Lurker > MetalmindStats

I've been silently following along with this topic, and I keep forgetting to express my appreciation for your write-ups and the general idea. I've thus far (re)discovered quite a few lovely songs as a result, and I'm not nearly finished yet.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

I loved The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly after my first watch, but my opinion plunged for personal reasons when I rewatched the Dollars trilogy in the lead-up to this topic. Even I can't deny that it does many things right, though.

I definitely enjoyed following along through this topic - thank you to Stifled for hosting it and the rankers for making it work.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Darn, I was hoping the one member of the Dollars trilogy I'm still truly fond of wouldn't go out first.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Any of you El Mariachi trilogy fans who haven't already seen From Dusk Till Dawn should IMO!

...Conversely, it seems I should watch said trilogy myself.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

For some reason, I'm surprised The Magnificent Seven is already out, even though this about checks out given where the older straight Westerns have placed so far. That being said, I'm also glad it's already out, because I found the movie most people seem to treat as the pinnacle of the genre's American golden age dreadfully boring back when I watched it. That's admittedly pretty high up on the list of reasons I didn't participate in this project.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

FFDragon posted...

Yes, push it even further into the covid 2 boogaloo season. Smart move.

That's not to mention (all based on current dates) one week after No Time to Die, one week before Dune (not that it matters much), and the same day as Halloween Kills. Then again, this is coming from the same studio that changed Peter Rabbit 2's date nine different times before finally releasing it.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Zithers posted...

very confused rn as i don't see where i quoted myself and also you've apparently edited your post five times, which is some big time freak shit.

As someone with no particular film-buff credentials who has been silently following along with this topic, and who probably should have participated in it (but didn't due to my indifference to the genre and general lack of motivation), this post in particular is enough to make me break my silence.

I have of course found all your posts peculiar coming from someone who claims to value the discourse of cinema to the point of championing a whole board devoted to it. However, I don't think you've ever been quite so blatant about what are seemingly your real intentions: to gatekeep any signs of unorthodoxy, any evidence that one has carefully considered their points on a level beyond wishing to fit in with a certain snobby, culturally literate crowd. To refer to using a function that exists on this website to truly think about what one is saying and how others might interpret that as "some big time freak shit" really reveals all about your apparent obsession with appearances and in-groups to the detriment of maturity, consideration, and actual discussion.

And for the record, not everyone can or should be expected to apply perfect standards of cultural/historical relativism to any given film in order to be allowed to have opinions on it. By definition, that's not how the phrase 'opinion' works - the same phrase this very topic is all about.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Oh yeah, I forgot to post for a while, but I'm still here, and I'm still eager to nominate Sheik next character battle.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Many of my favorite games could apply here. Celeste is probably the best example because I am bad at video games and have a poor tolerance for difficulty in them, so I never expected to get much out of a precision platformer.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Immune: Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
Boot: Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Immune: Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
Boot: Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Immune: Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
Boot: Mega Man (Mega Man)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Immune: Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
Boot: Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Immune: GLaDOS (Portal)
Boot: Mega Man (Mega Man)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Other: @ZenOfThunder

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Immune: Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
Boot: Jecht (Final Fantasy X)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

plasmabeam posted...

Who wins these matches in a potential "Best 90s Game Ever" Contest?

IMO:

Pokemon Snap: Don't think people who played Mario Party back when it was popular don't remember what it did to their hands.
Super Mario RPG: I think its 2015 run looked artificially impressive via bandwagoning in its last few rounds, but at the end of the day, it's simply more esteemed as a singleplayer SNES JRPG here.
Final Fantasy VI: Crushes the prestige battle, which matters a lot regardless of how the contest is framed. That's also why WW > LA is a call I'd make with total confidence now that the Celda hate has all but died off.
GoldenEye 007: I could easily see this one going either way, so I'll pick the one that (relatively) benefits from forced apathy votes and doubled votes from registered users.
Sonic: FFV definitely beats Sonic Adventure. Beyond that, both of these are total wildcards, but I'll take the one voters realistically played in the early/mid 90s.
Crash Bandicoot Warped: Characters =/= games, which benefits the stronger Crash more due to Lara's modern relevance.
Parasite Eve: This is GameFAQs, after all, and how many of us really played THPS 1+2?
Panzer Dragoon Saga: In a stomping.
Silent Hill: Could be an interesting match or another blowout if it happened, but like Madden 98, GT2 probably doesn't even make the field.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 8
Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
Robo (Chrono Trigger)

