It’s hard enough to design one world, but a game that depends on many can be a hell of a thing to pull together.
Welcome to our list of games that span multiple plains of existence, and use them to great effect. Tim, Joel, and special guest writer Dave picked apart our myriad options and narrowed it down to the ten we thought were best. We’ve focussed on games that use several, original worlds and use them to great effect as part of narrative or gameplay.
What a weird name for a Top 10, right?
I mean, it’s all well and good that this is a Top 10, but are we really going to celebrate those times you die in a game? Well no, we’re not. This Top 10 is dedicated to those characters that start the game dead.
That’s right, they’re dead before things happen in game. Nevertheless, these dead characters are important to their respective games and franchises, so we feel like they all deserve to have a tip of the hat as it were. Without delaying you from this awesome list any longer, here we go!
The big bad guy of Guacamelee! imposes his way to number 10.
Originally a human, Carlos made a pact with the devil himself by selling his soul to win a competition. Well, the devil tricked him and yes – this makes Carlos a bit angry. So he exacts his revenge… By turning the devil into a chicken.
Now, an undead who’s in the land of the living, Carlos is looking for a way to bring the lands of the living and the dead together so he can rule over both.
The game based on the comic book series begins with the legendary line “I remember the day of my 21st birthday. That was the first time I died.” Jackie is kept immortal by the inherited power of The Darkness, a demonic force that not only serves as a devastating weapon, but also rebuilds the body of the host if slain.
It’s debatable whether or not Jackie Estacado is dead, but he undoubtedly deserves a place in our list for one hell of an introduction.
Sandro is one of the few characters to appear (at least by mention) in every single version of the Heroes of Might and Magic series. Now in its’ sixth title, the necromancer has made a triumphant return to the game (albeit as a separate entity with the same name – and indeed nickname – to appeal to fans) after a brief disappearance in the fifth, but even then held no small influence on the games’ storyline.
Cunning, diabolical, and completely skeletal, Sandro became the focus of his very own expansion campaign in HoMM 3: The Shadow of Death; and again in HoMM 6: Danse Macabre.
Jodies spiritual partner throughout the game is Aiden, who you later find out is *BLEEEEEEEP SPOILERS*. Ahem, excuse me.
Aiden is really impressive throughout this game, as you don’t see who Aiden really is until right at the end of the game (in any physical form, this is) and he has direct influence over the entire game. He is able to interact with the lands and if you have a player two plugged in at the time, player two can be Aiden! I felt this was an excellent mechanic that could really have done with having more exposure.
If the lovely 1001-Up are reading this, I would have put Jeff here, but sadly Aiden had more of an impact on the story. Jeff is a personal honourable mention of mine!
A magnificent anti-hero, the saga of the vampire Kain tells of his growing narcissism, how his jealousy caused him to destroy his greatest lieutenant – Raziel – and cast him into the abyss and creating his mightiest enemy.
Kains’ death at the hands of an assassin begins the series in which he plays both protagonist and antagonist; in the final instalment (Defiance) alternating between the two as the game progresses. At all times however, he is an arrogant and self serving tyrant.
The vampire Planeswalker of Magic: the Gathering makes his mark at number 5.
Ascending into the status of a Vampire Planeswalker, Imprisoning the Eldrazi at Zendikar, leading vampires. Yeah, Sorin has a pretty impressive resume. Players who go against a deck with Sorin in it will feel the effect of his presence very quickly. Just hope he doesn’t keep draining your life with his sangromancy!
When one of the main features of you is that your head comes off and you can put it on little scuttling hands so you can scout around the place, you know you’re pretty much dead. Well, yeah in fact Sir Daniel is brought back from the dead to fight off the evils that are plaguing the land!
Hence the name of the game. MediEvil. See? There’s a reason for everything. This game was hack n slash action greatness… Pick up number 2, at very least. That game rocked my childhood and it’ll equally rock yours.
Plus, you get to run around with big ol’ guns and swords. What more could you want when dead!? Oh, yeah: You get to end number two by going back to your deathly slumber with your kick-ass sidekick by your side!
