Poll of the Day > What is your Mount Rushmore of gaming?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This could be either what you consider to be the four greatest characters in gaming or just your four personal favorites.

Mine: Mario, Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, PAC-MAN
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Chain Chomp, Jarl Balgruuf, Andross, Bubsy.
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Sonic, Pikachu, Ryu, Kirby
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Bayonetta, Trevor Philips, Ripper Roo, Roman Bellic
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Solid Snake (or Big Boss)
Sonic the Hedgehog
Big Daddy (Bioshock)
Frog (Glenn) from Chrono Trigger
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something like:

Doomguy
Gwyn or Soul of Cinder
Pyro GX
Sarevok

Which I guess would look like this:

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Dixie Kong
Mario
Link
#4 would be some pieced-together creation consisting of Duke Nukem, Doomguy and Quakeguy.
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Abraham Lincoln- Pac-Man
George Washington- Mario
Theodore Roosevelt- Halo (Master Chief)
Thomas Jefferson- Uncharted 3 (trilogy)
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Most influential games/characters for the industry would probably be something like:

Mario, Pacman, doom guy/master chief and fortnight skin

For my own personal taste in games, it'd be Mario, Ryu, Dante and maybe Pikachu idk
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Mario, Pac-Man, Sonic, Link

DeathMagnetic80 posted...

Mario, Pac-Man, Sonic, Link

This is my first thought too, though I thought of them in the order of Mario, Link, Pac-Man, Sonic.

I know Pac-Man is basically dead and Sonic hasn't been that great for while, but they were important at the time.

These are more my favorites because I don't have enough experience in every corner of gaming to objectively pick the single 4 greatest characters.

Mario is an easy pick, both as my favorite, and as someone worthy of the honor.

I'll go with classic Sonic, next.

Pac-Man as a catch-all representative of the arcade craze.

Finally, let's go with Link from Ocarina of Time. So incredibly important to 3D gaming!

Honorable mentions: Ezio auditore, Glados from Portal, Master Chief, Doomguy, Nathan Drake, Pikachu (Probably deserves it more than Link but oh well it's my Mount), Samu s Aran, Donkey Kong, someone from WoW.
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Shigeru Miyamoto
Alexey Pajitnov
Nolan Bushnell
Richard Garriott

Questionmarktarius posted...

Alexey Pajitnov

that's a good one. tetris block should be on mine as well. Hard to choose just 4
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Knack
The Pong ball
Knack 2
and I suppose Custer from Custer's Revenge
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Mario
Pikachu
Sonic
Link
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tbh, it's a hard thing to put together. Mario is an absolute given, but nobody else really ranks on that same level. The second problem is that it's tough to put together a gaming Mount Rushmore and not have it be Mount Nintendo, since Nintendo characters tend to be far more prominent than their competitors.

Here are a few quick thoughts on possible contenders:

Donkey Kong - Iconic and historic. A major name from the arcade era who went on to have success on the SNES... but hasn't had the same impact since then.

Pac-Man - Similar to DK, he's an older name and has an iconic, recognizable design... but hasn't had as much going for him lately. Following the Atari bankruptcy and asset purchase, he's been in an array of budget titles that have done more harm than good.

Link - The protagonist from one of my favorite gaming franchises and one of Nintendo's heaviest hitters. Some of his games are ranked among the greatest of all time, which makes him a strong candidate for inclusion... but he's more of a characters that gamers would know and a lot of non-gamers wouldn't necessarily recognize. That said, he's had a good number of games and maintained relevancy (even if his titles release a little too slowly) which makes him a strong contender.

Mega Man - Capcom's occasional mascot who has an iconic look and a good deal of history. Has had a lot of neat spin-off franchises and, in many ways, is a good parallel to Mario. However, Capcom has provided sporadic support for him, both in terms of games and using other characters (Captain Commando, Ryu) as company mascots at times. Plus MML3 never happened. Just saying.

Sonic - Sega's mascot, who has an iconic look and a good deal of history. His fate has kinda risen and fallen with Sega. Once a strong competitor to Nintendo, the company's failure with the Saturn and Dreamcast caused it to exit the console industry and, quite honestly, the quality of Sonic games really started to die around that same time. Titles like Sonic 2006 are a good argument against his inclusion.

L-Block - Former greatest gaming character winner and has an iconic, instantly recognizable design. While I bring him up for the novelty, I don't consider him a serious contender, although he'd make for a more interesting addition to Mount Gamemore.

Ryu (Street Fighter) - While I'm more of a Ken Masters fan, Ryu is probably the most iconic of the major Street Fighter characters. Street Fighter has history and influence, but the potential knock against Ryu is that he's not as instantly recognizable to non-gamers. However, I consider him a worthy choice and a character I wouldn't really question if somebody used him on their list.

Scorpion (Mortal Kombat) - I've never held MK in as high esteem as Street Fighter, but it's a major fighting franchise and, of the characters, Scorpion might be the most iconic despite usually not being a hero. He's got a great character design, although I'm not sure how recognizable he might be to non-gamers.
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(Continued)

Pikachu - One of Nintendo's biggest names and most successful properties. He's iconic enough that he's recognized by non-gamers thanks to the anime and other non-gaming properties. The success of Pokemon also had a major impact on gaming for a while but... Pokemon hasn't had the same level of influence as something like Street Fighter and, despite being the Pokemon mascot, he's taken a bit of a backseat in the games.

Master Chief - Obligatory mention because Halo is a major franchise. However, he's nowhere near as big a name as other characters. He might warrant a spot on a trendier, post-2000s gaming Rushmore.

