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Who's the most famous video game character introduced after 2000?

Conor419

Conor419

Banned
Nov 26, 2017
2,320
London
SilverArrow20XX said:
Togepi for sure.
Lugia and Ho-Oh as well to a lesser extent.
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My original post had Lugia at number 2: but imo Pichu has the benefit of

1. More TV appearances (and movie appearances I believe).
2. Evolutionary ties with the most well-known Pokemon in the world
3. All Super Smash Brothers appearances
4. More common showings in Pokemon Go: the most played video game in the world.

Ho-Oh also arguably debuted in the anime years before.
 
unrealist

unrealist

Member
Oct 27, 2017
757
overwatch_loot_box_1.0.jpg


The Lootbox
 
TheThreadsThatBindUs

TheThreadsThatBindUs

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,151
United Kingdom
While I think Steve and the Creeper are highly recognizeable to all who know and play minecraft, as big as the game is, they're both not really even characters and hardly think many if any non-gamers would know who they are; or at least certainly what they're called.

I think of the mentions in this thread, probably on Master Chief qualify
 
GamerJM

GamerJM

Member
Nov 8, 2017
15,712
Master Chief is the most iconic, the Red Bird from Angry Birds is the most well-known. Or Steve from Minecraft but I think too many people don't know him as Steve.
 
tyfon

tyfon

Member
Nov 2, 2017
3,680
Norway
It's Steve or the creeper, although probably not by name.

Many have never seen or played Halo including me.
I actually learned about Master Chief was via a quiz app I play with my wife sometimes.

Everyone knows the minecraft guy or the creeper but if you ask anyone in my extended family about Master Chief or Halo they'll draw blanks.
 
fourfourfun

fourfourfun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,731
England
Yeah, has to be Steve. Nothing else really comes close on that. It's a Nintendo level of icon.

Most post-2000 characters are notable for being in incredibly good games, but not as iconic characters. I'd lay that at most of the Sony crew. Aside from Sackboy, he had the potential to be an enduring system mascot.

Master Chief is a big green space man. The game outclasses the character.
 
impact

impact

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Oct 26, 2017
5,380
Tampa
I don't talk to children and never played Minecraft so among adults I'd say Kratos or Master Chief.
 
Gundam

Gundam

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,801
Minecraft Steve and Master Chief.

Honorable mentions to Kratos, Tracer, and more distantly Sam Fisher.
 
HelloItsPulse

HelloItsPulse

Member
Dec 14, 2017
2,073
Before Minecraft, it was Master Chief. Right now it's Minecraft Steve. I can't think of any other characters that have had the type of popularity those two have seen. The only character I can see even having a chance of reaching the mark like Master Chief and Steve is "Fortnite guy".

I don't understand Kratos being brought up as a "Most popular character", he's not even the most popular playstation character.
It's vibri
 
Kusagari

Kusagari

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,574
It's the Red Bird from Angry Birds.

The game achieved a higher level of mass media penetration than Minecraft thanks to being a free phone game anyone could download and play.
 
Sebastopa

Sebastopa

Member
Apr 27, 2018
1,782
Yep, it's definitely the Chief, no doubt.

Minecraft, while massively popular, is not known for any characters, hell I bet Herobrine is better known that Steve just because of that dumb creepypasta. I guess Tracer suffers from the same problem, plus Overwatch is not Minecraft big.

Although I guess if we're just going by avatars, then the Miis from the Wii Era are also widely known by everyone.

People saying Kratos, Marcus and Inklings are living in another dimension.
 

Cokie Bear

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4,944
Sebastopa said:
Yep, it's definitely the Chief, no doubt.

Minecraft, while massively popular, is not known for any characters, hell I bet Herobrine is better known that Steve just because of that dumb creepypasta. I guess Tracer suffers from the same problem, plus Overwatch is not Minecraft big.

Although I guess if we're just going by avatars, then the Miis from the Wii Era are also widely known by everyone.