Do you know who Cave Johnson is? He’s the man who’s going to burn your house down! With the lemons!
Although he never appears, Cave Johnson – former founder and CEO of Aperture Science – is an integral part of Valves’ Portal 2. Through his voice-over guide through the old test chambers in the second half of the game reveal his declining health, how his insane ideas put the company into deep jeopardy, and the origins of GLaDOS herself. His exposition and ranting is also rather important to the very last puzzle in the game, so pay close attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ufRnf2Exc
For many years Vecna has been a member of the Dungeons & Dragons pantheon. Once a mortal man turned undead through arcane prowess, turned divine by cunning manipulations and powerful friends. His legend is a long story in its’ own right, but now he spawns a wealth of undead-inspired campaigns and famous in game stories.
Most famous for his missing his hand and eye which are themselves artifacts that feature in every core rulebook, Vecna is perhaps the most famous NPC to grace the game.
The smooth talking salesman from the game directed by that smooth talking developer, Tim Schafer. Manny Calavera has a crummy job and is looking for that one lead in his life. He’s looking for his own ticket on the number 9, but we decided to give him the ticket to our number 1 spot instead.
Friends with a demonic mechanic, making enemies who are the dead equivalent of the Mafia, riding around in hot rods. Running hotels, fancy suits… Manny Calavera is truly a man’s man and a ladies turn off. Just like how we all want to be in the real world… Wait, what?!
Shooting, crime, deception, you name it – it’s in Grim Fandango. It’s a classic adventure game that’s due a remake.
… Any time soon.
Sheesh, even in death we’re not giving these guys a break.
On the plus side for them, they still get a mention as they are pretty damn cool dead characters, so at least it’s not all bad news. They just missed out on the Top 10 for various reasons, however we’ll probably explain why in their listings.
Probably, because you know: These guys are dead already, I’m sure they won’t mind if we “accidentally” forget about them!
One of the most lovable dead characters in existence, Dry Bones doesn’t quite make it to our top 10 list but still gets a mention. Sheesh, not even in death does this little guy get a break!
Dry Bones, albeit has been around for some time, is not important to the story in any real way. Sure, there may be one or two games that promote Dry Bones to a more “important” role, but even then: It’s merely a role. Dry Bones is never a star, but it doesn’t stop Dry Bones being absolutely adorable and when if I die, I’d like to look like Dry Bones. Although I’d like to not have the weaknesses of Dry Bones while we’re in fantasy world.
Ok, neither of us have played Soul Suspect yet, but the idea of playing a guy investigating his own murder appeals more than enough to get Ronan O’Connor onto our list. The opening scene depicts his traumatic entry into the haunted world, complete with bullet holes opening in his chest as Ronan watches his body being perforated to ensure the job is done.
I’m a fan of the noir genre, and investigation games especially (Diskworld Noir being a firm favourite of mine) so this is definitely on the to-do list. Maybe then Ronan can rest in peace on our Top Ten.
Well, that was our Top 10 dead characters in gaming. I hope you enjoyed our list as much as we enjoyed making it!
Come on you gaming veterans out there. Tell us how wrong our list is, or tell us where we’ve done good. Let us know who YOUR favourite dead characters in gaming in the comments section below. Who knows, perhaps we’ll like your suggestion so much that we include them on our list!
Welcome to our next Top 10 post, where Joel and myself have gotten together to splice up a sweet little list for you all.
Today, we thought we’d think about the Top 10 Crazies in Gaming… Now, a crazy is someone who isn’t exactly all there. They might find some odd things amusing, or they might not think normally. They might like to inflict pain and suffering but most importantly: They’re crazy and you’ll know it.
So join us in our journey through the madness that is the Top 10 Crazies in Gaming!
One of the imprisoned sons of Atrus from the Myst series. Sirrus and Achenar carved a trail of destruction through the worlds their father created; Sirrus out of greed and self obsession, but Achenar seems only to want to destroy. Through exploration of the Ages you encounter evidence of his lunacy, an obsession with torture, animal trapping, fixation on blood and death.
