Jon recently posted a list of his favourite female videogame characters of all time. With no intention to rival or challenge his nominations in any way, i've created a list of my own, naturally including both genders, and then some. Why? I just like lists.

In no order whatsoever then-

Solid Snake, the Metal Gear series.
A war-veteran, a hero, and someone who despite their best efforts will always be alone in life. His appeal undoubtedly lies in the fact he both battles and lives by and for himself, and along with the games, there's certainly a lesson to be learnt from his character in general. One of the last good game series Sony has as an exclusive too.

Sonic the Hedgehog, the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
Only true dedicated fans would argue that the newer generation of STH games were just as good as the early years, but despite these design shortcomings in videogame playability, it's hard to forget that in the nineties, Sonic really was the coolest videogame character in the world.

Pikachu, the Pokemon series of games and it's spin-offs.
His vocabulary may be limited to a simple "Pikachu" and his emotions merely a squiggly line on his forehead, but when it comes to Nintendo and the Pokemon brand in general, he's easily one of the characters that come to mind very quickly. An icon for his series of games, and certainly, a merchandise designer's wet-dream.

Rikku, Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2.
The problem according to many with FFX was that Tidus plain and simple was a loser. The storyline too is also negatively discussed as well with it's complete absurdness and it's feeble attempts at time differences and blackholes, but in amongst all the mess there is hope, and her name is Rikku. Clearly the light humour for a heavy-as-hell dullathon she's charming, quirky, and oh-so irresistible.


Yoshimitsu, the Tekken series of videogames.
Space-ninja, cyborg-pirate, future-philanthropist, whatever you want to call him, he's easily the oddest out of an already odd-as-hell videogame cast. A green sword that lights up? That's almost fit for inclusion itself.

Toads, the Mario games.
They make Mario grow strong, and shuffle along the screen from left to right. Like Rikku, they're incredibly cute and charming.

Yorda, Ico.
Characters with a little bit of mystery and a surreal personality about them are always the best, and Yorda's no exception to that ruling. Where she came from, what she does and where she lives are questions that we the gameplayer have to interperet for ourselves, but if there was no Yorda, clearly, there would be no Ico game. Easily an example of a supporting character given a far bigger role than intended.

Albert Wesker, Resident Evil and all it's spin-offs.
It's a common misconception in survival horror and Resident Evil in particular, is that the villans of the game are the numerous grunts after you on screen. This isn't true, as Albert Wesker's involvement in every RE game proves only too well. At a stretch Resident Evil is "his" story, and like real life, the only villans in the world are, shockingly, our own human race.

Pikmin of various size and colour, Pikmin 1 & 2.
A fantastic example of Nintendo character design in the current generation. Which variation of Pikmin is the best? I just couldn't decide...

Captain Qwark, the Ratchet & Clank series.
A superhero that ain't too super, a buffoon that's out of this world, clearly the parallels to Zapp Brannigan of Futurama fame are there.



Finally, while she doesn't make my list per se, in regards to Jon's own list, I think Ayane is definately the better of the ninja sisters from Dead or Alive...