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When you think of the most 'iconic' video game character of all time, who pops into your head? Could it be Link? Perhaps Pac-Man? What about Sonic? Chances are that Mario would be your number one, right? Well, you'd be wrong.
According to recent poll results from BAFTA on the 'Most Iconic Video Game Characters of All Time', Mario only managed to bag the silver medal. Instead, it was Tomb Raider's Lara Croft who wound up dominating the competition to snatch the number one spot after over 4,000 people cast their votes.
Now, we're not salty or anything (okay, maybe a bit), because Lara Croft is iconic, dagnabbit. After her debut back in 1996, she quickly grew into one of the most recognisable and badass game characters of all time, with her popularity bolstered by numerous movies, comics, and even novels. Just this year, she made a trimphant return with Tomb Raider I - III Remastered on Switch. So yeah, we'd say our gal probably deserved it. Well done.
What has us questioning things a bit more are some of the other entries. We love the Hitman franchise, for example, but Agent 47 coming in at number three is a bit baffling. Likewise, we'd wager there's a bit of recency bias going on with the likes of Shadowheart and Astarion coming in at numbers ten and seventeen respectively. Baldur's Gate 3 is awesome though, to be fair.
But anyway, enough of us shaking out fists at the sky. Let's check out the top twenty iconic video game characters from BAFTA's poll:
- Lara Croft - Tomb Raider
- Mario - Super Mario
- Agent 47 - Hitman
- Sonic - Sonic the Hedgehog
- Sackboy - LittleBigPlanet
- Pac-Man - Pac-Man
- Link - The Legend of Zelda
- Master Chief - Halo
- Kratos - God of War
- Shadowheart - Baldur's Gate 3
- Arthur Morgan - Red Dead Redemption II
- PIkachu - Pokémon
- Steve - Minecraft
- Solid Snake - Metal Gear
- Crash Bandicoot - Crash Bandicoot
- Cloud - Final Fantasy VII
- Astarion - Baldur's Gate 3
- Kazuma Kiryu - Like A Dragon / Yakuza
- Ellie - The Last of Us
- Nathan Drake - Uncharted