Board 8 > ^King of the Mountain^ - Save My Shapeshifter - Winner: Kirby

(+) Yeah! (+)

Final score was 27-25.

1. Kirby (Kirbys Dream Land)
2. Alucard (Castlevania)
3. Sirius Black (Harry Potter)
4. Miss Martian (Young Justice)
5. Pennywise (IT)
6. Ditto (Pokmon)
7. Doopliss (Paper Mario TTYD)
8. Mystique (Marvel Comics)
9. Shang Tsung (Mortal Kombat)
10. Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII)
11. Renamon (Digimon)
12. Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist)
13. Dracula (Dracula)
14. Bowser Jr. (Super Mario Sunshine)
15. Martian Manhunter (DC Comics)
16. T-1000 (Terminator 2)
17. Morrigan (Dragon Age)
18. Remus Lupin (Harry Potter)
19. Queen Watevra Wa'Nabe (LEGO Movie 2)
20. Yuri Hyuga (Shadow Hearts)
21. Genie (Aladdin)
22. Yoruichi Shihoin (Bleach)
23. Dante (Devil May Cry)
24. Jake the Dog (Adventure Time)
25. Arya Stark (Game of Thrones)
26. Minerva McGonagall (Harry Potter)
27. Inkling (Splatoon)
28. Tiki (Fire Emblem)
29. Eren Yeager (Attack on Titan)
30. Plastic Man (DC Comics)
31. Beast Boy (DC Comics)
32. Aku (Samurai Jack)
33. Mr. Game and Watch (Super Smash Bros.)
34. Toga Himiko (My Hero Academia)
35. Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street)
36. Jaqen H'ghar (Game of Thrones)
37. Hulk (Marvel Comics)
38. Venom (Marvel Comics)
39. Ranma Saotome (Ranma 1/2)
40. Eddie Van Blundht (The X-Files)
41. Merlin (Disney's The Sword in the Stone)
42. Loki (Marvel Comics)
43. Sun Wukong (Chinese mythology)
44. Morgana (Persona)
45. Shantae (Shantae)
46. Rachel Berenson (Animorphs)
47. The Djinn (Wishmaster)
48. Pantalaimon (The Golden Compass)
49. Jafar (Aladdin)
50. Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)
51. Myrrh (Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones)
52. Goku (Dragon Ball)
53. Elongated Man (DC Comics)
54. Oolong (Dragon Ball)
55. Elastigirl (The Incredibles)
56. Gatomon (Digimon)
57. Grace (El Goonish Shive)
58. Annie Leonhardt (Attack on Titan)
59. Shampoo (Ranma 1/2)
60. Garcian Smith (Killer7)
61. Alien Bounty Hunter (The X-Files)
62. Clayface (DC Comics)
63. Cosmo (Fairly OddParents)
64. Ben Tennyson (Ben 10)
65. Gumby (Gumby)
66. Carnage (Marvel Comics)
67. The Man in Black (LOST)
68. Alex Mack (The Secret World of Alex Mack)
69. Puar (Dragon Ball)
70. Link (Legend of Zelda)
71. Wanda (Fairly OddParents)
72. Tibarn (Fire Emblem)
73. Bigby Wolf (Fables)
74. Queen Chrysalis (My Little Pony)
75. Metamorpho (DC Comics)
76. Amethyst (Steven Universe)
77. Naesala (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)
78. SpongeBob SquarePants (SpongeBob SquarePants)
79. Finn Balor (WWE)
80. Haku (Spirited Away)
81. Bayonetta (Bayonetta)
82. The Thing (The Thing)
83. The Entity (It Follows)
84. Tobias (Animorphs)
85. Tony Tony Chopper (One Piece)
86. Morph (Marvel Comics)
87. Peter Pettigrew (Harry Potter)
88. Gnar (League of Legends)
89. Morgan Yu (Prey)
90. Jacob Black (Twilight)
91. Zeus (Greek Mythology)
92. Hulkling (Marvel Comics)
93. Ethan Chandler (Penny Dreadful)
94. Elasti-Girl (DC Comics)
95. Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)
96. Nowi (Fire Emblem Awakening)
97. Sandman (Marvel Comics)
98. Mimi (Super Paper Mario)
99. Madame Rouge (DC Comics)
100. Penny (Gumball)
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So yeah. I'll just cut right to the chase. King of the Mountain is going on hiatus. I'm not really sure for what length of time. At minimum it will be the rest of the calender year, at maximum this is the end of the series. I started hosting this back in 2011 with the release of Mortal Kombat (2011) because the game is known for Ninja, which was the first contest. Since then I've ran a lot of these, and each time the winner (in my view) has been someone befitting of the category. The idea of this contest of course has always been "when you think of ___, who do you think the best is?". I haven't always been wild about the results of the contests. I think the first real time I disliked a winner was when Bowser won Royalty. Bowser is definitely best known for being a King, or at least he's very, very well known for it. "King Koopa". I personally think he's a poor ruler but a ruler nevertheless; I just thought it was a little bad that a character fairly bad at their job actually won a contest that's job related. But it's also a character contest, and I can live with that so long as people are having fun. All winners are hardline trope definers, from great characters I love (Sparrow, Skellington, Tyrion) to ones I find a bit overrated (Samus, Robin Hood, Sherlock).

