Who is the second most iconic Nintendo character?

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Board 8 » Who is the second most iconic Nintendo character?
LeonhartFour
01/11/2024
10:55 AM
#1
Maybe I should be giving Link the benefit of the doubt as #2, but I'm not totally convinced. If you think he's a no-brainer, then who's #3?
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andylt
01/11/2024
10:56 AM
#2
Pokemon is far bigger than Zelda
NBIceman
01/11/2024
10:57 AM
#3
I clicked on Link without hesitation but after thinking about it for a minute, maybe someone could talk me into Luigi or Pikachu.
Chilly McFreeze
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ctesjbuvf
01/11/2024
10:58 AM
#4
Kirby/Samus/Zelda are definitely out.

Pikachu is probably it, though Luigi ans Link comes close.
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GANON1025
01/11/2024
11:01 AM
#5
The only thing I can think of to counter Pikachu is, I feel like Pokemon is such its own entity as a media franchise that people may not associate Pokemon with Nintendo. Like people can know what Pokemon is without even knowing there are games. Whereas Link and Luigi are more closely related to Nintendo.
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NBIceman
01/11/2024
11:07 AM
#6
GANON1025 posted...
The only thing I can think of to counter Pikachu is, I feel like Pokemon is such its own entity as a media franchise that people may not associate Pokemon with Nintendo. Like people can know what Pokemon is without even knowing there are games. Whereas Link and Luigi are more closely related to Nintendo.
This is kind of what I'm thinking.

Like, if you go up to a random person and ask them to name a Nintendo character other than Mario, are you really going to get many Pikachu answers?

Maybe that's not really in the spirit of this poll, though.
Chilly McFreeze
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LightningStrikes
01/11/2024
11:10 AM
#7
andylt posted...
Pokemon is far bigger than Zelda

These days I dont think its far bigger, at least within the realm of video games alone. Obviously Pokmon sells a TON of merchandise but how much should we consider that? In fact if were comparing video games alone a new Pokmon and a new Zelda launched six months from each other and the new Zelda wound up the same if not slightly bigger!

Of course my actual argument against Pikachu is that Pikachu is just one face of Pokmon, while Link is much more associated with the Zelda franchise as a symbol.
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Steiner
01/11/2024
11:22 AM
#8
andylt posted...
Pokemon is far bigger than Zelda

I heard way more casual buzz for TotK than Scarlet/Violet, I think this is closer than people would think. I don't think anybody is in play besides Link and Pikachu but that it comes down to interpretation of GANON's point
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LeonhartFour
01/11/2024
11:23 AM
#9
I think Luigi is a legitimate choice here. How many people know Mario and don't know Luigi? They almost go hand in hand.
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LightningStrikes
01/11/2024
11:25 AM
#10
Update: I asked my mum to name a Nintendo character other than Mario and she said Princess Peach so make of that what you will!
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MZero
01/11/2024
11:30 AM
#11
It's easily Pikachu, maybe even ahead of Mario. Pikachu doesn't really feel like a Nintendo character though, and mostly became iconic thanks to everything besides the video games

Aside from Pikachu, I think it's probably Luigi
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andylt
01/11/2024
11:32 AM
#12
Pokemon has a whole world outside of video games that Zelda simply doesn't, and I don't see a reason to exclude that here. I don't interpret the question as 'which character is most representative of the Nintendo brand', but 'which of the characters within the Nintendo brand is most iconic', I think Pokemon's broad appeal outside of Nintendo+VG is a boon for Pikachu here.

Also, if you show people a picture of Link and ask them to ID him, there's gonna be a lot of wrong answers with him looking like a fairly standard western fantasy elf. And of course there's a block that will call him Zelda >_> I don't think Pikachu has that problem at all, the design is simply iconic! In fact I think Pika is closer to Mario than anyone else is to Pika.