Achenar’s insanity is uncovered through exploration, and by talking to his giggling face through a portal to his prison-world. He is a dangerous madman, and kicks off our list at number ten.
If the picture above doesn’t symbolise just how insane Kefka is, his ever haunting laugh will certainly be testament to this jesters insanity.
Kefka cracks out with dark jokes, relishes in the pain and suffering of others and has absolutely no regard for human life. He lacks self-control and he hates everything in the world: Only enjoying death, pain and suffering.
What a psychopath!
Being treated for insanity and catatonia, Alice was beginning to lose her grip on reality. Her only possession is a stuffed white rabbit, which happens to be the creature that calls her back into the Wonderland that she used to explore so long ago.
Unfortunately for her, this Wonderland has changed thanks to her mind. With the corrupt Queen of Hearts now in control, can Alice actually battle her sanity and the Queen of Hearts in an attempt to win back the Wonderland?
Possibly, but she’ll still be in Rutledge asylum afterwards.
Max, the lovable little bunny to the right of the duo above us is a rather impulsive bunny. Although he is generally in control of his actions, he’s very impulsive and he’s not afraid to say and do whatever his mind tells him.
Ultimately, the better judgement always wins, however his lunacy also makes him a volatile poker player. Be warned, else you might get fleeced by the bunny with no true long-term plan.
Dr. N. Gin replaced Dr. N. Brio in Crash Bandicoot 2. N. Gin noticeably has a large missile protruding from his skull. That can’t be comfortable and indeed it is the cause of several of his massive migraines.
Dr. N. Gin is a genius, but having made that live nuclear missile turn into a kind of life support machine… Um, you’d better believe you need to be insane to pull off something like that! Especially when your emotions sets that thing back off!
Coming in at number five on our list is the Joker’s lunatic devotee! Why her and not the Joker? Because in spite of Heath Ledger’s famous “Dog chasing cars” speech, the Joker is possessed of a single minded focus. His girlfriend on the other hand is a scatter-brained, mallet-wielding anarchy machine, dangerous enough when following the directions of her precious Mr J, but without him she’s a freewheeling hate-monger.
Quinn is subject of her very own DLC in Batman Arkham City, where players can see the damage a woman scorned can do!
From the start, Pokey is manipulative and yet he only gets his way through lying.
He lies his way to get to become the high priest of a cult (No, really…) He then lies his way to becoming a business consultant for a mayor (No… Really..!) Then he uses his accumulated wealth to buy himself a helicopter and basically dares you to follow him to what’s effectively the ultimate evil.
Throughout the game, he becomes more and more power mad, driven by his own greed and desire for power.
After all is said and done, he ends Earthbound (the 2nd game in the Mother franchise) by leaving you a message: “Come and get me, loser! Spankety spankety spankety!”” What a nut-job! He only gets worse in Mother 3, but that’s a whole different kettle of fish.
The conductor of the poop train comes in at number three. Borderlands’ “Psycho” playable character charges through the world smashing skulls and salting wounds and setting himself on fire! No really, he sets himself on fire. He has a skill tree devoted to it. And suicide as a tactical decision. Just, grenades everywhere. You can voluntarily take friendly fire just so you can suicide bomb your enemies.
Kept in check by the sane voice in his head that stops him from killing the “good guys” Krieg is one long maniacal-laugh riot!
Don’t believe how crazy Krieg is? Check out the Borderlands 2 Wiki page, which has all of his quotes. We were laughing through his quotes!
The lavishly dressed Sheogorath is perhaps the epitome of a mad man. In fact, that makes sense as he is the Daedric Prince of Madness. With his trademack Wabbajack, an item that issues a random effect.
If that wasn’t bad enough, he literally lives in a place called the Shivering Isles, which is also known as “Asylum” to some people and even “the Madhouse”. People go mad there and Sheogorath dresses for the occasion to meet those who would enter his realm. He even had a whole expansion dedicated to his isles in Oblivion (and it was totally worth it!)
