| — |  ▶ | MarioSuper Mario. The jump is the whole language, and everyone already speaks it | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | LuigiLuigi's Mansion. Got his own series by being the one who is visibly terrified | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | LinkThe Legend of Zelda. Never says a word and somehow you always know what he wants | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Samus AranMetroid. The suit did the talking for years before anyone knew who was inside | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | KirbyKirby. Looks like a marshmallow, wins by eating you | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Donkey KongDonkey Kong Country. Started as the obstacle, ended up carrying the whole jungle | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | YoshiYoshi. Spent years as a mount before the games let him hold the reins | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | WarioWarioWare. Mario if nobody had ever told him no | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Fox McCloudStar Fox. Do a barrel roll, and the whole internet still says it back | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Sonic the HedgehogSonic the Hedgehog. Sold a console on attitude and a run cycle | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Alex KiddAlex Kidd. Sega's first mascot, quietly written out when the hedgehog showed up | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | NiGHTSNiGHTS into Dreams. A jester who flies, and nobody has ever explained more than that | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Crash BandicootCrash Bandicoot. Runs at the camera, which nobody had thought to do | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | SpyroSpyro the Dragon. Purple, small, and unreasonably fast for something with wings | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | RatchetRatchet & Clank. Half the appeal is the wrench, the other half is the arsenal | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | JakJak and Daxter. Went from silent kid to gravel-voiced outlaw in one sequel | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Sly CooperSly Cooper. Steals from thieves, which is how the series gets away with it | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | SackboyLittleBigPlanet. Made of fabric so you could dress him as anything | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Astro BotAstro Bot. A tech demo that grew up and won everything | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | RaymanRayman. No arms, no legs, no neck, and it never slowed him down | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Mega ManMega Man. Beats a boss, takes the weapon, does it again | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Pac-ManPac-Man. Still the shape you draw when you draw a video game | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | BombermanBomberman. The nicest looking character ever built to ruin friendships | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | BubBubble Bobble. A dragon who fights by blowing bubbles and it works | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | BanjoBanjo-Kazooie. Carries the bird, and the bird does most of the talking | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Earthworm JimEarthworm Jim. A worm in a robot suit, played entirely straight | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | ShantaeShantae. Attacks with her hair and changes shape by dancing | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | KlonoaKlonoa. Cute enough that the ending catches people completely off guard | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | CrocCroc. The crocodile who was almost Yoshi, and got a whole series instead | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | GexGex. A gecko who will not stop making television references | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Ty the Tasmanian TigerTY the Tasmanian Tiger. Fights with boomerangs, which is the only thing you need to know | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | PaRappaPaRappa the Rapper. Paper thin, and still believes he gotta believe | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | UlalaSpace Channel 5. A reporter who saves the galaxy by dancing on camera | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | OriOri. Small, glowing, and handed the saddest opening in the genre | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | KnackKnack. Made of parts, and gets bigger the more of them he finds | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | FroggerFrogger. The whole character is the decision to cross | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Master ChiefHalo. Never takes the helmet off, and that is the point | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Gordon FreemanHalf-Life. A physicist with a crowbar who has never said a single line | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Doom SlayerDOOM. The plot is that he is angry and the demons are there | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Solid SnakeMetal Gear Solid. Sneaks past everything, then talks on the radio for an hour | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Sam FisherSplinter Cell. Three green dots in the dark and a voice that hates the job | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Agent 47Hitman. A barcode, a suit, and the patience to wait for the right moment | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Lara CroftTomb Raider. Went into the tomb first and everyone else has been following since | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Nathan DrakeUncharted. Cracks a joke, falls off a cliff, repeats | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | KratosGod of War. Spent three games furious and then had to raise a son | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | DanteDevil May Cry. Fights demons like it is a bit, which is why the combos look like that | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Ryu HayabusaNinja Gaiden. The reason a generation learned what a hard game feels like | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Marcus FenixGears of War. Made taking cover into a genre | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Isaac ClarkeDead Space. An engineer, not a soldier, which is the whole horror | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Max PayneMax Payne. Narrates his own misery in metaphors while diving sideways | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Serious SamSerious Sam. One man, one open field, and every enemy in the game at once | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | B.J. BlazkowiczWolfenstein. Has been punching Nazis since the genre had a name | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Joanna DarkPerfect Dark. The spy shooter that stood up to Bond on his own console | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Cole MacGrathinFAMOUS. Electricity, a city, and a choice you keep having to make | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Corvo AttanoDishonored. The game notices whether you killed anyone, and so does he | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Adam JensenDeus Ex. Never asked for this, and said so enough that it stuck | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Leon S. KennedyResident Evil. Rookie cop on day one, and the series never let him rest | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Ezio AuditoreAssassin's Creed. Three games long, from spoiled kid to old man | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Geralt of RiviaThe Witcher. Grunts, drinks, and is somehow the most decent person in the room | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | Kazuma KiryuLike a Dragon. Runs a street brawl and an orphanage with the same seriousness | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | JoelThe Last of Us. Does the wrong thing for a reason you understand | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | AloyHorizon. Learns what the machines are and then wishes she had not | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | John MarstonRed Dead Redemption. Wants out, and the whole game is about how that goes | — win | — match wins |
| — |  ▶ | SenuaHellblade. The voices are in the headphones, not on the screen | — win | — match wins |