List of video game mascots

A video game mascot is a mascot that is used by video game companies to promote both the company and their specific video game series and franchises.^[1] Video game mascots are sometimes considered to be similar to those at sporting events, with larger-than-life animals, such as Pikachu or Crash Bandicoot.^[1] However, some video game mascots, especially modern ones, are more human, such as Nathan Drake or Lara Croft becoming a series mascot.

There are few rules surrounding which characters are considered to be mascots for a series, but they are generally those that are featured highly in the promotional media for the game, and are often those that are known outside of the game platform.^[2] Many video game mascots have transcended their original video game series and have been promoted across multiple games and platforms.^[2]

Company/System mascots

• Accolade – Bubsy^[3][4][5]
• ASCII Entertainment – Ardy Lightfoot^[6]
• Bandai Namco Entertainment – Pac-Man,^[7][8][9] Klonoa^[10]
• Capcom – Captain Commando,^[8][2] Mega Man^[7][8][9]
• Data East – Karnov^[2]
• Halfbrick Studios – Barry Steakfries^[11][12]
• Irem – Rocky Rodent^[3]
• Kojima Productions – Ludens^[13]
• Konami –Power Pro-kun,^[14] Solid Snake^[15]
  • Hudson Soft – Bomberman^[2]
  • TurboGrafx-16 – Bonk^[8][2]
  • PC-FX – Princess Rolfee^[16] (formerly NEC)
• LucasArts – Chuck the Plant^[2]
• Marvelous Inc. – Yumi
• Midway Games – Liu Kang^[2]
• miHoYo - Kiana Kaslana, Ai-Chan, Paimon, DAVIS, Pom-Pom and Bangboos.
• Nintendo – Mario^[7][8][15]
  • Wii, 3DS, Wii U and Switch – Miis^[15]
  • Game Freak – Pikachu^[17]
  • HAL Laboratory – Kirby^[18]
• Nitroplus – Super Sonico^[19][20]
• Rare – Mr. Pants^[21]
• Sega – Opa-Opa^[8][22] (former), Alex Kidd^[8] (former), Sonic the Hedgehog,^[7][8] Segata Sanshiro^[2][23]
  • Sonic Team – Sonic the Hedgehog^[15]
  • Rovio Entertainment – Red^[24]
• Spike Chunsoft – Monokuma^[25]
• Sony Interactive Entertainment – Ratchet, Toro and Kuro,^[26] Sackboy,^[8][27] Nathan Drake,^[8] Kratos^[2]
  • PlayStation – Polygon Man (former),^[28] Crash Bandicoot (former)^[8][9],^[29] Spyro the Dragon (former)^[8]
  • PlayStation 5 – Astro Bot^{[30][31][32][33]}
• Square Enix – Chocobo^[8] (Square), Slime^[8] (Enix), Moogle,^[34] Cloud Strife^[35]
  • Crystal Dynamics – Gex^[8]
  • Taito – Bubblun, Space Invader
• Studio MDHR – Cuphead
• Sunsoft – Aero the Acro-Bat^[36]
• Tengen – Awesome Possum^[3]
• Titus Software – Titus the Fox^[3]
• WayForward Technologies – Shantae^[37]
• Xbox Game Studios – Master Chief^[8]
  • Xbox – Blinx the Time Sweeper^[38]
  • Xbox 360 – Marcus Fenix^[8]
• Yacht Club Games – Shovel Knight

● Koei-Tecmo — Nyabraham Lynnyahn

Specific series mascots

• 808 – Hi-Fi Rush
• Angry Birds – Red^[39]
• Animal Crossing  – Villagers, Isabelle
• Ape Escape – Pipo Monkeys
• Banjo-Kazooie – Banjo & Kazooie^[3][5]
• Battletoads – Rash, Zitz, Pimple^[3]
• BioShock – Big Daddy^[40]
• Bomberman – Bomberman^[5]
• Bonk – Bonk^[3]
• Bubsy – Bubsy the Bobcat
• Castlevania – Simon Belmont^[15]
• Conker – Conker the Squirrel^[3][5]
• Crash Bandicoot – Crash Bandicoot^{[15][7][5][29]}
• Croc – Croc^[3]
• Danganronpa – Monokuma^[25][34]
• Disgaea – Prinny^[41]
• Donkey Kong – Donkey Kong^[15]
• Dragon Quest – Slime^[8]
• Fallout – Vault Boy^[42]
• Fate/stay night – Saber^[34]
• Final Fantasy – Chocobo,^[8] Moogle,^[34] Cloud Strife^[35]
• Gex – Gex
• Glover – Glover^[3]
• God of War – Kratos^[15][2]
• Gran Turismo – Nissan Skyline GT-R / Nissan GT-R,^[43] Toyota Castrol TOM'S Supra^[44]
• Halo – Master Chief^[15]