Group 9
Auron (Final Fantasy X)
GLaDOS (Portal)

Group 10
Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
Yoshi (Super Mario World)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 5
Godot (Ace Attorney)
Carmen Sandiego (Carmen Sandiego)

Group 6
Naked Snake/Big Boss (Metal Gear)
Cave Johnson (Portal 2)

Group 7
Missile (Ghost Trick)
Meta Knight (Kirby)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Johnbobb posted...

Disney called the lawsuit especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic," which, I guess take that how you will

So who's going to break the news to Disney's distribution department about their plans to release Shang-Chi with an exclusive theatrical window?

In all due seriousness, while the hypocrisy and image control/general tone on display here isn't exactly surprising, it's also telling of Disney's streaming-era financial approach.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 2
Luigi (Super Mario Bros.)
Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong)

Group 3
The Boss (Metal Gear Solid 3)
Alucard (Castlevania)

Group 4
Kirby (Kirby)
Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Good luck! I'm looking forward to the future post expressing your joy!

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 9
Magus (Chrono Trigger)
GLaDOS (Portal)

Group 10
Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
Yoshi (Super Mario World)

Group 1
King Dedede (Kirby)
Ike (Fire Emblem)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

GROUP 6
Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
Cave Johnson (Portal 2)

GROUP 7
Mega Man (Mega Man)
Meta Knight (Kirby)

GROUP 8
Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 3
Alucard (Castlevania)
Vivi Orunitia (Final Fantasy IX)

Group 4
Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)
Kirby (Kirby)

Group 5
Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
Carmen Sandiego (Carmen Sandiego)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Support Cat Quest and Doom, nominate The Stillness of the Wind.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 10
Yoshi (Super Mario World)
Samus Aran (Metroid)

Group 1
Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII)
Ike (Fire Emblem)

Group 2
Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong)
Luigi (Super Mario Bros.)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 7
Meta Knight (Kirby)
Mega Man (Mega Man)

Group 8
Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)

Group 9
GLaDOS (Portal)
Auron (Final Fantasy X)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 4
Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
Kirby (Kirby)

Group 5
Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk: Room 215)

Group 6
Cave Johnson (Portal 2)
Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Group 1
Ike (Fire Emblem)
King Dedede (Kirby)

Group 2
Jecht (Final Fantasy X)
Luigi (Super Mario Bros.)

Group 3
Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
Alucard (Castlevania)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

*posts*

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

+10 Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)
+9 GLaDOS (Portal)
+8 Mario (Super Mario Bros.)
+7 Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
+6 The Goose (Untitled Goose Game)
+5 Missile (Ghost Trick)
+4 Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)
+3 Tidus (Final Fantasy X)
+2 Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
+1 Spyro the Dragon (Spyro the Dragon)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

+10 Madeline (Celeste)
+9 Cave Johnson (Portal 2)
+8 Carmen Sandiego (Carmen Sandiego)
+7 Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
+6 Godot (Ace Attorney)
+5 Papyrus (Undertale)
+4 Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)
+3 Locke Cole (Final Fantasy VI)
+2 Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)
+1 Knuckles the Echidna (Sonic the Hedgehog)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

+10 Estelle Bright (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)
+9 Samus Aran (Metroid)
+8 Ike (Fire Emblem)
+7 Spinarak (Pokemon)
+6 Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)
+5 Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII)
+4 Frog (Chrono Trigger)
+3 Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX)
+2 Miles Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)
+1 Ryuji Sakamoto (Persona 5)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

