduced him looking like a raggedy old pedophile in DMC 5 (I hope, for my fandom sakes that he isn’t going to look that bad when the game drops).

Dante's first appearance was in Devil May Cry in 2001. He was the son of Sparda (a powerful demon) and Eva (a human). He and his elder twin brother, Vergil were given birth to after their father Sparda sided with the humans to drive back an invasion more than 2,000 years back. His father Sparda was later killed and they (him and his brother) grew up with their mother until sometime later when she was killed and his brother corrupted by some group of demons. Ever since Dante has taken up on himself to enact revenge on the demons which resulting in his present occupation and a demon hunter.

He was created by Hideki Kamiya. And his personality was decided to be a cocky overconfident character with great powers from his father. He can willingly enter his full demon mode (the devil trigger) which makes him invincible.

The appearance of Dante was altered in the new DMC reboot, which suffered criticisms but, as we have seen in the 2018 E3 he is coming back as his original appearance.

Dante has appeared in manga series and also in animated series which makes him more popular and an iconic video game character.

Leon S. Kennedy

How I instinctively knew this character was an icon was when I saw the Resident evil: Vendetta trailer. I had Ostrich bumps. A goose was too small to describe the size of bump I had.

Leon is a protagonist of the Resident evil franchise who stood out among the rest because he was like the original character of the series. He was created by Hideki Kamiya and Noboru Sugimurna, he was designed by Isao Ohishi, and first appeared in 1998 Resident Evil 2.

Leon appeared in 3 of the RE franchises. Resident evil 2, 4 and 6 and about to make the fourth from the e3 trailer we saw in 2018. RE 4 was the one I remember very well just because of constantly trying to save that annoying girl Ashley. She was dumb, always in trouble and has Leon's name at the tip of her lips.

Leon is a fearless zombie killer which is understandable considering the fact that his first day as a Raccoon city cop he encountered a zombie outbreak and has so much adapted to the life and methods of killing them which makes him so used to them that he isn’t scared of them any longer.

In 2009, gamespot chose him ad be of the 64 characters to compete for the “All time best video game character.” In 2010 Famitsu poll, Leon was voted as the 31st most popular video game character in Japan. In the Guinness world record gamers edition in 2011, he was voted the 36th best video game character.

From a rookie recruit to a fool brave man Leon has surprisingly become more likeable and popular than all his RE protagonists counterparts.

Lara Croft

Lara was created by Toby Gard as the main protagonist of the Tomb Raider franchise. Her first appearance was in 1996. She is portrayed as a highly intelligent, athletic, beautiful and attractive English archeologist. She’s almost perfect but, I cannot think about being with a girl who intentionally and constantly goes to look for trouble. I would be dead from heart attack.

Since after her creation, Lara has undergone a lot of improvement and changes to make her the iconic game and movie character that she is now. The of the major transitions was in 2003 after she was received poorly. Her appearance was modified to better suit her environment and permission was given for 3rd party promotion to put her out there more. As of 2016 she had been featured in 1,100 magazine covers, surpassing any supermodel. She also holds six Guinness world record. Talk about an icon
Her distinctive appearance (a tank top, a short jean, high boots, socks, bag pack, a hand gun and lots of other accessories) makes her recognizable all through her years of presentation.

Kratos aka God of War

If I don’t mention Kratos then “I will make me suffer.” Kratos is one of the most iconic characters in gaming. He is so iconic that it has been proven difficult to make a movie of him in fear of ruining the character or getting off to a bad start.

The Demigod was created by David Jeffe, with the intention of creating a brutal-looking unconventional Greek hero, the initial designs even included helmet and with hair but, the creator wanted a more distinctive design that would be recognized by his facial features.

Kratos has a scar on his left eye which was given to him by Ares (the former God of war). The red tattoo which was formerly blue but, changed to red as the design progressed, was attributed to his dead brother Deimos.

Kratos is the iconic character of the Play Station company who made his first appearances in 2005 in God of War. And in 2018 has a more older look and a more enhanced graphics and camera angle in the game franchise. The reason being that the players are somehow detached from the character and the developers wanted the players to feel closer to the character.

Honorable Mentions

- Sonic the hedgehog

- Link (Zielda)

- Agent 47 (Hitman series)

- Cortana (Halo series)

- Captain Price (Call of Duty series)

You must be drunk if GTA: San Andreas' CJ didn't make your list

LuciferChristi:
You must be drunk if GTA: San Andreas' CJ didn't make your list

Heh... CJ only appeared in one game. Nostalgia is different from Iconic

LucemFerre:


Heh... CJ only appeared in one game. Nostalgia is different from Iconic

Na lie. One game that was more popular & sold more than all Tomb Raider games combined?


Raiden of MK & Mario are also missing on your list.

Mario aka Super Mario

Before I start, let me get something out of my chest. I hate the way this character talks. Now, that that is out of the way, let’s begin.

Mario is one of the oldest and most popular characters in the video game industry. The short Italian plumber was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and made his first appearance in Donkey Kong in 1981. Since then Mario has become the most recognizable character of Nintendo company, almost like a mascot. Mario appears in numerous Nintendo games like Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, etc.