• Jet Grind Radio – Beat and Gum
• Jazz Jackrabbit – Jazz Jackrabbit^[45]
• Just Dance (video game series) – Panda
• Katamari Damacy – The King and The Prince^[5]
• Kid Icarus – Pit
• Kingdom Hearts – Sora^[46][47]
• Kirby – Kirby^[15]
• Klonoa – Klonoa^[10]
• LittleBigPlanet – Sackboy^[48]
• Life Is Strange – Max Caulfield
• Mega Man – Mega Man^[15]
• Mega Man Legends – Servbot^[49]
• Metal Gear – Solid Snake^[15]
• Metroid – Samus Aran^[15][2]
• Minecraft – Steve, Creeper
• Mortal Kombat – Scorpion^[15]
• Pac-Man - Pac-Man^[50]
• PaRappa the Rapper – PaRappa the Rapper
• Pikmin – Pikmin and Captain Olimar
• Plants vs. Zombies – Sunflowers, Peashooters, Zombies
• Pocky & Rocky – Pocky & Rocky^[3]
• Pokémon – Pikachu^[15]

• Q*bert – Q*bert
• Ratchet & Clank – Ratchet & Clank
• Raving Rabbids – Rabbids
• Rayman  – Rayman^[15][7][5]
• Resident Evil – Jill Valentine^[15]
• Ristar – Ristar
• Ridge Racer – Reiko Nagase^[51]

• Skylanders – Spyro the Dragon, Master Eon
• Sly Cooper – Sly Cooper
• Sonic the Hedgehog – Sonic the Hedgehog^[15]
• Space Channel 5 – Ulala
• Spyro – Spyro the Dragon^[5]
• Star Fox – Fox McCloud^[15]
• Street Fighter – Ryu^[15]
• Super Monkey Ball – AiAi
• Super Mario – Mario, Luigi^[15]
• The Legend of Zelda – Link^[15]
• Tomb Raider – Lara Croft^[15]
• Twisted Metal – Sweet Tooth^[15]
• Uncharted – Nathan Drake^[15]
• Yoshi – Yoshi^[15]

