10 Most Popular Video Game Characters of All Time

Not only gameplay and interesting plots, characters in video games also have a vital role in attracting public attention.

Between hundreds to thousands character that appear every year, there are several video game characters who are known to be iconic and have many fans.

This article will discuss the 10 most popular video game characters of all time. Is your favorite character included?

Also read: The Easiest Tekken 8 Character for Beginners to Play

10 Most Popular Video Game Characters of All Time

Since they first appeared in public, the characters on the list below have gained a lot of love and fans.

Not infrequently, because of their popularity they also often appear cameo as well as the main role of a video game title. Anyone?

Mario

Mario is a video game character designed by Shigeru Miyamoto. This character first appeared in the Donkey Kong game in 1981.

This character with a red hat with the initial "M" often stars in various video game titles as playable character and even has its own franchise.

Some famous games with this character are Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart Deluxe 8 and Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

Sonic

The next most popular character is Sonic the Hedgehog, a blue hedgehog who has supersonic running speed. He can also roll himself up to attack opponents.

This character first appeared in the game Sonic the Hedgehog which was first released for the SEGA Genesis in 1991.

Sonic was designed by Naoto Ohshima as a rival mascot from SEGA to compete with Nintendo's iconic character, Mario.

Just like Mario, this character also appears in many video game titles. One of them is Sonic Lostworld (2013).

Link

Who doesn't know the famous game franchise The Legend of Zelda? You must also be familiar with the character Link. Like Mario, Link was also created by Shigeru Miyamoto.

This character was first introduced as the protagonist of the original game The Legend of Zelda, which was released in 1986.

Typical elements that are often used in Zelda games usually follow Link's adventures exploring Hyrule to defeat Ganon and save Princess Zelda.

The newest The Legend of Zelda game currently is Tears of Kingdom which was only released last year. Have you tried it?

Crash Bandicoots

Crash Bandicoot was a character mascot for Sony that was intended to rival Nintendo's Mario and Sega's Sonic.

This character was created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin. Before being named Crash, this character was previously called "Willie the Wombat".

For those of you who previously owned a PlayStation 1 game console, you are definitely familiar with the racing game Crash Team Racing or CTR, starring Crash Bandicoot and other iconic characters.

Donkey Kong

Another popular video game character again comes from Nintendo. He is Donkey Kong, a gorilla who wears a tie with the letters “DK”.

Donkey Kong first appeared in a Nintendo Arcade game in 1981 which then started this character's journey as a video game series.

Even though it has its own game series, Donkey Kong also appears in many Mario Bros games such as Mario Kart Deluxe 8.

Kratos

Kratos has been the main protagonist for the God of War franchise. He was first introduced in the game God of War (2005).

David Jaffe based this character on the character Fárbauti from Greek mythology and Norse mythology.

Kratos is depicted as a Spartan knight known as the "Ghost of Sparta" after being tricked by his teacher, Ares, into killing his family.

He then avenged his family by killing Ares and becoming the new "God of War".

God of War Ragnarok (2022) is the latest game from Kratos, where Atreus, who is his son, is also the main protagonist in this series.

Kirby

Nintendo seems to be very skilled at presenting iconic video game characters, one of which is Kirby.

Kirby is described as one of the funniest and most beloved characters in gaming. This character was designed by Masahiro Sakurai and first appeared in the game Kirby's Dream Land (1992).

His unique ability is to inhale various objects or creatures around him and throw them like bullets.

Apart from that, Kirby can also breathe air to float and pass through obstacles. Another of Kirby's abilities is copying the abilities of the creatures he inhales.

The latest video game title of this character is Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe which was released for the Nintendo Switch game console in 2023.

Pikachu

Since the first game in the Pokemon franchise was released, this game has had more than 1000 Pokemon with different forms and unique abilities.

Of the many Pokemon, Pikachu is the most popular. This character was designed by Atsuko Nishida and Ken Sugimori.

Pikachu was first introduced in 1996 in Nintendo's Pokemon Red and Pokemon Green games.

This character has an appearance similar to a yellow mouse who controls electricity. Apart from video games, Pokemon itself has also been adapted into anime.

Cloud Strife

The next most popular video game character is Cloud Strife from the RPG game Final Fantasy. Cloud was first introduced in the game Final Fantasy VII which was released in 1997.

In Final Fantasy VII, he is a mercenary with a giant sword who claims to be a former member of SOLDIER, an elite military group under the Shinra Electric Power Company.

The process of creating this character involved many famous people in the gaming industry, one of whom was Tetsuya Nomura.

The newest game currently starring Cloud Strife is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which was just released on February 29, 2024.

Ryu

Street Fighter is recognized as one of the best fighting games of all time, as is its character, Ryu.

Ryu is known for his signature move, namely Hadoken, where this character will shoot an energy ball at his opponent.

Ryu itself was created by Takashi Nishiyama who was inspired by the martial artist Mas Oyama. This character was then introduced in the first Street Fighter game in 1987.

He wears a white Japanese gi (training uniform) with the Furinkazan symbol representing wind, forest, fire and mountains on the belt.

Ryu himself is a Street Fighter character who always appears in every game series, including games crossovers such as Capcom vs Marvel and Project X Zone.

So, those are the 10 most popular video game characters of all time. From the list above, is your favorite character included or is there one you want to add? Leave it in the comments column, OK!