Kratos - Obligatory mention because GoW is a major franchise. Situation is identical to Master Chief.

Nathan Drake - Kratos - Obligatory mention because Uncharted is a major franchise (and a personal favorite). Situation is identical to Master Chief and Kratos.

Samus Aran - Major Nintendo character and has had a few incredible games, but nowhere near big enough.

Lara Croft Kind of a harder one because she underwent a near-total character design revamp whereas everybody else on this list has remained relatively consistent (excluding spinoff versions of characters, most specifically Mega Man). She's had THREE major films to date but, despite that, I'm still not sure that she's anywhere near as iconic as some of the other contenders who are more likely to be recognized by just about anyway.

Trying to think who else I might be missing. Granted, I'm deliberately omitting a few higher-profile characters like Cloud just because they're not in as many games.
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Moai statue from gradius
Onix from pokemon
Tiny from dota
rockman
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If we are talking recognition then

Mario
Pikachu
Pacman
Sonic
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George Washington (ACIII)
Thomas Jefferson (Day of the Tentacle)
Teddy Roosevelt (Civilization VI)
Abraham Lincoln (Conduit 2)
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Sarcasthma posted...

George Washington (ACIII)
Thomas Jefferson (Day of the Tentacle)
Teddy Roosevelt (Civilization VI)
Abraham Lincoln (Conduit 2)

Hey man, I tried real hard with that post.
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gotta give credit for not using civ for all 4
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Mario
Sub zero V
Carl Johnson
bj blazkowicz
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Shit, I just realized BUMPED did the same thing as me, but before me. Damn psychics.
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Sarcasthma posted...

Shit, I just realized BUMPED did the same thing as me, but before me. Damn psychics.

His choices werent nearly as cool though
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:')
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Well if it's my favorites it would probably be a lot of RPG characters, especially villains (and Solid Snake).

If it's the four most iconic: Mario, Pac-Man, Sonic, Pikachu (arguably replace Sonic with Master Chief)
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faramir77 posted...

Beat me up
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Blorfenburger posted...

faramir77 posted...

Beat me up

Hurt me MORE, dawg
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cloud squall zidane tidus

weeb98 posted...

cloud squall zidane tidus

I almost added Squall instead of Frog (Glenn). Hed be my 5th choice. I fuckin LOVE Squall
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Mario, Link, Sonic, Pikachu
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faramir77 posted...

Is that Solidus, Big Boss, Liquid, and Solid Snake?
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jramirez23 posted...

faramir77 posted...

Is that Solidus, Big Boss, Liquid, and Solid Snake?

I think its Solidus, Snake, Liquid, Big Boss. I could be wrong though. The 2nd one looks nothing like Snake but I remember reading it was him.

The beard gives Boss away too on the right
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Sonic, MegaMan.exe, Shovel Knight, and Ratchet
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jramirez23 posted...

faramir77 posted...

Is that Solidus, Big Boss, Liquid, and Solid Snake?

Solidus, Solid, Liquid, Big Boss.

It was on the Outer Haven ship near the end of MGS4.
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FrozenBananas posted...

Sarcasthma posted...

Shit, I just realized BUMPED did the same thing as me, but before me. Damn psychics.

His choices werent nearly as cool though

well thats because he was saying whose face he would replace with what character

they werent actually doing the same thing at all
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Noop_Noop posted...

FrozenBananas posted...

Sarcasthma posted...

Shit, I just realized BUMPED did the same thing as me, but before me. Damn psychics.

His choices werent nearly as cool though

well thats because he was saying whose face he would replace with what character

they werent actually doing the same thing at all

You don't remember playing as Abraham Lincoln in Pac-Man?
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Looks like IGNorant copied my idea!

https://m.ign.com/articles/2019/07/26/game-scoop-538-who-should-be-on-the-video-game-mount-rushmore
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mario, luigi, toad, and princess toadstool
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Taily_Po posted...

Pokemon hasn't had the same level of influence as something like Street Fighter

dude what
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Sure:

Xehanort - Likes to put himself into multiple people. Also smart and wise.
Dante - Demon slayer that doesn't take anything seriously
Geralt of Rivia - Monster slayer and great in the sack
Kratos - God slayer and loving farther.
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Mario - Even though I only really liked Mario Bros 1-3 and Super Mario World. Lost interest after that.
Pikachu - Pokemon is a huge part of my life so I'll go with the mascot.
Cloud - FFVII was my first FF game and it's still the best FF game to this day.
Ryu - I played my share of Street Fighter. Not very good at it. But iconic nonetheless.
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King_Dilly posted...

Looks like IGNorant copied my idea!

https://m.ign.com/articles/2019/07/26/game-scoop-538-who-should-be-on-the-video-game-mount-rushmore

Goddamn copycats! They were probably scouting our board for ideas again.

Bulbasaur posted...

Taily_Po posted...

Pokemon hasn't had the same level of influence as something like Street Fighter

dude what

You know it's true. Street Fighter II made combos mainstream in fighting games and was integral in launching a major genre. Meanwhile Pokemon helped to popularize a subgenre that, other than Pokemon itself, hasn't been that huge.
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yeah people barely even recognize that yellow thing compared to generic japanese magic karate man.
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Nade Duck posted...

yeah people barely even recognize that yellow thing compared to generic japanese magic karate man.

Influence and recognition aren't the same thing, plus a lot of Pikachu's recognition comes from the anime rather than the games. Like somebody else suggested, a Pokeball might be a better representation than Pikachu even if he's the mascot (since he plays relatively minor roles in most of the games, if he's there at all). And at least Japanese karate man has consistently featured in his franchise's box art and featured prominently in the games themselves.
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