1. Wait for It
2. The Room Where It Happens
3. Satisfied
4. Non-Stop
5. It's Quiet Uptown
6. My Shot
7. What'd I Miss
8. Burn
9. Meet Me Inside
10. Right Hand Man
11. Dear Theodosia
12. The Reynolds Pamphlet
13. Helpless
14. Washington On Your Side
15. The Schuyler Sisters
16. The World Was Wide Enough
17. Ten Duel Commandments
18. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
19. That Would Be Enough
20. Cabinet Battle #1
21. Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)
22. Take a Break
23. Alexander Hamilton
24. Cabinet Battle #2
25. Stay Alive (Reprise)
26. You'll Be Back
27. We Know
28. Say No to This
29. What Comes Next?
30. Your Obedient Servant
31. The Story of Tonight
32. One Last Time
33. History Has Its Eyes On You
34. The Election of 1800
35. Guns and Ships
36. I Know Him
37. Aaron Burr, Sir
38. Blow Us All Away
39. The Story of Tonight (Reprise)
40. Stay Alive
41. Hurricane
42. Best of Wives and Best of Women
43. Farmer Refuted
44. The Adams Administration
45. Schuyler Defeated
46. A Winter's Ball

Like others, I found Hamilton quite a difficult album to rank (excepting my locked-in top and bottom spots) - and while its sheer quantity and intentional repetition undoubtedly has something to do with that, so too does its sheer quality. Hamilton often shifts tones at the drop of a hat, rather necessarily for an album of its length, and I feel it tends to ace integrating the changes into the whole. That sort of harmonious syncretism suffuses the entire effort narratively and visually, too; I might even argue it's what Hamilton's artistically all about. Speaking of visuals, it's weird to listen to Hamilton without accompanying depictions of the action - usually via animatic videos (which I highly recommend) in my case, though its physicality on stage adds another dimension. It's a change that harms some songs more than others, but it doesn't really sink any, let alone the album as a whole. I could write much more about Hamilton, and in fact I have privately, but this doesn't feel like the place for a short essay's worth of thoughts.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

+10 Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)
+9 The King of All Cosmos (Katamari Damacy)
+8 Zagreus (Hades)
+7 Ren "Joker" Amamiya (Persona 5)
+6 Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
+5 Kyle Hyde (Hotel Dusk: Room 215)
+4 Raiden (Metal Gear Solid)
+3 Naked Snake/Big Boss (Metal Gear)
+2 Edelgard (Fire Emblem)
+1 Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Assassin's Creed)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

GTM posted...

Although it's unfortunately also internet culture. He rejected it but he wasnt upset so once or twice it was "allowed". If you show yourself to be (or perceived to be) unreasonably upset, people will egg you on.

Yeah, this - and as someone who was looking for an ItD-style project more than a trifle, I also perceived a clear difference between the weirdness of Juan Bond Jovi and Gay Pants. What I didn't stop to consider was that the former was still fairly ridiculous, and so probably didn't fit a more involved project.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Zachnorn posted...

Juan Bond Jovi

This is pretty good imo.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

4 - Magus (Chrono Trigger)
1 - Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn

0 - Mega Man (Mega Man)
5 - Wheatley (Portal 2)

4 - Hades (Hades)
1 - Goro Majima (Yakuza)

2 - Zero (Mega Man X)
3 - Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)

1 - Luca Blight (Suikoden 2)
4 - Pit (Kid Icarus)

4 - Count Bleck (Super Paper Mario)
1 - Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect)

I'm voting after lefty, what a world!

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Tony Stark

Wish I had remembered to vote in a few previous matches, even though there's tons of characters I don't know in this bracket.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

StealThisSheen posted...

If we're not counting skins then it's literally Master Chief because they straight up call the Fortnite thing a skin/outfit.

It's been ages since Chief was worth much of anything in a contest, whereas the same factor disqualifies decent midcarders Kratos and 2B. In terms of no official appearances on a Nintendo console at all, Nathan Drake was stuck behind Luigi > Tails in 2018, and I'm not overly inclined to trust Velvet's value after Berseria bombed so badly in GotD 2.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Paratroopa1 posted...