There's an argument for Luigi, but I believe being the second banana removes more casual awareness than you'd think. I'd put him above Link, though.
LightningStrikes
01/11/2024
11:55 AM
#13
I dunno, I think things have changed a lot in the last decade. Zelda has grown so much since then, and Links prominence with it. I think were well past the actually Zelda is the princess Link is the elf dude stage now. Breath of the Wild really was such a huge moment. Well see how that Zelda movie does! If its halfway decent I think itll be huge.
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Bitto
01/11/2024
12:27 PM
#14
Pikachu, Link, and then a secondary Mario/Pokemon character. All pretty close hand-in-hand, but that feels right.

The only thing that causes me to hesitate on Link is that I feel the symbols of Zelda are far more iconic than Link himself. If the Triforce was a character for instance, I'd easily put that over Pikachu as #2.

I can see the argument that Peach or Yoshi are better secondary Mario characters than Luigi.
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Zylothewolf
01/11/2024
12:36 PM
#15
It cant be a Mario character because Mario was the only Mario character in the first character battle, the same character battle which had 2 PaRappa characters, 2 Dead or Alive characters and 3 KoF characters!

Its been over 20 years and I still think thats hilarious!
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KateMarsh
01/11/2024
12:45 PM
#16
Pikachu and frankly he's probably closer to Mario than to whoever #3 is (Luigi, Link or DK).
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Xeybozn
01/11/2024
12:54 PM
#17
Pikachu, easily. He's closer to Mario than he is to everyone else.

I don't see where the high respect for Link is coming from. Zelda is a huge series, but non-gamers know absolutely nothing about the series. I'd take Luigi/Bowser/Peach/DK over him (though I'm not sure on the exact order there).
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azuarc
01/11/2024
01:03 PM
#18
Snap pick for Link. As someone who had graduated from high school when Pokemon RBY released, and missed the whole cartoon, it blows my mind that Pikachu could even be in consideration here. Not saying it isn't accurate. Just that I'm too old and uninvested in Pokemon to ever give the rat a thought. I'd sooner give credence to Luigi, albeit if you ask me the question out loud, I'm going to go, "Besides Mario? Oh, so what else does Nintendo have?" and overlook Mario properties. The first place I'm going to land is LoZ.
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Omniscientless
01/11/2024
04:55 PM
#19
It's Pikachu without a doubt. Even from a design perspective, you could bare Pikachu down to just the shape of the head with the red cheeks and most people would be able to pinpoint who it is, or at least say it's the Pokemon character - that's the true sign of something that is iconic. Link just doesn't have that reach. Maybe people outside the gaming sphere have heard of Zelda, but Link simply doesn't have the recognition as a visual icon. The multiple Links and designs doesn't help in establishing that brand either.

Even if the question boiled down to Zelda vs. Pokemon, I think nobody would argue against Pokemon there in terms of mainstream/universal appeal.
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KamikazePotato
01/11/2024
05:16 PM
#20
Pikachu by an absolute mile

He's closer to Mario than anyone else in this poll
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ra2ah3roma2ma
01/11/2024
05:40 PM
#21
I came into this thread to ask who was the first....

I am ashamed
Lopen
01/11/2024
06:00 PM
#22
KamikazePotato posted...
Pikachu by an absolute mile