People saying Kratos, Marcus and Inklings are living in another dimension.
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If you took a random sample of the population and showed them each a picture of Master Chief and a picture of Minecraft Steve I bet my life's savings more people would be able to identity Steve as "Minecraft Guy" than people who could identify Master chief as "Haly Guy".
Like it's not even a contest. Steve is by far more recognisable that Master Chief amongst the non-gaming general population.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

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Oct 27, 2017
11,690
Gravy Boat said:
If you took a random sample of the population and showed them each a picture of Master Chief and a picture of Minecraft Steve I bet my life's savings more people would be able to identity Steve as "Minecraft Guy" than people who could identify Master chief as "Haly Guy".
Like it's not even a contest. Steve is by far more recognisable that Master Chief amongst the non-gaming general population.
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That's recognizing the style though. How many people would call them Steve and Master Chief is the question.
 
Sebastopa

Sebastopa

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Apr 27, 2018
1,782
Gravy Boat said:
If you took a random sample of the population and showed them each a picture of Master Chief and a picture of Minecraft Steve I bet my life's savings more people would be able to identity Steve as "Minecraft Guy" than people who could identify Master chief as "Haly Guy".
Like it's not even a contest. Steve is by far more recognisable that Master Chief amongst the non-gaming general population.
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Renna Hazel said:
That's recognizing the style though. How many people would call them Steve and Master Chief is the question.
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This.
 

Cokie Bear

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
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Renna Hazel said:
That's recognizing the style though. How many people would call them Steve and Master Chief is the question.
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That's not really the question though, the question is most famous. You don't need to be able to name someone for them to be famous. How recognisable someone is is a much bigger indication of fame and how wide spread they are, which of the two is definitely Steve.
 
SilverArrow20XX

SilverArrow20XX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,499
Gravy Boat said:
That's not really the question though, the question is most famous. You don't need to be able to name someone for them to be famous. How recognisable someone is is a much bigger indication of fame and how wide spread they are, which of the two is definitely Steve.
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The question is most famous "character". Steve is famous in the same way that the Lego Man is famous. People see him and think Minecraft. You could also show them any Minecraft skin and get the same result, just like you can show Lego Batman to someone and they'll immediately know it's Lego.
 

Cokie Bear

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SilverArrow20XX said:
The question is most famous "character". Steve is famous in the same way that the Lego Man is famous. People see him and think Minecraft. You could also show them any Minecraft skin and get the same result, just like you can show Lego Batman to someone and they'll immediately know it's Lego.
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Right, so unless you're saying that "Lego man" isn't more famous than Master Chief I'm not sure if I get how you're disagreeing with me here.

More of the general population will recognise Steve than Master Chief. Even if they don't know his name, they're still recognising him as a character.
 
Renna Hazel

Renna Hazel

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,690
Gravy Boat said:
That's not really the question though, the question is most famous. You don't need to be able to name someone for them to be famous. How recognisable someone is is a much bigger indication of fame and how wide spread they are, which of the two is definitely Steve.
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Nah, you're talking about the character specifically. My mother would recognize the Minecraft style but have no clue who Steve is. She might also recognize one of the more common Pokemon and say "it's a Pokemon", but that doesn't make it as famous as Pikachu just because you know it's a Pokemon. I think knowing the actual character matters a lot here.
 
Venom.

Venom.

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Oct 26, 2017
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Gundam said:
Minecraft Steve and Master Chief.

Honorable mentions to Kratos, Tracer, and more distantly Sam Fisher.
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Master Chief will have most recognition in gaming and outside. There was a time when the game launches would make the news worldwide! Much as I love Kratos he is only known within gaming. The Minecraft game is a sales phenomenon but no way can you say the man with a name is recognised as a character. It's just a name that's been stuck on the player character, it's like saying your character in Skyrim when viewed in third person mode is called Steve.

Back in 2008 & 2009 I would say that Niko Bellic would have been the biggest in the community. But that was just for one game.
 

pdog128

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Dec 16, 2017
607
Ya'll saying Master Chief are crazy . . . there's no way he's more famous than Red from Angry Birds or Steve/Creeper from Minecraft. Like, no freaking way. It's mind-boggling that people are saying that . . . my mind is completely boggled. No, they may not know his name is Steve, but they'll know what he's from.
 
