100 Greatest Video Game Characters

by Jaime Banks (Editor), Robert Mejia (Editor), Aubrie Adams (Editor)

Though in existence for only a few decades, video games are now firmly established in mainstream culture all around the planet. Every year new games are produced, and every year new favorites emerge. But certain characters have become so iconic that they withstand both time and the shifting interests of players. Such creations permeate other elements of popular culture—from graphic novels to film—and are known not only to dedicated gamers but to the general public as well.

In 100 Greatest Video Game Characters, readers can learn about some of the most popular and influential figures that have leapt from computer monitors and television screens and into the public consciousness. The entries in this volume provide general facts about the characters as well as explore their cultural significance. The entries include the following


In addition, the book examines the commonalities of various video game characters to help readers better understand their popularity and how they operate within the video games and the industry itself.

Whether casually looking up information on video game characters or researching what these icons says about society, readers will enjoy this entertaining and informative volume. Comprehensive and engaging, 100 Greatest Video Game Characters will appeal to fans and scholars alike.

Genres: Nonfiction

260 pages, Hardcover

Published June 23, 2017

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you're looking for a lighthearted book of video game characters to peruse, this is not the book for you. From the title, I expected a book listing information about a range of iconic video game characters, not a boring academic tome that examines them WAY too critically, or assigns relevance in a way that wasn't intended. Here are a few examples that made me scratch my head:

The Last Dragonborn - Skyrim:
"This character quickly became a video game icon prior to and during the postmillennial interwar years (2011-2014) and reflects civilian-veteran interactions in the United States after the withdrawal of troops from Iraq"

Huh?

Another example:

Terra Branford - Final Fantasy VI
"Three themes...are central to Terra's identity and a broader cultural significance: (1) Terra is powerful; (2) the de-emphasis of Terra's power in favor of sexual objectification is absurd; and (3) Terra is different from other (white) characters."

What? When did race enter this?

And yet one more:

Cloud Strife - Final Fantasy VII
"More important than his iconic looks, however, is how Cloud's journey of self-discovery deconstructed conventional gender norms and brought Japan's multifaceted understanding of masculinity into mainstream gaming."

WHAT? I mean, beyond the Don Corneo storyline.

Summary: Unless you like stiff, roll-your-eyes level academic writing, don't bother with this book.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about all the video games characters that were in this book. My favorite characters were Pac-Man, john Dowd, Michael Vick, Lora croft, Bill Clinton, Samus Aran, Bo Jackson I am sure I am leaving some out.
I last played Pac-man on the Atari 2600. I was not very good. The highest I got was level one or two. I was surprised to learn that the game had 260 playable levels. I hope I got the number right.
One of my favorite games on the Nintendo game cube was Metroid prime. I even had a book to tell me how to play the game. I never read it and never got to the end of the game. I also had Metroid on the NES. I did even worse in the game.
Now I want to write about characters that I like but, were not in the book. The book made me think about who my favorite characters are. I think it was in NFL 94 staring Joe Montana for the sega genesis. In that game I found out that Mel gray was untouchable. Hand him the ball and it was touch down every time. At least that is how I remember it. So I always traded for Mel gray and got him on my team. And ran my score past 100 pretty quickly. It was unfortunate that the game did not show scores over 100 points.
And there is one more character I will wrote about. When I play games I played mostly sports games but, this game is not a sports game. The game is Dead to rights. I liked Jake Slate and his dog shadow. Jack was a cop looking to find out who killed his dad I think. The game was so fun to play. I also enjoyed the story. So fun. I hope to play dead to rights again someday.

[Brian · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a real puzzle. I hate giving one star reviews but there are a lot of things about this book that confused me a lot. First off, it is written like it is a college textbook for a class on video games. The book is dry; it contains no pictures, and just a bare bones description of the character. My second biggest beef with this book are the characters that were actually chosen to be in the Top 100....some of which are not even characters.... "The Ball" from Pong is considered a character...as is dysentery from the Oregon Trail. Also included is Leeroy Jenkins. While some of these entries are entertaining to read, those three took the slots of some of the many many many much more interesting and higher regarded characters in video game history. The entries also list "similar characters" which I thought would have had entries, but no, they did not. Sorry author, but this book is a bit too dry and academic for such a rich subject.

[Mmmhhmm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not only does this book have NO pictures of the characters, game, or anything else, it has the WEIRDEST choices for "greatest characters." Oh no, you're not going to find characters like Leon Kennedy or Princess Peach, but Kim Kardashian, Leroy Jenkins and dysentery are on this list.

That's right, a celebrity, a let's player, and a shit disease gets a mention but not one of the most iconic female characters in video game history. That should tell you enough.