Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Prime Day Deals
  • Superman
  • Donkey Kong Bananza
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
Zoomed in picture of a Balatro Joker plush.
Roguelike Games "I might have exhausted all my luck": Balatro God-King hits lucky streak so powerful that 1-in-1 billion odds don't even begin to describe it
Resident Evil Village
Games The 25 best video game villains you just love to hate
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing Lae'zel, a Githyanki woman with olive green skin and tied-back red hair, smirking
RPGs The 25 best RPGs you can (and should) play right now
Screenshot from CloverPit, showing a first-person view of a slot machine with a shining 'Jackpot' announcement lit up.
Roguelike Games "The demonic lovechild of Balatro and Buckshot Roulette" is a roguelite horror game where you out-gamble the devil and it got over 100k Steam wishlists in a week
Silent Hill 3
Horror Games 22 years on, the designer behind Silent Hill 3's "cute but scary" Robbie the Rabbit mascot is still obsessed with the "tiny but grotesque" – and so am I
The Last of Us 2
Games The 25 best video game soundtracks of all time
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
Adventure Games The 25 best video game stories to play right now
  1. Games
  2. Action

Top 7... Luckiest video game characters

Features
By Ryan Taljonick published 18 March 2013

Rabbit feet? Four-leaf clovers? Pffft--these guys and gals were born lucky

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Lady luck

Lady luck

Some people were just born lucky. Chances are you know a few of those types: the ones who inherit millions of dollars from a long-lost uncle, or magically stumble across a $100 bill in the parking lot of a grocery store. How many times have you walked that same parking lot, only to find gum-stained cement? A lot, we'd wager.

Just as there are lucky folks in real life, there are also plenty of lucky video game characters. Many of them stumble into awesome super powers, or are born with a strange birth defect that allow them fly or whatever. Hell, nearly all of them overcome seemingly impossible odds to save the universe, or survive events so mind-shatteringly impossible that we can't help but release an audible "pffffft" every time such a thing occurs. But of all the superheroes and against-all-odds champions, these are the luckiest of the luckiest to have ever graced the virtual realm.

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9
7. Chansey

7. Chansey

At first glance, Chansey doesn't look like much more than a fat, pink monster thing. But this normal-type Pokemon isn't quite as "normal" as she'd lead you to believe: She's actually the literal manifestation of luck--at least according to the translation of her Japanese name, which translates to "lucky."

Indeed, Pokemon #113 is even said to bring a great deal of luck to those who manage to capture her. This is probably because she's often in possession of--you guessed it--a lucky egg, a highly nutritious food that she willingly shares with nice (unlucky) people who've been injured. But we're curious: If Chanseys are so lucky, why are they always getting imprisoned in Pokeballs?

Page 2 of 9
Page 2 of 9
6. Guybrush Threepwood

6. Guybrush Threepwood

Long before Guybrush Ulysses Threepwood ever became a pirate, he was a scrawny, awkward teenager with naught going for him aside from some pretty sharp wit and the ability to hold his breath underwater for a substantial amount of time. It was odd, then, that his sole ambition was to become a pirate, considering he was woefully ill-equipped with the kind of traits one might associate with buccaneers. On paper, Guybrush was doomed to fail. But luck had other plans for him.

First, he managed to win the heart of the lovely Elaine Marley, governor of Melee Island, who, despite Guybrush's faults, was attracted to his personality and wit. Then there's the whole matter of his battle with the ghost pirate LeChuck, who effortlessly dominated Guybrush--that is, until Guybrush sprayed him with a bottle of root beer out of desperation. As luck would have it, ghosts are apparently very allergic to root beer. By sheer chance, Guybrush's exploits defeated the feared pirate ghost, earning him a reputation as a pirate himself--even though his physical and mental traits didn't really do him any favors.

Page 3 of 9
Page 3 of 9
5. Nathan Drake

5. Nathan Drake

This half-tuck hero has a long history of surviving encounters with mercenaries, undead Nazis, and supernatural gorillas things--and his track record with vehicles isn't exactly spotless, either. He's survived car crashes, train wrecks, plane plummets, and even a loooooong fall from an aircraft to the soft, cushiony sands of the Rub 'al Khali desert, and is impervious to its blistering heat. Somehow, he always ends up miraculously unharmed.

