Board 8 > How would they do in a contest? Day 136 ft Sigma, Donkey Kong Jr, Urbosa

(+) Yeah! (+)

This is a topic to rate the contest strength of potential newcomers in the current contest environment.

I will pick the characters to rate and discuss for each day from user nominations - whoever the 3 most nominated characters are at that time. If there are more than 3 I will pick randomly. You can nominate any number of characters at any time, but you cannot nominate the same character twice.

All characters who were present in the 2018 Character Battle will NOT be eligible. Otherwise you can nominate any character that has appeared in video games; even comic book characters. This will exclude real-life athletes who have only appeared in long running sports series, however I will accept those who have their own games such as Shaq. I will accept nominations for iconic gaming duos too, if there is a compelling reason for both characters to be linked (either co-starring in a game ala Banjo & Kazooie, or always appearing together like Callie & Marie from Splatoon).

Each day will have a separate topic, and nominations will carry over. As far as actually rating the character's contest strength; I ask that users rank a characters potential strength with one of the following qualifiers - LAW Fodder, Low Fodder, Mid Fodder, High Fodder, Fodder Line, Low Midcarder, Midcarder, High Midcarder, Near Elite, Elite, LAW Tier (capable of beating Link). I will average all the ratings given to a character to come up with their final ranking. I have included a highlighted entrant from Character Battle X on each tier of the strength rankings below, to provide a baseline for each.

Note that LAW Fodder is meant to be a tier reserved for the weakest possible characters to put into a contest. A character will only be placed there if at least 3/4ths of the voters for that day agree on the LAW Fodder rating, and no ratings above Low Fodder are given. If either of those conditions are not met, the character will not be eligible for the LAW Fodder tier.

Current Character Strength Rankings: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P1AIhHywBiLd6VAMZMNEGX-HW2td8u1D0Iw_tzHsORw/edit?usp=sharing

Nomination List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KnSBDzppzPK5Ug1zmx8_x0bG4tqFDMPPH2k8J3s8sk/edit?usp=sharing

Results from Day 135:

Felicia (Darkstalkers) is Mid Fodder
Solidus Snake (Metal Gear Solid 2) is Mid Fodder
Shion Uzuki (Xenosaga) is Low Fodder

Here is today's trio to rank:

Sigma (Mega Man X)
Donkey Kong Jr. (Donkey Kong Jr.)
Urbosa (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild)
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Sigma: High Fodder. Nobody who hasn't played the game is voting for him, and nostalgia for MMX is becoming more limited. The series hasn't continued. So I don't have much faith in him.

DK Jr.: High Fodder. This ain't Diddy. Nobody is going to recognize him, but the DK name alone will give him enough of a boost to beat any Low or Mid Fodder.

Urbosa: Midcarder. BOTW is insanely strong, and she does have some TJF going for her. Some. Perhaps that her autograph is right in front of me on my wall is slanting my opinion of this. I think, of the four Champions, she's the strongest.

Nominate:
Prince Sidon (BOTW)
Daruk (BOTW)
Revali (BOTW)
Mipha (BOTW)

(why don't we do a triple treat of those last three?)
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Agree with High Fodder for Sigma and DK Jr. I think there is a lot of nostalgia still out there for MMX simply due to the sheer amount of games in the series.

BOTW may be a strong game, but strong enough to put a supporting character at midcarder? I don't think any game is that strong. I'm not sure who the standout is among the Champions, but I'd believe Urbosa being the strongest. I'll say Fodder Line for her.
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We rated Linkle as a Midcarder, because Zelda. And this is right now.

I COULD see her as a Low Midcarder, but no lower than that at present. Sidon is probably the strongest of the supporting cast.
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High Fodder for Sigma and DK Jr.

I think Fodder Line sounds right for Urbosa. BotW is strong, but its cast full of characters with 5-10 minutes of screentime is not, except for Sidon possibly. They'd still get a boost from being Zelda, just can't see it being that much of a boost.

On that note, nominate:
Prince Sidon
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I agree with High Fodder for Sigma; the MMX series nostalgia is still there, as evidenced by recent results by the character and game alike, but I don't feel like Sigma is nearly as iconic or well-liked as Dr. Wily.

For Donkey Kong Jr., my vote is Mid Fodder, partly on the basis that it's almost impossible to mistake him for DK and partly because I'm of the opinion that the DKC series is mostly responsible for DK's recent resurgence.

I favor Fodder Line for Urbosa, because, as Shonen pointed out, 5-10 minutes of screentime is not a recipe for a strong character no matter how beloved their game is. If anything, that might actually be a bit high, considering our votes on Ocarina of Time characters with equal or greater screentime, as well as Midna's consistent Fodder Line strength despite being a much more prominent character from a comparably strong Zelda game.

As for Linkle, there's a big difference between 'recent supporting Zelda character' and 'recent supporting Zelda character who happens to be the female version of by far the strongest character on GameFAQs'. It's also unhealthy to lack a reasonable fear of The LAW :p

I will also nominate the following characters:

BlueCrystalTear posted...

Prince Sidon (BOTW)
Daruk (BOTW)
Mipha (BOTW)

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Sigma (Mega Man X) - High Fodder

Donkey Kong Jr. (Donkey Kong Jr.) - Mid Fodder

He's a recognizable Nintendo dude due to an old arcade game people don't actually care about and I guess he's in Super Mario Kart? He really shouldn't be that good. And while Donkey Kong's looked better since Returns came out I still don't think he's quite the kind of guy you want to leech off. I don't think there should be any question that, say, Diddy would be ridiculously better than him.

Urbosa (Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) - High Fodder

Haven't played but "NPC from recent game without enormous amounts of screen time" doesn't seem like it should quite cut it, even if she is from Breath of the Wild.

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nominate:
Prince Sidon
Daruk
Mipha
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Day 137 is up: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78088937
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