Alucard and Zero are about as prominent as non playable characters get, and the topic didn't say playable chars

To nitpick, Alucard's not available as a DLC Mii Fighter costume, which is what makes a difference for the one non-playable character to (presumably) get any sort of meaningful strength from Smash here.

Anyways, I think the 'not directly playable' list is something like: Crono, Tifa, MMX, Alucard, Vivi, Auron, Zero, Aerith, and Charmander or Dark Link (depending on how you count alt costumes), in that order.

The 'no Smash appearances at all' list might be more like: Crono, Vivi, Auron, Sora, Squall, Geralt, Linkle, 2B, and Terra, in that order, though there's several other characters that could slot in the last few places.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

2 - Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII)
3 - Kate Marsh (Life is Strange)

5 - Madeline (Celeste)
0 - Yu Narukami (Persona 4)

4 - Edgar Figaro (Final Fantasy VI)
1 - Nathan Drake (Uncharted)

3 - Raiden (Metal Gear Solid)
2 - Balthier Bunansa (Final Fantasy XII)

4 - Claire Redfield (Resident Evil)
1 - Delita Hyral (Final Fantasy Tactics)

3 - Handsome Jack (Borderlands 2)
2 - Mordin Solus (Mass Effect)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

1. I agree with classic rock over world landmarks, at least, as a better complement to the other two topics and probably a more interesting one to read about.
2. Snake5555555555 posted...

I say no but if you feel more comfortable go for it!

3. Your preference is my preference.

I'm planning to nominate one item per category unless the third category is something I know nothing about, for what it's worth, but I think it'll be cool to see which way others' preferences lie per category.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

BlueCrystalTear posted...

I could also do a "triple rankdown" thing where each person gets one nomination for three categories (babes and movie setpieces would be two of them). The disadvantage is that I'd want people to nominate one of all three so all of them would have equal numbers.

Ooh, I really like this idea, and I also think it would be really unique. I'm also not sure requiring no more or less than one nomination per category would tamper down participation much?

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

4 - Estelle Bright (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)
1 - Giovanni (Pokemon)

3 - Ryu (Street Fighter)
2 - Andrew Ryan (Bioshock)

0 - Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher)
5 - Olivier Lenheim (The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky)

1 - Ramza Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
4 - Little Mac (Punch-Out!!)

1 - Irvine Kinneas (Final Fantasy VIII)
4 - Bayonetta (Bayonetta)

1 - Nenji Ogata (13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim)
4 - Spyro the Dragon (Spyro the Dragon)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

I voted CYOA for the nostalgia, though most of those ideas sound promising to me.

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

3 - Zagreus (Hades)
2 - Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium)

4 - Edith Finch (What Remains of Edith Finch)
1 - Commander Shepard (Mass Effect)

0 - Jessie (Final Fantasy VII: Remake)
5 - Palutena (Kid Icarus)

0 - Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)
5 - Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

0 - Pablo Sanchez (Backyard Sports)
5 - Jill Valentine (Resident Evil)

0 - Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
5 - Princess Zelda (The Legend of Zelda)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

5 - Ike (Fire Emblem)
0 - Heihachi Mishima (Tekken)

2 - Mewtwo (Pokemon)
3 - Mario (Super Mario Bros.)

1 - James Sunderland (Silent Hill 2)
4 - The Goose (Untitled Goose Game)

1 - Isabelle (Animal Crossing)
4 - Blue (Pokemon)

4 - SHODAN (System Shock)
1 - Velvet Crowe (Tales of Berseria)

3 - Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII)
2 - Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza)

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say

Lightning Strikes posted...

As for the third one Tifa maybe, or is that one too many Square characters?

Tifa didn't do really anything weird at all in 2008 or 2013 iirc, and she was altogether absent from 2002-2004 and 2007. I'd say even 2005 and 2010 were honestly blips in the grand scheme of weirdness, the first from new character mania and the second from Sephiroth beating Missingno.

Then again, it would be fitting to have all three slots filled by Square characters. Maybe Vincent is a better FF7 candidate?

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"I believe in a universe that doesn't care and people who do."
she/her or they/them | never knows what to say