Nathan Drake might groan in pain every now and then, but he gets up and walks it off like it's No Big Deal. But even more impressive than Nathan's ability to escape unharmed is how the world seems to morph around him, specifically so that he can reach a new ledge or climb a few feet higher. Ancient ruins crumble to create the perfect foothold, and airplane doors break off at the perfect angle so that he can jump up. Everything works out for Nathan Drake.

Page 4 of 9
Page 4 of 9
4. Lara Croft

4. Lara Croft

Where Nathan Drake manages to jump out of airplanes sans a parachute without getting hurt, the recently rebooted Lara Croft suffers a lot of punishment. Still, the shock of getting stabbed by a rebar is diminished pretty quickly when there are no consequences. It seems Lara's survival training paid off in dividends, as she learned that all you have to do to heal an impalement wound is to cover it with your hand for five minutes and grimace in pain for a while, hoping it will go away (which it does).

While Lara's super lucky that her wounds magically heal, she's also pretty lucky in that none of them lead to infections. Seriously, she got stabbed a time or two, beat up a ton, and even waded through a pool of blood with open wounds, and somehow came out unscathed. If that ain't luck, we don't know what is.

Page 5 of 9
Page 5 of 9
3. Earthworm Jim

3. Earthworm Jim

Considering your typical earthworm has, like, a 50 percent chance of drowning, it's safe to say that earthworms are pretty unlucky creatures in general. Think about it: When it rains, they have to tunnel to the surface to escape a watery grave. Even if they're successful, they might still drown if they're unfortunate enough to surface in a water-filled ditch. It's also possible they'd get stepped on, or torn into pieces by bored children. The best case scenario for an earthworm involves safely tunneling around under the earth, munching on dirt all day. By comparison, Earthworm Jim might be the luckiest character on this list.

The poor sap started his life as a typical earthworm. But then, as luck would have it, a magical super suit fell from the heavens, landing squarely around his slimy cylindrical body. The science behind what happened next makes zero sense, but good 'ol Jim transformed into an evil-battling humanoid worm dude who was also a mysteriously wonderful crack-shot with his gun. This is the kind of fate many humans would kill for--but alas, the early worm gets the suit.

Page 6 of 9
Page 6 of 9
2. Master Chief

2. Master Chief

Anyone who manages to single-handedly save the universe is pretty lucky by default. But what makes Master Chief stand out as one of gaming's luckiest characters is the fact that his incredible luck isn't a one time thing--he's been referred to as the "luckiest Spartan" since he was the wee age of six.

After being conscripted into the Spartan-II program (which happened, in part, because he correctly guessed a coin toss), John-117 emerged as a natural leader. He managed to survive the Spartan augmentation process, which incapacitated or killed 42 of the 74 children forced into the program. Dr. Halsey, one of the overseers of the Spartan-II program, even mentioned to Cortana that Master Chief was "neither the smartest nor the fastest nor the strongest of the Spartans. But he is the bravest - and quite possibly the luckiest." And also, there's that whole "saving the world single-handedly" thing. Lucky guy, that Master Chief.

Page 7 of 9
Page 7 of 9
1. Clayton Carmine

1. Clayton Carmine

The demise of the Carmine brothers in Gears of War became something of an in-joke by the end of the second game in the series. First, there was Anthony Carmine, who took a bullet to the dome while trying to fix a jammed lancer on the battlefield. Next was his his older brother, Benjamin, who was mauled to death by some acid-spewing Nemacytes inside the guts of a Riftworm. But in Gears of War 3, Clayton Carmine miraculously escaped the doomed fate shared by his kin.

More importantly, though, is the fact that Clayton's life was spared by the ever-fickle whims of the gaming community. Players were given a chance to vote whether or not Clayton would join his brothers in death. Luck was on his side, surprisingly, as he was allowed to live. Side note: Many of the gamers who voted to save his life would go on to verbally wish death upon their actual living opponents in competitive matches of Gears of War 3.

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of 9
Feelin' lucky?

Feelin' lucky?

