Board 8 > How would they do in a contest? Day 194 ft Travis Touchdown, Togepi, Starscream

(+) 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

If you feel that a character has been over or under-ranked, or if a new development has come up that would affect their contest strength, you may nominate them for a re-ranking. You may nominate one character per day for this, and 3 votes are needed to get them on the slate. One character with 3 votes will come up for re-ranking today.

Re-ranking Nomination List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1V6dx-tu-FD1rCxbX69eQwEzE7x1F6nNRNFochYHu1dc/edit?usp=sharing

Results from Day 193:

Mordin Solus (Mass Effect) is High Fodder
V (Devil May Cry 5) is Low Fodder
Soma Cruz (Castlevania) is Mid Fodder

Here is today's trio to rank:

Travis Touchdown (No More Heroes)
Starscream (Transformers)
Togepi (Pokemon)

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Travis I say will be High Fodder. He is a relevant character again with NMH3 on the horizon, and his games have the sort of cult fanbase that will always be present in some form. His performance in CB9 could be concerning, but I think there are some other factors that led to his loss to Recette. Recette was being rallied in that match, and I think Travis was hurt by the fact that another mature series protagonist, Kratos, was in the 3-pack.

Low Fodder for Starscream. He lacks a single distinctive design like his leader Megatron, and does not have the notoriety of being the "big bad" of the Transformers series. I'm sure some people like him, but I just don't see Gfaqs caring much about Transformers.

Mid Fodder for Togepi. It is mostly know for being "that thing Misty carries around in the anime". I don't think Togepi is cute enough to get votes based off of that aspect. It is notable for being one of the first Gen 2 Pokemon revealed and has a distinctive design, but doesn't have much else going for it.

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Travis: Mid Fodder - His past results are actually passable, if you can look past losing to a low-level rally; Mid Fodder is about where his doubling by 2013 Kratos puts him, and I see no compelling reason for that to change.

Starscream: Mid Fodder - Probably around the same level as Bumblebee and Megatron? I think Transformers does a good enough job at hitting GameFAQs' ideal nostalgia spot that Optimus won't be the only Transformer with any semblance of strength.

Togepi: Mid Fodder - I wish I could go lower, but it's a notable Johto Pokmon with a prominent, non-hated anime role. That's almost certainly good enough to outmatch the dregs.

Nominations:
Crocomire
Darth Maul
Dig Dug
Dyna Blade
Hans Gruber
Kenny McCormick
The Rocketeer
Vamp
Velociraptor
William Birkin

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Mid-fodder for all.

I do think this is probably the last of the worthwhile Transformers though.

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Day 195 is up: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78273240

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