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

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Oct 26, 2017
19,695
pdog128 said:
Ya'll saying Master Chief are crazy . . . there's no way he's more famous than Red from Angry Birds or Steve/Creeper from Minecraft. Like, no freaking way. It's mind-boggling that people are saying that . . . my mind is completely boggled. No, they may not know his name is Steve, but they'll know what he's from.
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You're forgetting just how big Halo was back in the day.
 
Horror

Horror

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Nov 3, 2017
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People saying Kratos over Halo or Steve are still drunk on that GoW kool aid, I see.
 
Siggy-P

Siggy-P

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Mar 18, 2018
11,868
It's John Sierra 117, without a doubt.

Though does Steve even count as a character? He's more just an empty shell of a skin.
 

pdog128

Member
Dec 16, 2017
607
Jimnymebob said:
You're forgetting just how big Halo was back in the day.
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Like, I know Halo was huge, especially back in the early 2000's, but . . . just going by video games alone, the Halo franchise sold 65 million copies. Minecraft moved 144 million. Angry Birds games have been downloaded more than 3 billion times.

Plus, I know Halo is more than just video games, but Angry Birds and Minecraft have been marketed to hell and back. Hugely popular LEGO sets, movies, TV shows, toys . . . I just don't see how Halo holds a candle to that.
 
SilverArrow20XX

SilverArrow20XX

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Oct 25, 2017
5,499
Gravy Boat said:
Right, so unless you're saying that "Lego man" isn't more famous than Master Chief I'm not sure if I get how you're disagreeing with me here.

More of the general population will recognise Steve than Master Chief. Even if they don't know his name, they're still recognising him as a character.
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No they aren't. They're recognizing "generic Minecraft human design". He's recognizable as "from Minecraft" by the art style, rather than as a character. Lego is obviously infinitely more famous than Master Chief and Minecraft put together. "Lego Guy" isn't a character though. They are just how humans look in the Lego style. Like, any new Simpsons character will be recognized immediately the world over as being a Simpsons character. The Simpsons is one of the most famous shows of all time after all and has a unique art style. That doesn't mean this newly introduced character is famous.

Minecraft is more famous today than Halo is. Steve is not more famous than Master Chief though. You could slot in Alex, or any other skin and it would garner the same "Minecraft guy" response from everybody who is only passingly familiar with the game.
 
Carthago Delenda Est

Carthago Delenda Est

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Oct 28, 2017
6,119
Jaypah said:
Look, I like Halo and GOW but Minecraft steamrolls them combined.
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I know this post is now 24 hours old, but hell no it does not steamroll Halo. Minecraft has sold more copies and it might have more cultural awareness, but it's also been around far less time. You'll only have heavy saturation of awareness for Minecraft for people in their teens (both genders). With Halo, you've got a recognizable character that people will know and associate with the brand up to like 35 years old, at least for males. I imagine my non-gamer wife and sister would both recognize Master Chief but not Steve.

Angry Birds bird wins.
 
Siggy-P

Siggy-P

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Mar 18, 2018
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pdog128 said:
Like, I know Halo was huge, especially back in the early 2000's, but . . . just going by video games alone, the Halo franchise sold 65 million copies. Minecraft moved 144 million. Angry Birds games have been downloaded more than 3 billion times.

Plus, I know Halo is more than just video games, but Angry Birds and Minecraft have been marketed to hell and back. Hugely popular LEGO sets, movies, TV shows, toys . . . I just don't see how Halo holds a candle to that.
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Peter Jackson was making a Halo movie and Spielbergs halo TV show is still in production (apparently). The Franchise may have lost its way and not have sold as many copies but I'm willing to bet that the "Halo guy" at the very least is far more recognisable to the average person.

Steve meanwhile... I used to play minecraft when it first came out and I didn't even know he had a name for a long time.
 

vagrantscout

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May 28, 2018
4
I agree, no way it's Halo or other shooter characters ... Minecraft is huge across all demographics, it's definitely Steve
 
Prine

Prine

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vagrantscout said:
I agree, no way it's Halo or other shooter characters ... Minecraft is huge across all demographics, it's definitely Steve
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Xbox is Master Chief, and Master Chief is Xbox. Even if you don't know what Halo is, you will know Chief through its link to Xbox, which all gamers (west) will know.

[were not using japanese kids as a barometer]
 
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