50 Video Game Characters: 37

"Ah, there's nothing like the hot winds of Hell blowing in your face"



37. LeChuck (The Secret of Monkey Island)

The best villain is a recurring one. One who is so evil, he can come back over and over despite permanent banishment or even death. Few of them can come back before the first game even begins. Enter LeChuck, the ghost pirate.

Intelligent and ruthless, he found Governor Elaine Marley to be his ideal mate. After multiple failed attempts to win her heart, he tries to impress her once more by sailing off to find the secret of Monkey Island. LeChuck and his crew ultimately perishes in his pursuit for the secret. Enraged and now without a corporeal body, he sets about a plan to kidnap Elaine and force her to be his undead bride.

Despite his cruel nature, he is also very gullible which may lend to how he is defeated by a clumsy(but clever) pirate like Guybrush Threepwood in every game. Since his defeat by voodoo-induced root beer in the first game, he has returned in every Monkey Island game since in a multitude of forms. He's been a ghost, a zombie, a demon, a human and then back to undead. Dude is pretty adaptable.

Best moment: At the end of Monkey Island 2, when he confesses to Guybrush that he is his creepy brother, Chuckie Threepwood.

50 Video Game Characters: 38

Hey guys this one contains a shit load of spoilers re: Shadow of the Colossus, so if you care about that stuff, DON'T READ THIS

"Raise thy sword by the light, and head to the place where the sword's light gathers"



38. Dormin (Shadow of the Colossus)

The temptor is quite a classic archetype in literature, even moreso biblically. A snake convinces Eve to take an apple from the Tree of Knowledge, forcng her and Adam's expulsion from Paradise. Then of course there's Satan, the fallen angel who is known to tempt others into sin, including his multiple temptations of Jesus Christ in the desert. A character who serves as temptation is very rare in video games, but Dormin is able to trump anyone who tries to challenge his throne in this aspect.

Dormin is an ancient evil whose power is sealed inside the bodies of 16 giants, known as Colossi, who themselves are wandering in the forbidden land. Acting as the aide to a young man looking to revive his beloved, Dormin convinces him to destroy the Colossi as a means to bring the girl back to life. As Wander, the hero, sets about destroying the(semi-docile) beasts, his appearance becomes more and more corrupted with each Colossus slain. A life formerly untarnished, being overwrought with evil. By the end, of course, Dormin now free of his shackles, invades the body of Wander and begins causing chaos until he is sent away in a whirlwind of light.

Like most temptors, however, he does keep his end of the bargain, despite his wholly evil intentions. The young girl finally awakens, traveling to the temple pond where Dormin/Wander was banished, finding a baby with horns on his head in the same manner as Wander near the conclusion of the game.

Best moment: When he possesses Wander and you are able to control them both as one.

50 Video Game Characters: 39

39. Vault Boy (Fallout)

Always on hand with a happy-go-lucky attitude and chipper grin, Vault Boy is ready to help you through your adventure in a hellish, post-apocalyptic wasteland that used to be America.

Vault Boy isn't really a character, per se. He's a mascot for the Vault-tec system and, in Fallout 3, the handy helper of your PipBoy3000 personal information processor. However, there is probably no character as distinctly representative to the Fallout series as he is.

That clean optimistic style of Madison Avenue in the 1950's is a very sterile character of post-war America and that's what Vault Boy is eyeing to represent: post-war America. An America almost stuck in time with its use of big band music and clean-cut advertising mascots. The irony of it all, of course, is that it's nothing like the world we know. It's a hellscape full of futuristic technology and evil mutated humans. Luckily ol' Vault Boy is there to lend you a hand and a smiling face. And that smile is the last one you're going to see for a while.

Best moment: The various ways Vault Boy dresses and acts to reflect what goes on in the world. All with a happy smile.

50 Video Game Characters: 40

"That is rather...disturbing..."


40. Clank (Ratchet and Clank)

Of all the Playstation 2 mascots, Ratchet and Clank undeniably have had the most staying power. I don't really see Naughty Dog giving up Nathan Drake to do another adventure game starring a chatty ottsel voiced by Doogie Howser's friend. Also Sucker Punch is too busy with shooting lightning out of your hands(or are they????) to give us another Sly Cooper game(or Rocket: Robot on Wheels, although the chances of that is slim. Unfortunately.). Meanwhile, the Lombax and robot have successfully crossed over thanks to pretty good gameplay, humor and characters.

Other PS2 mascots tend to be saddled with a sassy compatriot and Clank is certainly no exception. Despite being a very proper robot, he is always able to provide a quip during any situation. Also look at him, he is so cute! He is so little and adorable and charming that it's impossible to believe he is part of an assembly line of robots programmed to be evil!

Clank's charm is so successful, in fact, that it landed him his own TV show, Secret Agent Clank. Can you think of any other sideick you really want to see have his own TV show? Daxter? Get outta here, no you don't.

Best moment: The opening of Up Your Arsenal, which shows an action packed episode of Secret Agent Clank.