Board 8 > How would they do in a contest? Day 86 ft Banjo, Conker, Dragonlord

(+) Yeah! (+)

This is a topic to rate the contest strength of potential newcomers in the current contest environment.

I will pick the characters to rate and discuss for each day from user nominations - whoever the 3 most nominated characters are at that time. If there are more than 3 I will pick randomly. You can nominate any number of characters at any time, but you cannot nominate the same character twice.

All characters who were present in the 2018 Character Battle will NOT be eligible. Otherwise you can nominate any character that has appeared in video games; even comic book characters. This will exclude real-life athletes who have only appeared in long running sports series, however I will accept those who have their own games such as Shaq. I will accept nominations for iconic gaming duos too, if there is a compelling reason for both characters to be linked (either co-starring in a game ala Banjo & Kazooie, or always appearing together like Callie & Marie from Splatoon).

Each day will have a separate topic, and nominations will carry over. As far as actually rating the character's contest strength; I ask that users rank a characters potential strength with one of the following qualifiers - LAW Fodder, Low Fodder, Mid Fodder, High Fodder, Fodder Line, Low Midcarder, Midcarder, High Midcarder, Near Elite, Elite, LAW Tier (capable of beating Link). I will average all the ratings given to a character to come up with their final ranking. I have included a highlighted entrant from Character Battle X on each tier of the strength rankings below, to provide a baseline for each.

Note that LAW Fodder is meant to be a tier reserved for the weakest possible characters to put into a contest. A character will only be placed there if at least 3/4ths of the voters for that day agree on the LAW Fodder rating, and no ratings above Low Fodder are given. If either of those conditions are not met, the character will not be eligible for the LAW Fodder tier.

Current Character Strength Rankings: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P1AIhHywBiLd6VAMZMNEGX-HW2td8u1D0Iw_tzHsORw/edit?usp=sharing

Nomination List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-KnSBDzppzPK5Ug1zmx8_x0bG4tqFDMPPH2k8J3s8sk/edit?usp=sharing

Results from Day 85:

Godzilla (Godzilla games) is Mid Fodder
Big Daddy (BioShock) is Mid Fodder
Callie & Marie (Splatoon) is Mid Fodder

Here is today's trio to rank:

Dragonlord (Dragon Quest)
Conker (Conker's Bad Fur Day)
Banjo (Banjo-Kazooie)

This topic will last a few days since I will be out of town - I should be able to update by Sunday night at the latest.
---

Banjo - fodder line. Even if you consider SFF, he has generally been high fodder at best. Smash probably makes him fodder line.

Conker - low fodder. The fact that he hasn't made a pure character battle in fourteen years and had to be rallied into Rivalry Rumble by myself (and only because I saw the GMP on the nomination auto suggest) shows just how much this site cares about him.
---

Oof, I figured yesterday's slate would last over the weekend, though at least my planned votes (Godzilla: High, Big Daddy: Mid, Callie & Marie: Low) wouldn't have changed anything. As for today...

Banjo: Low Midcarder

I'll repost my basic argument from Mumbo's day:

I honestly think Banjo is a Low Midcarder. That's about where Banjo-Kazooie looked to be in 2015, and other platformer mascots are, at worst, no weaker than their strongest game. Nostalgic 90s platformer characters also consistently impressed in 2018, from Crash and Spyro through Tails and Knuckles to Donkey Kong, among others; I don't see why Banjo wouldn't have benefited from this boost. On top of that, Banjo has really never had a fair shot at showing his strength, continually running into stronger Nintendo and Nintendo-appealing characters to drag him down with SFF/LFF. Banjo also has the X-Factor of finally being announced as a playable Smash character, and by doing so, fulfilling his fans' fervent wishes.

I can at least respect Fodder Line votes, though, and we've come a long way from when darkx was saying he was Mid Fodder.

I'll rate the other two and post nominations later.
---

MetalmindStats posted...

we've come a long way from when darkx was saying he was Mid Fodder.

I said he looked like mid fodder, and I stand by it (notice my high fodder's at best qualifier). Some of his opponents really were not that strong. I know that the regulars to this topic series are huge Banjo fans, and I really think they are blinded by bias, especially calling Banjo a low midcarder pre-Smash, that's just insane.
---

Underleveled posted...