He's closer to Mario than anyone else in this poll

This
No problem!
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Leonhart4
01/11/2024
06:01 PM
#23
Maybe I should've done #3 instead...!
https://imgur.com/WqDcNNq
https://imgur.com/89Z5jrB
Lopen
01/11/2024
06:05 PM
#24
I think 3 is probably dominated by Luigi but I might actually stan for Kirby there. He has so much merch now I find a lot of children know who he is between Smash and the plushies and such.
No problem!
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hylianknight3
01/11/2024
06:08 PM
#25
Mario
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ra2ah3roma2ma
01/11/2024
06:08 PM
#26
Leonhart4 posted...
Maybe I should've done #3 instead...!
Honestly it's surprising Pikachu isn't more well known than Mario given there are 3 different sources that are all MASSIVELY popular making him so insanely big
Leonhart4
01/11/2024
06:09 PM
#27
I just think every kid plays video games now and if you play video games, you know Mario
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Grimlyn
01/11/2024
06:14 PM
#28
I think the biggest bump Mario has is being known by the elderly
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KCF0107
01/11/2024
06:14 PM
#29
I voted for Luigi without hestitation, but I get the argument for Pikachu
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ra2ah3roma2ma
01/11/2024
06:18 PM
#30
Grimlyn posted...
I think the biggest bump Mario has is being known by the elderly
Something I'd actually expect Pikachu to take the lead in honestly
Grimlyn
01/11/2024
06:20 PM
#31
to be fair they do like to pokemon go to the polls
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Leonhart4
01/11/2024
10:03 PM
#32
Thinking of doing more of these because why not. We aren't having contests!

When does most iconic female character become debatable? 4th?

Chun-Li, Samus, and Lara Croft would be the top 3, right? Is there anyone else who's clearly in that group?
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KamikazePotato
01/11/2024
10:04 PM
#33
Princess Peach
It's Reyn Time.
AxemRedRanger
01/11/2024
10:28 PM
#34
Zelda.
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Leonhart4
01/11/2024
10:34 PM
#35
Ehh, they're well known, but I'm not sure they're in the same echelon.
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KamikazePotato
01/11/2024
10:35 PM
#36
Peace was just in the Super Mario movie.
It's Reyn Time.
GuessMyUserName
01/11/2024
10:37 PM
#37
zelda will be the titular character of a movie next year
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Leonhart4
01/11/2024
10:40 PM
#38
Actually, the more I think about it, the less interesting of an idea it is. We have to get through Peach, Zelda, Tifa, and Aerith, too, probably. That means the debate starts at, what, 8th?

Maybe the most iconic non-Final Fantasy JRPG character?
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MacArrowny
01/11/2024
10:44 PM
#39
Leonhart4 posted...
Maybe the most iconic non-Final Fantasy JRPG character?
pikachu again
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Leonhart4
01/11/2024
10:45 PM
#40
Human character maybe...?
https://imgur.com/WqDcNNq
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UF8
01/11/2024
11:01 PM
#41
does ash count?
GuessMyUserName
01/11/2024
11:08 PM
#42
only Red
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KateMarsh
01/11/2024
11:11 PM
#43
Mario
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Hbthebattle
01/11/2024
11:25 PM
#44
i think you kinda just have to exclude pokemon there too, and if you do, uh....
My gut instinct says Joker? it's probably someone from Dragon Quest though because that's gigantic in Japan
:)
LazyKenny
01/11/2024
11:56 PM
#45
Other: Mario
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Haste_2
01/11/2024
11:58 PM
#46
It's kinda crazy that Pikachu is the second most iconic considering he was kind of arbitrarily chosen among the original 150 Pokemon to be Ash's companion in the anime--not even in a game, initially (until Pokemon Yellow, of course). Like, it could have been Charizard, or Jigglypuff, or Squirtle, or something.
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Hbthebattle
01/12/2024
03:10 AM
#47
i think you can make an argument that several other Pokemon are more recognizable to the general public than Link is!
:)
JackMan
01/12/2024
04:28 AM
#48
I think to be iconic, your appearance has to have remained relatively unchanged over time, so it's not Link.

Pokemon is the biggest media franchise in the world. Even if the mainline games are kinda crappy these days, there are still plenty of side games, mobile games, TV shows, movies and collaborations coming out all the time and Pikachu is in almost every single one of them.
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andylt
01/12/2024
07:06 AM
#49
Who is the second most iconic pokemon?
UF8
01/12/2024
07:24 AM
#50
at this point probably greninja
Board 8 » Who is the second most iconic Nintendo character?
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