"Hat's entertainment!" may not be an actual phrase, but you can't deny the effect that sporting a strong piece of headgear has on our favourite gaming characters. From Parappa's beanie to Jill Valentine's beret, we've picked out the best titfers from the history of PlayStation gaming.
Mortal Kombat
Hat’s all, folks. When Kung Lao decides to dish out the pain with his Razor-Rimmed Hat, the results are pretty damn final. The (admittedly terrible) pacifist’s range of decapitating Fatalities aren’t this headpiece’s only party trick, though: he can also pull a rabbit from its deadly innards. Murderously magic stuff.
World of Final Fantasy
There’s only so much cute the human eyeball can withstand, and the chibi-style Mirages of WOFF could well blind you with their sheer adorableness. That these huggable monsters also double up as a kind of hat when Lann and Reynn stack them in battle is even more horrendously heart-melting.
Bloodborne
There’s no greater symbol of fine social standing than the top hat. To wear one is to know civility and order in a world of untamed hair... though, granted, sporting one is a smidge less refined when you’re a Hunter who spends most of their social time gutting demon peasants. Still, Bloodborne’s iconic hat looks damn sharp.
Sly Cooper
The gentleman thief isn’t just a master burglar/furry ode to Raffles, he’s also somewhat of a style icon... at least in the bin-rummaging mammalian world. Where Bert Raccoon and co. slum it in sweatshirts, Sly gets a nifty blazer and cap combo. Add a headband to the latter and you’re left with one swanky critter.
Resident Evil
Forget the Jill sandwich. We want a beret burger. Jill Valentine’s chic headwear stands out as a towering beacon of fashion... mainly because every other rotting sod in Spencer Mansion is wearing tattered zombie rags. Her classic beret getup is way cooler than the boring cap she later sports in Resi 5’s DLC.
Skullgirls
Talk about the clothes making the man, or to rephrase, the ‘sentient hat with Popeye arms making the circus performer’. Cerebella isn’t just a talented acrobat and a part-time mafia enforcer, she’s also the only one who can control Vice Versa; a burly Living Weapon hat that grapples foes with ease in this charismatic 2D fighter.
Red Dead Redemption
Bill Williamson has serious Old West style. The waistcoat. The badass duster jacket. And of course, that brilliantly crooked Stetson. Indeed, Bill wears it in such a unique way, many are speculating he’ll star in Redemption 2, thanks to reveal art which shows one of its outlaws wearing a distinctly slanted hat.
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
LucasArts’ pirate is an undead fiend, but the dude knows how to wear a hat. The demonic outlaw rocks stupendous skull-and-crossbones headwear, which complements those skeletal cheekbones no end. Guybrush Threepwood could never get away with such a resplendent headpiece.
Parappa the Rapper
Be in no doubt: it’s bloody hard to pull off a beanie. Just ask that berk, Delsin Rowe. It helps that Parappa is a carbonite-cool rapping mutt, not a miserable-faced, paranormal whiner. Thanks to his awesome headgear and skill with a mic, this pup wins the heart of (literal) flowergirl Sunny Funny.
This article originally appeared in Official PlayStation Magazine. For more great PlayStation coverage, you can subscribe here.
