BAFTA has revealed its 15 most iconic video game characters of all time based on a poll of around 4,000 people. The results are surprising, to say the least. Lara Croft managed to swipe the number one spot, though the rest of the list includes the usual suspects like Mario, Pikachu, Crash Bandicoot and Solid Snake with a few unexpected choices thrown in.
It’s worth noting that in the grand scheme of things, a poll of only 4,000 people is quite small which doesn’t accurately convey mass opinions. Of course, those are also subject to change depending on the person. Looking at the response to the BAFTA list so far, most agree that while Lara Croft is absolutely deserving of being on the list, some are baffled that she’s ahead of more recognisable video game icons like Mario, Sonic and Pikachu.
The list of BAFTA’s 15 most iconic video game characters is as follows:
- 15. Crash Bandicoot
- 14. Solid Snake
- 13. Steve (Minecraft)
- 12. Pikachu
- 11. Arthur Morgan
- 10. Shadowheart
- 9. Kratos
- 8. Master Chief
- 7. Link
- 6. Pac-Man
- 5. Sackboy
- 4. Sonic
- 3. Agent 47
- 2. Mario
- 1. Lara Croft
The biggest outlier here, according to commenters, is Shadowheart from Baldur’s Gate 3. She’s a terrific character in her own right but seems oddly out of place on a list of the biggest gaming icons of all time – some even argued that Astarion or Karlach deserved the spot more than her.
For the most part, the list seems to include many picks that would be fan-favourites for the topic including God of War‘s Kratos, Halo‘s Master Chief and The Legend of Zelda‘s Link. Odd omissions from the list include Samus Aran, Nathan Drake, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Commander Shepard, Geralt of Rivia, Gordon Freeman, Leon Kennedy, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Marcus Fenix, Scorpion, Ken and Ryu, Bayonetta and Dante, among many others.
Visit the official BAFTA website to view the full list of iconic video game characters.