See also

• List of computing mascots
• List of mascots

References

1. "A History of Videogame Mascots". Paste. July 30, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
2. "The Top Ten Best Video Game Mascots That You Probably Didn't Even Know Were Meant To Be Mascots". cinemablend.com. July 2, 2009. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
3. "15 Forgotten Video Game Mascots From the 1990s". mentalfloss.com. October 4, 2017. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
4. Wehner, Mike (June 9, 2017). "One of the worst video game mascots is getting his first new game in 20 years". bgr.com. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
5. Hartwig, Alex (March 22, 2016). "10 Lost Video Game Mascots: Where Are They Now?". Nerd Much. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
6. Semrad, Ed, ed. (May 1993). "Feedback - New Mascots". Super NES Buyer's Guide. Vol. 3, no. 3. Sendai Publishing. p. 8.
7. Martin, Liam (January 16, 2011). "Feature: Gaming's Most Iconic Mascots". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on August 7, 2018. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
8. "A History of Videogame Mascots". Paste. July 30, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2015. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
9. "Did You Know The Origin Stories of These Famous Video Game Mascots?". smosh.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
10. McWhertor, Michael (October 30, 2008). "Klonoa May Get Poochied For American Wii Release". kotaku.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
11. "E3 2011: Halfbrick Studios Demos 'Machine Gun Jetpack,' 'Fruit Ninja Frenzy' and 'Fruit Ninja Kinect'". gamerant.com. June 9, 2011. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
12. McWhertor, Michael (September 5, 2011). "Stop What You're Doing and Get Jetpack Joyride for Your iPhone Now". kotaku.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
13. "Hideo Kojima reveals the character behind the new Kojima Productions logo". Polygon. May 17, 2016. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
14. "2024年に30歳を迎える大谷翔平選手がKONAMI野球ゲームアンバサダーに就任". Konami. January 16, 2024. Archived from the original on January 20, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
15. Knight, Rich; Turner, Gus (August 23, 2013). "The Best Video Game Mascots of All Time25. Crash Bandicoot". Complex. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
16. "What did we do to deserve the PC-FX? (And the PC-FX GA)". Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
17. Freidly, Damien (January 14, 2022). "What Everyone Forgets About Pikachu". ScreenRant. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
18. Kaliroff, Marc (January 5, 2022). "In 1993, Kirby's Adventure and Sakurai's "Kirbyism" Broke Ground". Goomba Stomp Magazine. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
19. "Super Sonico Celebrates Her 10th Anniversary with Sanrio". crunchyroll.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
20. Fahey, Mike (July 10, 2016). "Being A Virtual Gravure Idol's Personal Photographer Isn't Easy". Kotaku. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
21. Yeung, Karlie (August 30, 2010). "Pants vs. Pants, A Cultural Divide - Blog". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
22. Luke Plunkett (April 6, 2011). "Remembering Sega's Exiled Mascot". Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
23. McWhertor, Michael (March 25, 2020). "Sega has a new mascot with a cool history". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
24. ""Angry Birds, Happy Planet" climate action campaign honored with The UN Foundation's Global Leadership Award". Rovio. October 19, 2016. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
25. Shephard, Kenneth (February 17, 2017). "NIS America's Annual Press Event Brings News of 2017 Lineup". CGMagazineOnline.com. CGMagazine. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
26. Del Castillo, Chris (January 23, 2012). "Xbox 360 Version of Street Fighter X Tekken Could Have Had Master Chief or Marcus Fenix as Playable Fighters". Nerd Reactor. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017. It was originally announced that the PS VITA (and later PlayStation 3) version of Street Fighter X Tekken would add Cole MacGrath from Infamous and two of Sony's mascots, Kuro and Toro, as exclusive characters only on PS3 and VITA, and Microsoft fans were left wondering if they could expect a similar surprise.
27. Purchese, Robert (August 13, 2008). "Sony grooming Sackboy to be face of PS3". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2008.
28. "The Making Of: PlayStation - Edge Magazine". Next-gen.biz. April 24, 2009. Archived from the original on May 27, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
29. "Generation gone: Where PlayStation mascot Crash Bandicoot is today". Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
30. "Review: Astro's Playroom". November 6, 2020. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
31. "Astro-Bot spinoff Astro's Playroom confirmed for PS5". Archived from the original on October 23, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
32. "Here's Why PlayStation is Using Astro Bot in a Non-VR Game". October 6, 2020. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
33. "Is Astro Bot the Mascot of the PS4 Era?". October 3, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
34. "Our 10 Favourite Japanese Video Game Mascots". ricedigital. August 4, 2020. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
35. "15 Thing You Never Knew About Final Fantasy VII". screenrant. January 23, 2017. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
36. "Aero the Acro-Bat - Sunsoft". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 6, no. 49. Sendai Publishing. August 1993. p. 96.
37. Isaac, Chris (December 2, 2015). "Interview: Shantae Co-Creator Matt Bozon Discusses the Series' Future & Shantae in Super Smash Bros". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
38. "Be Kind, Rewind: The Real Story Behind Blinx, Xbox's Mediocre Mascot". GamesRadar. April 4, 2017. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
39. Loh, Peggy (July 21, 2016). "Meet red, the Angry Birds mascot". New Straits Times. Malaysia. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
40. Pirrello, Phil and Monfette, Christopher (2008-05-12). Big Screen Big Daddy Archived December 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. IGN. Retrieved on 2020-04-16
41. Tanaka, John (August 29, 2008). "Disgaea Mascot Featured in New PSP Title". IGN. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2008.
42. "The 50 Greatest Video Game Characters". Empire. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
43. "Everything You Need to Know About the Nissan Skyline GT-R". Hypebeast. June 11, 2020. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
44. O'Connell, RJ. "The Legend Of The Castrol TOM's Supra". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
45. "The lesser-known videogames of famous designers". Den of Geek. May 14, 2013. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
46. "20 Most Popular Anime/Game Names to Give Children". animenewsnetwork. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
47. "Video Game Characters You Can Meet (Or Could Have Met) In Theme Parks". TheGamer. September 19, 2020. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
48. Yin-Poole, Wesley (November 9, 2012). "The rise of Sackboy, the mascot PlayStation has been searching for". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
49. Neil Foster (February 20, 2016). "Misadventures of Tron Bonne, The". Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
50. "A History of Videogame Mascots". Paste. July 30, 2014. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
51. https://www.timeextension.com/news/2024/07/ridge-racer-night-2024-celebrated-30-years-of-namcos-arcade-classic