Happiness, loveliness, rainbows and puppies. That’s what goes through the mind of the psychopath Pyro from Valve’s Team Fortress 2. Whilst s/he is running around shooting people with what s/he believes is a pretty bubble launcher; the world around it burns.
Pyro is insane to the membrane, remember this as when you hear the sounds of fire and smell burning flesh, Pyro thinks it’s making the world a better place.
Run.
Sometimes, some crazies in gaming are worth mentioning, even though they didn’t quite make the cut to be truly considered the most insane… But hey, these guys are pretty insane in their own right, so why not kick back and rest assured that these guys aren’t real:
Trust me – It’s safer this way.
Power is something that is best left out of some peoples hands and Ghetsis is one of these people. The true brain behind Team Plasma, he led N down a wrong path. N believed everything Team Plasma were doing was for the best interests in his friends, the Pokemon, but he was wrong. Ghetsis is one of these rare geniuses who you fear, simply for knowing he’s around.
From the smart advisor for N, to the insane mastermind behind one of the most evil turns in Pokemons history, Ghetsis is to be feared… And we love to hate him for it.
He wears a cooking pot on his head. He speaks in absolute gibberish and he is basically a prophet. That’s right, you heard it here folks: Crazy Dave, the man who drools, wears a cooking pot on his head and speaks in a gibberish language is a prophet. He believed the zombies were coming – and he was right! He also sold you those damn handy plants. Just… Where did he get them from in the first place?
And that’s the end of our Top 10 crazies in gaming. Please be sure to stay tuned for more Top 10 posts, of which Joel and I will be working on together again.
What did you think of our modest list? Do you have some more crazies in gaming that deserve a mention? Let us know and tell us how wrong we are in the comments below, as we’d love to see what you’d suggest deserved a spot on our Top 10 crazies in gaming list.
Yes, it’s true. We have a bit of a soft spot for those cuddly looking maulers, bears. In gaming, they can be an intimidating force to be reckoned with… Or they can be one of gamings best running gags.
Join us as we list our personal top 10 bears in gaming.
Originating from Kickstarter, Bear Simulator reached a staggering pledge of $100,571 out of a target goal of $29,500.
All of the money would go towards paying for better things, as the base of the game itself was already made. Animators, models and more would still need to be bought and made, so off to Kickstarter this bear game went.
I could BEAR-ly contain my excitement in knowing that there is a demand for being a bear.
With a funky dance, the bears of World of Warcraft are always memorable. From the Darkmoon Dancing Bear mount, to the Druid bear form, there are plenty of ways to make bears dance. Of course, you could be like me and approach a druid whilst wearing the Piccolo of the Flaming Fire and force them to dance.
… That didn’t sound good on my behalf, did it?
Kuma and Panda are two separate characters in the Tekken franchise. Kuma does seem to love Panda, but more importantly, they are both pets to one of the fighters in the game. Kuma is the loyal pet to Heihachi Mishima and Panda is the pet and friend of Ling Xiaoyu.
As well as having been in the Tekken franchise for some time, the cut scenes these two get are usually simply hilarious. After all, who’d expect the loyal pets to win the King of Iron Fist Tournament? Although as I always point out to my friends, why wouldn’t a bear win?
An incredible board game from Asmodee sees the emperor of Japan tending his bamboo garden with his pet panda gifted to him from China. Players build up the garden, grow bamboo and feed the wandering panda, trying to complete goals determined by cards in their hands. This game is incredible fun, really easy to play, and has a panda with an umbrella.
Your companion in a big, scary world, this Teddy will be your friend.
This game really captures upon the innocence of the child protagonist and the demons the child has to face. Being the only friend the child seems to have in this dark world, Teddy is always around to help the child through the terrifyingly large world around them.
This game is riddled with symbolism in a very stunning way, so please do go and check it out.
Whilst playing a game of Magic: the Gathering with one of the GeekOut South-West social event members, I noticed he had a rather peculiar deck.