Until now.
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I expressed this opinion already so I won't retread on it, since this isn't what this message is about anyway. It's simply related because yes, it's the catalyst for this decision. I'll be completely honest with you all; I often feel bullied in this contest. I feel that when it comes to curating each list of 100 that I often get bullied into making decisions I don't want to make and later regret. This isn't isolated to this, since I was once convinced to remove characters from the Royalty list because "they have no actual lands" (I'm referring to Jerry Lawler and King Booker). I later regretted this not only because certain users spent the better part of the contest saving Lawler, but because after I made the call, I realized I was wrong. I should have followed my own initial impressions; because this was my contest. So when he was first nominated, I dismissed Kirby because during the nominations cycle another user called into question the validity of his shapeshifting ability. I concurred at the time, even though I respectfully always ask that that sort of discussion be held to the end of the nomination process. I was immediately, without provocation, called biased and that was my real reason for disallowing Kirby into the contest. Combined with this, I was also accused of the same thing in regards to Pokemon. Despite being a fan of the series myself, I was accused of wanting to keep them out for my own selfish reasons. My reasoning for not wanting Pokemon in the contests anymore is simple; they aren't characters, they are species. I feel that in a character contest it's important to keep that true and pure. I feel the same way about what characters are nominated as well; they should ideally be trope defining characters who are unquestionably a shining example of whatever category they are in. I do not feel Kirby fits the bill here, not with what this category was meant to be in conception. Kirby has little in common with how Alucard, or most other characters in the field, shapeshift. He has nothing in common with my view of shapeshifting outside of some isolated things outside of his main series of games. This is why until this contest, every single winner of King of the Mountain could not be debated by any sensible person. Multiple people had questions as to Kirby's validity, not just one. The problem I am having with this contest is that it's one place where I am supposedly in charge of it. Yet I never feel this way. With other board contests, I disagree with how certain things are done (SMFFFC allowing Bravely Default, for example). Yet even in this contest I am bullied into letting things happen that I don't agree with, because if I don't let them happen I get accused of being unfair on purpose. On a personal level, I am unable to cope with such accusations without going to lengths that I don't wish to go to just to prove people wrong. So in essence, I am sick of that. I have been sick of that for a long, long time but the fact this contest ends with winner I feel does a disservice to what I wanted to create, and one I was forced into including through hostile means, I see little reason to keep on with it. The more I write, the less I want to even call this a hiatus. So thank you all for voting over the years, and if some day I want to bring this back perhaps I'll see you there. This is King of the Mountain, a standard Save My contest, saying goodbye.
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I have not participated in this series but I appreciate your ability to convey your feelings tactfully, and regardless of what any participant intended, your feelings are valid. =)

ya go my kirby

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StifledSilence posted...

ya go my kirby

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@ertyu0078

What are your thoughts on this result?
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v_charon posted...

This is why until this contest, every single winner of King of the Mountain could not be debated by any sensible person.

