The 25 best new characters of the decade

Pac-Man and Mario owned the 1980s. Sonic, Lara and Snake took over for the 1990s. Their games are considered classics. Their names are timeless and iconic. Their images are burned into the memory of every gamer, even those who were born after the characters themselves.

Now we have another ten years worth of heroes, villains, sidekicks and love interests to occupy our imagination. Which, however, will remain there? Who will we still remember, love and endlessly discuss at the start of the next decade? And the decade after that?

These are our 25 favorite characters of the 2000s, listed alphabetically. Agree, disagree and pick your own in the comments section below.

ALYX VANCE

First appearance… Half-Life 2 (2004)

Around the beginning of the decade, the conventions of videogame narrative said that action game NPCs must be unconvincing mechanical ciphers who move like tractors and talk like a broken Speak & Spell. Female ones should pout and constantly threaten to get their bangers out.

“Screw you, conventions of videogame narrative!” said Valve. “We care not for your insidious fallacies. We’re going to make a real girl!”

And, much like the nerds in Weird Science, they did. Alyx behaves like an actual person, with all the corresponding strengths and failings. She’s determined and headstrong, but nuanced and funny. She’s stoic and badass when emotionally driven to be, but she’s also vulnerable and unsure of herself. In short, she’s a human rather than a stereotype, and one you’ll genuinely grow to care for without ever being manipulated into doing so.

ARTHAS MENETHIL

First appearance… Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)

He was once a mighty and honorable paladin, battling to save his people from the undead scourges of Azeroth. To succeed in his quest, however, he needed more power… and to yield more power, he needed a sword cursed by his enemies’ leader. By the end of Warcraft III, Arthas had lost his soul to this blade, and his sense of self to possession by the villainous Lich King.

What’s riveting is that you witness this entire transformation, from good to evil, across multiple games and multiple genres. During his real-time strategy origins, you experience Arthas’ bloodlust firsthand as he orders his men to slaughter a city’s innocent population in order to stop the spread of the undead. By the time you catch up with him in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, he’s gone completely Darth Vader, gathering and marshalling the same forces he once sought to destroy.

BIG DADDY

First appearance… BioShock (2007)

How do you describe a world as unique, complex and brilliantly bizarre as Rapture? Easy – just point at Big Daddy. This already iconic creature is a perfect symbol, and summary, of the BioShock paradox. It’s scary and yet sad. It’s overwhelmingly alien and yet disturbingly human. It’s brutally vicious to strangers while lovingly gentle to Little Sisters. Its outer appearance is clunky and retro, but its inner genetics are the stuff of futuristic sci-fi nightmares.

Big Daddies also expose the hypocrisy of Andrew Ryan’s utopia. If these people moved underwater to escape the so-called slaveries of government, church and military, how can they then justify lobotomizing their fellow citizens, imprisoning them in monstrous diving suits and condemning them to pace the ocean floor for all eternity? This study of morality is what made BioShock a masterpiece, and this mystery is what makes the Big Daddy such a fascinating character. We can’t wait to learn more, and get behind the helmet, in 2010’s sequel.

THE BOSS

First appearance… Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)

The template for what Naked Snake/Big Boss would eventually become, The Boss is an enigma right up until Snake Eater’s final moments. A legendary guerrilla fighter during World War II, she’s introduced as Naked Snake’s mentor, but their bond is actually much closer to an adoptive mother/son relationship. And that’s why, when she betrays Snake and leaves him broken and bleeding, it nearly destroys him. But it’s all part of her final lesson to to her pupil: for soldiers, loyalty is an illusion. Friends one day will be enemies the next, and the only thing a true soldier can depend on is the mission at hand.

In every subsequent meeting, she attacks Snake, but never really seems to be trying to kill him. And every time they meet, you can always catch a little glimmer of something like sadness or tenderness through her cold, monotone exterior. The more we learn about her, the more tragic and effed-up The Boss becomes. And after Snake kills her in the game’s final, sad duel, he learns that she’d been a double agent the entire time, resigned to go down in history as a traitor so as not to spark a nuclear war. Killing her was like killing a Colossus – hard-won, but ultimately a hollow victory that haunted us for years.

CARL “CJ” JOHNSON

First appearance… GTA: San Andreas (2004)

Rockstar protagonists have become so fun and so memorable over the past decade, it’s hard to believe that Grand Theft Auto III starred a generic mute. Vice City’s Tommy was deliciously vengeful, but for us, the first breakout star of the series was a smart and resourceful kid trying to protect his family and escape the gangster path that drugs, poverty and corrupt police had forced him down. If you weren’t rooting for CJ within the first five minutes of San Andreas, you simply weren’t paying attention.

And yeah, his race was important, too. Even today, games pigeonhole African-American characters into the most obvious stereotypes and painful cliches. CJ certainly wasn’t the perfect antidote to that trend – he is a murderous criminal, rap producer and womanizer, after all – but he was a big step in the right direction, with intelligent dialogue, noble intentions and more common sense than anyone else in the story.

He also signaled the start of Rockstar’s diversification workshop. Since CJ, we’ve played an Eastern European immigrant, a Jewish biker, a Chinese visitor and two Dominicans, one of whom is the business partner and bodyguard to a gay nightclub owner. Now if only the rest of the industry were so brave…