# Let's name famous Nintendo characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 7, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580 "2005-12-07T23:24:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/1 "2005-12-07T23:24:18Z")
Wikipedia has a page that lists Nintendo characters- [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_characters), as well as a list of franchises invented on the various Nintendo plaforms, and an incomplete (of course) list of games published by Nintendo overall. I’ve been through all these lists, as well as checking Google (no good)- I’m trying to compile a list of the most famous and beloved and recognizable Nintendo characters of all time. The major ones I have so far are: Mario, Luigi, Princess, and friends (and variations like Wario or Dr. Mario) Link, Zelda and friends Donkey Kong and friends Kirby Metroid Star Fox Pokemon characters Earthbound characters James Bond (Goldeneye)- Perfect Dark was a later version of Goldeneye Bomberman The dude from Ghosts 'n Goblins The dude(s) from Castlevania According to Wikipedia, Pac Man is on their list of ‘classic Nintendo games’, but the article about him says he was made by Namco and Midway. What gives? The fighter pilot from Xevious- “one of the earliest vertical scrolling shooters, (that) greatly influenced games in this genre.” The Final Fantasy characters, at least up until the late 90s, but only the games in which the characters are little people like in the original Zeldas The Double Dragon guys Mega Man Solid Snake and his men in Metal Gear and sequels The dude in River City Ransom The farm family in Harvest Moon- by the way, has anyone heard of these series of games? How famous are they? But let me specify: - minor characters within a game, such as everyone else in Mario or the Zelda games, etc., need not be named, just the famous ones. - All consoles of Nintendo count (from Game boy to Game Cube) - Even if a character wasn’t _invented_ by Nintendo (for instance, James Bond), if he appeared in a popular game by them (as Bond has), then they count - No need to name variations of characters, either, like Dr. Mario or Bomberman in 3D Don’t bother going to Wikipedia, as I’ve said I’ve already done all they had. This is just to see if you can name any other major ones they or I left out. I’m not a video game guy, but I do have a reason for this list. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/2 "2005-12-07T23:29:49Z")
The Metroid characer’s name is Samus Aran, Metroid is the name of the energy sucking lifeforms she encounters. And there are several Castlevania characters, though Simon Belmont, who starred in the first two, is the most famous. Captain Falcon, from the F-Zero series. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/3 "2005-12-07T23:39:52Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Earthbound characters The default names were Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo (though you could name the characters whatever you wanted). ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/4 "2005-12-08T00:03:27Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > According to Wikipedia, Pac Man is on their list of ‘classic Nintendo games’, but the article about him says he was made by Namco and Midway. What gives? Pac-Man was indeed developed by Namco and distributed in the United States by Midway. Many of the characters you mention also come from Nintendo licensees: Xevious is Namco/Atari, Bomberman is Hudson Soft, Ghosts 'n Goblins and Mega Man are Capcom, Castlevania and Metal Gear are Konami, Final Fantasy is Square, River City Ransom and Double Dragon are American Technos, and Harvest Moon is Natsume. Are you looking for Nintendo created characters, or characters from Nintendo systems? ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/5 "2005-12-08T00:06:43Z")
Both. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/6 "2005-12-08T00:10:52Z")
ATM, Fire Emblem’s pretty popular - so Lyn, Hector and Eliwood in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/7 "2005-12-08T00:56:37Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Star Fox The main charcter in _Star Fox_ is named Fox McCloud, son of James McCloud. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/8 "2005-12-08T01:56:37Z")
Okay, exact names aren’t too important right now, but thanks. Can anyone name any other major games/characters left out? I have an idea for a game. Know anyone I can pitch an idea to? (nope, can’t mention it here; Chicago Reader could steal it :mad: ) ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/9 "2005-12-08T02:07:00Z")
The Contra guys, Boy and his Blob, Wizards and Warrior warrior, the Gauntlet quartet… are you really going to go for all of them? There’s A LOT. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/10 "2005-12-08T02:10:33Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > The Contra guys, Boy and his Blob, Wizards and Warrior warrior, the Gauntlet quartet… are you really going to go for all of them? There’s A LOT. No… just the most famous. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/11 "2005-12-08T02:24:55Z")
The Harvest Moon main character’s name is actually Jack, though you name him yourself. The new female lead in Harvest Moon is Jill. The Harvest Moon series seems to have a somewhat cultish following. I love them. I don’t know how _popular_ they are, though. The most popular girls from the “better” versions of the game are Ellen, Anne, Popouri, Karen, and Maria. The new girls are Celia, Nami, and Muffy. The boys are Gustafa, Marlin, and Rock. _shudder_ I love finally being able to be a girl, _but at what cost?!_ :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/12 "2005-12-08T02:31:18Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > ATM, Fire Emblem’s pretty popular - so Lyn, Hector and Eliwood in that regard. True, but Marth, the original FE main character, is probably more popular. He and Roy (son of Hector, main character of the 6th game) made the cut for Super Smash Bros. Melee. In fact I would use the Smash Bros. as a guideline. You can also get names from there (Pikachu and Jigglypuff as pokemon for example). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/13 "2005-12-08T20:10:00Z")
Did the disk-stacking robot have a name? I think he deserves a mention. Also Mike Tyson, of Punchout fame. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/14 "2005-12-08T20:20:07Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > (son of Hector, main character of the 6th game) Son of _Eliwood_. Hector was a cooler character anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/15 "2005-12-08T20:21:37Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > Okay, exact names aren’t too important right now, but thanks. Exactly what part of this thread _is_ “important”? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/16 "2005-12-08T20:22:05Z")
And, I think, son of Lyn, too - could be wrong about that though. ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/17 "2005-12-08T20:32:00Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Exactly what part of this thread _is_ “important”? :smack: read post 8. Seriously, folks, OP’s often give all the answers in their OP or subsequent posts if you just take a fucking look. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/18 "2005-12-08T20:32:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Did the disk-stacking robot have a name? R.O.B. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/19 "2005-12-08T20:46:42Z")
> [@andrewdt85](#): > > :smack: read post 8. > > Seriously, folks, OP’s often give all the answers in their OP or subsequent posts if you just take a fucking look. Okay, well - all of the famous Nintendo characters have been named now. So are you ready to reveal what all of this is about? Naming all the the famous Nintendo characters will help you with you video game idea? Are you making sure that your idea hasn’t been done already? ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580/20 "2005-12-08T21:05:25Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > Okay, well - all of the famous Nintendo characters have been named now. So are you ready to reveal what all of this is about? Naming all the the famous Nintendo characters will help you with you video game idea? Are you making sure that your idea hasn’t been done already? Chicago Reader has the right to steal any fucking thing we post here. Those fucking bastards. :mad: Fuck them for that. That’s why I asked in post 8 whether you knew anyone I COULD talk to, ferchrissake. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-famous-nintendo-characters/334580.md?page=2)