What makes a gaming character iconic?

[J T]

I was thinking about some of the major video game icons: Mario, Link, Gordon Freeman, etc. It seems that a lot of them actually have very little expressed personality, yet are well loved. I was trying to put my finger on why it is that I like these characters. I guess each of these examples had a sort of game play that I felt very comfortable in, but it seems it has to be more than that too. I wonder what you guys think. What make some of gamings biggest icons so memorable?

[emwearz]

What make some of gamings biggest icons so memorable?

The game they were in.

[Specineff]

Both Mario and Gordon Freeman are your average joe. (Well, not every joe can have a degree in Nuclear Physics and Interdimensional Fatigue research, but you get my drift)

Makes it easier to identify with than the Super Duper Shinigami Bishie Amnesiac RPG Protagonist archetype.

[brunoafh]

I think simplicity in design has a bit to do with it.

Ryu is way more iconic than Sol Badguy because he's just a dude in a white gi with a headband, whereas Sol Badguy's design is somewhat complicated. You can remember pretty much every bit of Ryu's design off the top of your head after playing Street Fighter only a few times.

[dedalusdedalus]

It seems that a lot of them actually have very little expressed personality, yet are well loved.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. All of them are practically silent protagonists with only the bare minimum of personality traits. I'd argue that this is by design -- because they're such blank slates, a greater number of people can accept them.

I'll make an analogy to Mickey Mouse. Early Mickey was kind of a dick -- just look at "Steamboat Willy," at the end of which he gets demoted to peeling potatoes, and throws a parrot off the ship for attempting to make fun of him. Modern Mickey would have exhibited a lot less personality in this situation -- he'd probably just be all like "Aw, shucks."

I think when a character becomes so popular that it rises to the level of corporate mascot, the character slowly becomes stripped of personality in order to appeal to a greater number of people, albeit on a much more shallow level.

Of course, being that Mario had his origins in the arcade era, he was already a limited character given the limitations of video game technology at the time.

[Gamerforlife]

The gaming media and general nostalgia makes them iconic...because truthfully, those are some of the blandest, most boring characters in the history of gaming, but gaming mags and websites have deemed them iconic because as emwearz said-they were in great, history making games.

And nostalgia for those games have made them icons even though they are horrible characters all three of them. At least Sonic had real personality and NES era Ryu Hyabusa had real storylines and motivation. Modern day Ryu is just a guy who kills stuff, looks mean and rarely says anything interesting. He's more a vessel, an avatar for players than a real person

For me, TRULY iconic characters would be someone like Jade(Beyond Good and Evil) because she has a personality, a voice, a point of view, a heart. She's not a generic blank slate for gamers to imprint their personalities on

Some other REAL icons in my opinion-and I'm not saying I love them all but at least they feel like actual unique characters with personalities, voices and certain views of their world that make you remember them-would be the following:

Dante
Solid Snake
Kratos

Those are some more well known examples-though I think Jade is cooler than all of them

[J T]

It's really surprising though that there aren't more personality filled gaming icons though. I guess that's partly why I asked the question. Characters like Jade, Kratos, or Solid Snake have some personality, but many others do not. It makes me wonder if there is something to the silent protagonist concept after all. Many of the icons of gaming were silent protagonists in great games. You hardly even saw Gordon Freeman, and people love the guy. Do we judge our characters more by the actions we use them to perform than by their dialogue?

[Gamerforlife]

It is odd for blank slate characters in games to be called iconic to me. In music, movies and pro wrestling, icons were people with distinct personalities, characteristics, styles, expressions, etc. People like Elvis, Macho Man Randy Savage, Clint Eastwood, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Duane The Rock Johnson, etc, etc.

I know calling Mario, Link and Gordon Freeman iconic is status quo in the gaming community, but their is truly nothing iconic about them. Snake is iconic, Dante is iconic, Abe from Oddworld is iconic, the Prince of Persia from sands of time is iconic, Sam Fisher is iconic, Nathan Drake is iconic and I could go on and on with other characters

[AznKhmerBoi]

-the games there were in
-the coolness or badass factor

[J T]

I'm thinking that the criteria for being "iconic" in a game might be different than for movies, music, or other media. The areas of style and distinct physical attributes still apply, but I think in games it is important that the character controls "fit like a glove" when you play them. In some cases, like Samus Aran, the icon is even arguably ruined by imposing a personality on a character that was once silent, as was done in Metroid: Other M. I've really felt a strong connection with characters like Samus Aran or Wander from Shadow of the Colossus because I was on this lonely quest with them/as them. It was better that they didn't say anything.

Gordon Freeman was a little strange though. I could never figure out why other characters in the game were always so excited to see him.