I completely understand if you want to stop because of being bullied

By anyone who debates that Kirby is a shapeshifter is being unsensible tbh
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I think Kirby is a good winner, and he seemed to fit the criteria.

You do a great job with these contests, and it would be sad to see them end. From my perspective, I think you get too invested in them, to the point that it effects your mood if something you like doesn't win. Obviously you like these contests, or else you wouldn't run them. But I think you need to ok with things that you disagree with, winning. That's just my small opinion. Either way, I can understand needing a break. You've done a lot of work here, and I appreciate what you've given us!

v_charon posted...

It was tied before that vote.

Hmm, I still counted it as 26 for Alucard and 25 for Kirby at that point. Did you count NFUN's vote? He said "Odo", which I believe is typically a parodied way to say Alucard, as "Odocard".
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Yeah. This message will be around for a while since the purge rate is lower. I assume anyone that cares will read it.
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TomNook posted...

From my perspective, I think you get too invested in them, to the point that it effects your mood if something you like doesn't win. Obviously you like these contests, or else you wouldn't run them. But I think you need to ok with things that you disagree with, winning.

I never stopped running these the 25+ times before; someone I like probably has won no more than half the time. I even managed to continue running them with Jigglypuff winning. Again, it has to do with the fact I don't think this character fits the criteria. It's my contest, and I should have had the right to feel that way if it's at least a viewpoint you could understand. I don't have the privilege however.

TomNook posted...

"Odo"

This is a Star Trek character who wasn't in the contest. It was a non vote.
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Not my favorite outcome, but it was looking bleak for a while there. I understand your frustrations. As merely a participant in these contests, once my faves are out I just walk away and stop participating. As the host you have to continue participating even though there's no joy left in the contest for you. Would be difficult, I imagine.

v_charon posted...

I never stopped running these the 25+ times before; someone I like probably has won no more than half the time. I even managed to continue running them with Jigglypuff winning. Again, it has to do with the fact I don't think this character fits the criteria. It's my contest, and I should have had the right to feel that way if it's at least a viewpoint you could understand. I don't have the privilege however.

You always have the right to disqualify something though. However, I think you made the right call by leaving it up to the people who nominated stuff, because I do recall it seemed way more people said Kirby fit, than didn't. I find that very respectable that you are able to leave it to the people to decide, and I would hope no one gives you crap for that. I can understand being bummed that something you don't think fits makes the contest, goes deep, or even wins, but it also meant that the majority of the people (those who like your contests enough to vote in them!) felt they were a fitting winner. And afterall, that seems like the whole point of this contest to me! People have different definitions of how they vote for people, and that's what makes it worth voting in the first place. There is plenty of subjectively involved. As you said, you thought Bowser was a bad winner because you consider him a poor ruler, but for others, that might not be their definition.

I just hope you don't get too bummed out, because I like you and what you've done for us!

v_charon posted...

This is a Star Trek character who wasn't in the contest. It was a non vote.

Well I'm dumb. I have heard people call characters by their Engrish names though, so apologies for my stupidity there.
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While I didn't participate in this particular contest. I have enjoyed the ones I did and it's a shame to see them come to end. But I totally undestand why you'd want to stop, I think the problem generally boils down to Save Mys just being a popularity contest. I could definitely see it working better as a ranking topic similar to the gauntlet rankings where a group of people do their best to objectively rank characters of a particular job.

Either way this was a fun series and it will be missed
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I think it's good that you are taking a break because this is clearly causing you more stress than it's worth, which should be anyone's cutoff point for anything.
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What ever kirby cheated

Well I think you've needed a break from these for a while to be honest. I'd been encouraging you to for the last few because it hasn't seem like you've enjoyed running em for a while. You should never run a save my contest out of some form of obligation!
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ertyu0078 posted...

What ever kirby cheated

Never change
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I'm just going to keep it simple: thank you for running these contests so consistently for so long, charon.
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Propaganda

@StifledSilence
@StifledSilence
@StifledSilence
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Have you considered that you could just not be a total creampuff pushover because this is the internet and no one cares enough to not get over it?
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