The whole deck was built around those lovely creatures that are bears. So all bears get +1/+1, all bears are vigilant, all bears are bears. Prepare yourself for the bearpocalypse! Ultimately, I can’t help but look at these token cards and smile each time.
They poke fun at their own creations and make a bear deck look truly fantastic. Magic: the Gathering is well known for its witty humour, but I think with these tokens, you’ll just have to grin and BEAR IT!
Staple hybrid monstrosity straight out of dungeons and dragons, I’ll see your hippogryph and offer you a bear with a beak and a terrifying shriek!
Based on a plastic toy Gary Gygax himself found in a shop in Hong Kong that immediately entered his new game, the owlbear has not only been in the first monster manual of every edition, but it was also listed as the second best D&D monster of all time, knocked off the top spot by a giant cube of jelly. It’s also spread across dozens of other games in various forms.
Also its’ bear hugs end in a pointy beak!
A puppet Digimon who makes people around him feel happy with his cute body (and scary eyes).
Monzaemon interestingly is named after the famous puppeteer, Chikamatsu Monzaemon. He is an Ultimate digimon and is exceptionally powerful. Whenever I played Digimon World as a kid, I used to always want to get my hands on Monzaemon as soon as possible, as he was able to do just about anything! After a certain point in the game, he arguably becomes one of the easiest to obtain ultimate Digimon, too.
He has also been around since the very beginning of Digimon and has also been named “Teddymon”. Basically, I really like Teddymon Monzaemon!
Originally an animation by YouTuber Bows, Dovahbear has actually become a playable mod in Skyrim. Allowing you to have your very own Dovahbear companion, who acts just like a companion and a bear, as well as having the shouts of the Dovahkiin.
Dovahbear Fus-Ro-Dahs his way to our second slot on this list, as he started life as a series of animations and then he was created… And you wouldn’t be playing Skyrim to its maximum potential if you weren’t playing with your very own Dovahbear companion.
Easily taking the number 1 spot of our Top 10 bears in Gaming, it’s Enviro-Bear 2000.
This is a game where you drive in a car as a bear. You need to collect some berries and fish before quickly going to hibernate. The climate is getting colder so it’s your job to gather and eat as much as possible whilst wasting as little energy as possible. So the bear found himself a car and decided to drive around the forest to gather and eat as much stuff as he can.
There are plenty of YouTube videos for Enviro-Bear 2000, but please, check out the above one by Markiplier just to see what Enviro-Bear is all about.
We have two picks that are our honourable mentions for the top 10 bears in gaming. They didn’t quite make the cut for the top 10, but only BEAR-ly.
We wanted to like Ursaring more than we did, but we had to mention him somewhere on this list!
We felt he deserved to be mentioned as let’s be honest, he looks like an absolute beast of a Pokemon. He has a great attack base stat at 130, which in Pokemon is really high! One of my personal favourite Pokemon, Haxorus, which has one of the highest attack stats in the game has 147 attack. So, for a much easier to get pokemon that’s a pure normal type (Immune to ghost moves) and loses that new found weakness to Fairy types, Ursaring is the beast for you!
Plus he looks cuddly.
Sir Bearington is one of these stories in RPG that quickly became a legend.
Originally just Bearington, a bear rogue with all of his points in deception and a butler who could understand bear, Bearington was knighted to become Sir Bearington! Now Sir Bearington is on top of the world, with people doing his bidding.
This story has been retold amongst tabletop enthusiasts for many a year, but each time I always come back to this quote:
“Mr. Bearington is a pillar of our community and he will not suffer the slander and mudslinging of a nincompoop! Methinks, if you cannot handle your wine you should not partake! Guards, remove this man from the grounds!”
I’m terribly sorry if you felt this post was a little… Un-BEAR-able. But don’t worry, there will be more articles like this in the future. I’d like to thank Joel for his help on this article, as he chose our number 4 slot – Owlbears and our number 7 slot – Takenoko.
Do you think we missed any really awesome bears in gaming out? Do you like or dislike some of our choices? Why not let us know in the comments below? We’d love to hear from you!
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