
On May 12, 2023, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases on Nintendo Switch. If there’s another video game series that keeps fans coming back faithfully time and again with as much undiminished enthusiasm and expectation, we’re not sure what it is.
Which is funny, because there’s typically little to tie each game together, at least in terms of narrative. Each Zelda game is more or less a fresh start, with its own twist on a very loose central mythology.
Besides a bunch of recurring motifs, it’s the main character of Link that forms the through line for each Zelda game. Which got us to thinking about all those wonderful video game characters we’ve encountered over the years.
Some of them are just brilliantly written. Others amount to little more than a catch phrase or a cool outfit. Because they serve as our avatars in these wondrous interactive worlds, however, we tend to form the kind of attachments usually reserved for beloved literary characters or pets.
Here, then, are 20 of the best video game characters of all time. Be sure to vote for your favourite below.
The best video game characters
- These are the best retro games ever made...
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Jon Mundy is a freelance writer with more than a dozen years of experience writing for leading tech websites such as TechRadar and Trusted Reviews.