BAFTA has revealed the results of its landmark players’ poll to establish the Most Iconic Video Games Character of All Time. Launched to celebrate the 20th BAFTA Games Awards on Thursday 11 April, the poll was engaged with by over 4,000 players from all over the world.

What an… interesting list. What are we thinking?

Personally I’m stunned Lara Croft made the top five and Agent 47 seems like an odd choice. Small sample size?

**The full list: **

  1. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider

  2. Mario, Super Mario

  3. Agent 47, Hitman

  4. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog

  5. Sackboy, LittleBigPlanet

  6. Pac-Man, Pac-Man

  7. Link, The Legend of Zelda

  8. Master Chief, Halo

  9. Kratos, God of War

  10. Shadowheart, Baldur’s Gate 3

  11. Arthur Morgan, Red Dead Redemption 2

  12. Pikachu, Pokémon

  13. Steve, Minecraft

  14. Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid

15.Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot

  1. Cloud Strife, Final Fantasy VII

  2. Astarion, Baldur’s Gate 3

  3. Kazuma Kiryu, Yakuza

  4. Ellie Williams, The Last of Us

  5. Nathan Drake, Uncharted

  • Björn TantauEnglish
    35•8 months ago

    Shadowheart? Astarion? Don’t get me wrong, I love BG3, it’s my favourite game at the moment. But any character my mom wouldn’t recognise shouldn’t be on that list.

    Granted, Lara Croft fits that bill, but how did they determine that she should be above Mario or Pac-Man?

    • Björn TantauEnglish
      16•8 months ago

      I couldn’t ask my mom, she has too much work today but I could ask my father and thus can present you with the 100 % super scientific and objective list of most iconic video game characters:

      1. Mario
      2. Pac-Man
      3. Pikachu
      4. Lara Croft
    • SbisasCostlyTurnoverOPMEnglish
      5•8 months ago

      Okay so for context I’ve not played BG3. However I do consider myself pretty upto date with my gaming stuff (I run a videogame community afterall). I couldn’t tell you which of the characters on the front of the BG3 box-art is Shadowheart; not the foggiest.

      As for Croft. I wonder if they’d ‘commissioned’ this poll before the release of the recent game if she’d have even made the top 10. For the most part, her star has fallen pretty significantly from where she was in the 90’s.