During Mario stages of development, Miyamoto intended to call him “Mr. Video” (I have no idea why the hell that name should even be an option). It was later changed to “Jumpman.” Following a heated argument between the American Nintendo company guys his name was changed to “Mario” after the America's Nintendo warehouse landlord “Mario Segale”
Since Donkey kong was set on a construction site Miyamoto thought Mario to be a Carpenter but, since the character was going to spend more time underground, his profession was changed to a plumber.

Almost every Nigeria gamer above 20 years old probably knew Mario first in their gaming career. I know I did. Almost every kid used to think that Mario hits the blocks with his head. Until later releases by the help of new more enhanced graphics that it became clear that he was using his hands
Mario has the same mission all the time, which is saving Peach from Koopa. Either he’s a careless plumber or Peach is a wayward little piece of moi moi.

LuciferChristi:



Na lie. One game that was more popular & sold more than all Tomb Raider games combined?


Raiden of MK & Mario are also missing on your list.

I actually had Mario, I forgot to paste it... There you go.

You are forgetting that Tomb raider has, movies, games, action figures etc

LucemFerre:
Lara Croft

Lara was created by Toby Gard as the main protagonist of the Tomb Raider franchise. Her first appearance was in 1996. She is portrayed as a highly intelligent, athletic, beautiful and attractive English archeologist. She’s almost perfect but, I cannot think about being with a girl who intentionally and constantly goes to look for trouble. I would be dead from heart attack.

Since after her creation, Lara has undergone a lot of improvement and changes to make her the iconic game and movie character that she is now. The of the major transitions was in 2003 after she was received poorly. Her appearance was modified to better suit her environment and permission was given for 3rd party promotion to put her out there more. As of 2016 she had been featured in 1,100 magazine covers, surpassing any supermodel. She also holds six Guinness world record. Talk about an icon
Her distinctive appearance (a tank top, a short jean, high boots, socks, bag pack, a hand gun and lots of other accessories) makes her recognizable all through her years of presentation.

MA favorite

Agreed!

No Ryu?

justscorchone:
No Ryu?

Who's that?

GameGod:

Who's that?

Street Fighter.

BanevsJoker:

Street Fighter.

I know man, i was trying to show u that he's not iconic.

No DOOM guy ?

Gamingorca come see your brother

Wheres bigboss? Youdead to me.

GameGod:

I know man, i was trying to show u that he's not iconic.

This is blasphemy. You cannot talk fighting games without mentioning Ryu, Ken or Chun Li. That's how iconic he is. You just succeeded in showing how clueless you are

That's the problem with including fighting game characters.
You're gonna have to mention almost all of them.

Akuma, M.Bison, Scorpion, Liu Kang, Kitana, Raiden, Jago, Eddy etc... The list will go on

LucemFerre:
That's the problem with including fighting game characters.
You're gonna have to mention almost all of them.

Akuma, M.Bison, Scorpion, Liu Kang, Kitana, Raiden, Jago, Eddy etc... The list will go on

Not necessarily. Most fighting games don't have more than 3 main icons. The rest are just popular characters

LucemFerre:
Here is MY list of most iconic video game characters of all time

Mate no snake?
I know is ur list and all but snake...

Kaycee7:
Not necessarily. Most fighting games don't have more than 3 main icons. The rest are just popular characters

Its really hard tho
Tekken has many iconic characters tbh

LZAA:

Its really hard tho
Tekken has many iconic characters tbh

Tekken's iconic characters are just Kazuya and Heihachi. The rest are fan favorites

LZAA:

Mate no snake?
I know is ur list and all but snake...

Heh! I never really had relationship with the dude.
I played MGS 1998 and MGS: Ground zeroes 2014. The games were just boring and so I never played the game long enough to like him.

And based on popularity no casual gamer I've seen even know the guy.

Kaycee7:
Tekken's iconic characters are just Kazuya and Heihachi. The rest are fan favorites

Hehe... Nope
Yoshimitsu, Jin, Eddy (The easy fans favorite), Akuma... They're all up there

And... Of course you rate how iconic a character is by how fans like or dislike him so, yea. Fans favorite can be classified as being iconic. Imagine if people preferred another character other than Mario back then. He wouldn't have been as popular as he is presently.

Kaycee7:
Not necessarily. Most fighting games don't have more than 3 main icons. The rest are just popular characters

Mortal kombat has Liu kang, Kitana, scorpion, Raiden, Sub Zero, Noob saibot, Sonya
They're all A-list characters

LucemFerre:


Heh! I never really had relationship with the dude.
I played MGS 1998 and MGS: Ground zeroes 2014. The games were just boring and so I never played the game long enough to like him.

And based on popularity no casual gamer I've seen even know the guy.

Wow
Well it's ur list but snake is....snake
Heck even keifer had to voice snake for ground zeroes

LZAA:

Wow
Well it's ur list but snake is....snake
Heck even keifer had to voice snake for ground zeroes

Yea, I believe he's an icon cuz I see him everywhere