I said he looked like mid fodder, and I stand by it (notice my high fodder's at best qualifier).

I'm referring to a long time back, when we rated Banjo & Kazooie together, rather than the more recent Mumbo and Gruntilda days, though I admittedly might be misremembering.

Underleveled posted...

I know that the regulars to this topic series are huge Banjo fans, and I really think they are blinded by bias, especially calling Banjo a low midcarder pre-Smash, that's just insane.

Ironically, I've barely even played any of his games myself, though I can't speak for others. As for him being a Low Midcarder pre-Smash, I'm not sure I agree with that anymore, though his game's performance plus the aforementioned platformer lead trend give him a good case for it.

Here, have a real example of my fanboyism for a series blinding my views: Mid Fodder for Dragonlord.

Basically, I would argue he's gone down as a fairly iconic part of gaming history, especially with his infamous offer and his transformation from a sorcerer into a dragon; the latter set the course for a litany of future bosses both inside and outside his series. I also think his draconic appearance is likely to muster design votes, along with apathy votes against most Mid and Low Fodder characters. On top of that, Dragon Quest entrants have looked fine in previous contests.
---

Dragonlord - Low Fodder. He's not winning anything unless it's against weaklings. He's from an old game that not everyone here has played, and Metal is an open Dragon Quest fanboy who has a sense of nostalgia for the original Dragon Warrior that I don't. I can see Dragonlord being on the low end of Mid Fodder at absolute best. I don't see him beating 90% of that tier, and he probably loses to some other Low Fodder too. Having been in one 30 y/o game is not helpful.

Conker - Mid Fodder. He had one game and one game alone, and that was a long time ago. But the people who remember his game remember it fondly, and for that alone I think he can get more than 10% of the votes in a match or beat any Low Fodder. The fact that he's not been in a contest in eons is irrelevant to where he is in the fodder territory seeing as most people we are classifying as Fodder would never make a bracket in the first place. MOST. Conker's game is a decade more recent than Dragonlord's, so that makes a difference, too.

Banjo - Low Midcarder. Agree with Metal.
---

Dragonlord (Dragon Quest) - Low fodder

Real skeptical that looking like a dragon is enough for mid fodder, and he's not even guaranteed to get a dragon picture. I don't think people care besides those who like his game and the original Dragon Quest is...yeah.

Conker (Conker's Bad Fur Day) - Mid fodder

He's not at all strong but I would take him to trash pretty much all of low fodder. Mumbo, Gex, and Ripto just strike me as intuitively not on Conker's level. Conker > Sly Cooper also seems likely to me but we probably ranked the latter too high so whatever.

Banjo (Banjo-Kazooie) - Low-midcarder

I don't feel great about it and he's probably on the low end of the tier though.
---

Conker: Mid Fodder - as alarming as him not making any of the 128+ entrant fields is, he probably gets some benefit from the 90s platformer nostalgia trend of late, and him being on the level of Gruntilda seems much more likely than being on the level of Mumbo.

Nominations:
Chair (Final Fantasy VII)
Futaba Sakura
Gambit
Hawkeye
Lady
Lenneth Valkyrie
Makoto Yuki/Protagonist
Nero
Soma Cruz
Ultimecia
---

Agree with Fodder Line for Banjo.

I also say Mid Fodder for Conker. He looked ok in rivalry rumble, and he definitely benefits from recent contest trends.

I am actually going to say Dragonlord is Mid Fodder. Even though the OG Dragon Quest was his only appearance in the main series, he has had many cameo appearances as monsters in spinoff games. And Fortune Street for what its worth. He is definitely a notable antagonist in the early history of RPGs as well.

nominations:

Shellder (Pokmon)
Sif (Dark Souls)
Zelos Wilder (Tales of Symphonia)
Max Payne (Max Payne series)
Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters)
Phi (Virtues Last Reward)
Shao Kahn (Mortal Kombat)
King of Red Lions (Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker)
Athena (God of War)
Dry Bones (Mario series)
---

Day 87 is up: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/77963694
---