Nearly every video game character is lucky in one way or another, but we believe these to be the absolute luckiest. Do you agree? Which characters would be on your list of lucky characters in games? Let us know in the comments below.

And if you're looking for more, check out the 13 unuckiest bastards in gaming and how God of War's mythology stacks up.

Page 9 of 9
Page 9 of 9
CATEGORIES
PC Gaming PlayStation Xbox Platforms
PRODUCTS
Tomb Raider Pokemon X and Y The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition Gears of War 3 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Halo 4 Pokemon Black / White 2 Earthworm Jim HD
Ryan Taljonick
Ryan Taljonick
Social Links Navigation

Ryan was once the Executive Editor of GamesRadar, before moving into the world of games development. He worked as a Brand Manager at EA, and then at Bethesda Softworks, before moving to 2K. He briefly went back to EA and is now the Director of Global Marketing Strategy at 2K. 

See more PC Gaming Features
Read more
Zoomed in picture of a Balatro Joker plush.
"I might have exhausted all my luck": Balatro God-King hits lucky streak so powerful that 1-in-1 billion odds don't even begin to describe it
Resident Evil Village
The 25 best video game villains you just love to hate
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot showing Lae'zel, a Githyanki woman with olive green skin and tied-back red hair, smirking
The 25 best RPGs you can (and should) play right now
Screenshot from CloverPit, showing a first-person view of a slot machine with a shining 'Jackpot' announcement lit up.
"The demonic lovechild of Balatro and Buckshot Roulette" is a roguelite horror game where you out-gamble the devil and it got over 100k Steam wishlists in a week
Silent Hill 3
22 years on, the designer behind Silent Hill 3's "cute but scary" Robbie the Rabbit mascot is still obsessed with the "tiny but grotesque" – and so am I
The Last of Us 2
The 25 best video game soundtracks of all time
Latest in Action
The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us Part 2 is fast becoming Sony's Skyrim: Naughty Dog has come up with yet another excuse to revisit it – a "chronological experience" update that rearranges the story
Death Stranding 2Sam running to the C1 Distribution Center
Death Stranding 2 players could use monorails to bypass cargo limits on big deliveries, but that's way less cool than this two-truck solution devised by an expert porter: "This is genius"
Death Stranding 2 PS5 screenshot of Sam on a futuristic motorcycle
Death Stranding 2 players reach "breaking point for hating signs" as devious porters place speed boosts in inconvenient places: "I ran over a quokka because of one of those signs... I was devastated"
Star Fox
Nintendo employed "so many incredible people," even a legendary Star Fox and Zelda dev had an "inferiority complex" during his 32-year stay at the company
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Ingenious Tears of the Kingdom player spends 3 glitchy hours bringing Purah, Paya, and a fake Zelda from across the map all for the perfect photo for Link's wall
Death Stranding 2
I'm glad the heatwave is over, because if it wasn't I'd think I hallucinated these weird Death Stranding 2 moments, from dancing dolls to sci-fi directors fighting while making pizza
Latest in Features
Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017) screenshot showing Darth Vader walking through a hangar flanked by two stormtroopers
I've spent 11 hours fighting AI in EA's Star Wars Battlefront 2, and it's taking me back to the glory days of PS2 skirmish modes
Dollman is lost in thought in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
This is now a Dollman fan account: Death Stranding 2's puppet pal makes for my favorite PlayStation duo since Ratchet & Clank
Agent 47 on a mission in Hitman: World of Assassination
I'm loving Hitman: World of Assassination on Switch 2, but the game's always-online requirement is worse than ever
Kaizen: A Factory Story key art featuring a production line making a toy electronic
"Make games and die. That's my plan": Coincidence's Zach Barth on making games about making things, a year of teaching, and being in it for the long haul
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Cyberpunk Edgerunners season 2: Everything we know about CD Projekt Red's anime
Ghost, Bob, Yelena, and John Walker peeking around a corner in Thunderbolts
Marvel Phase 5 closes a weird, ramshackle chapter in MCU history – and shows what Marvel needs to get right in Phase 6
  1. A Gundam style mech in Mecha Break
    1
    Mecha Break review: "This mech battler makes up for lacking customization with a varied roster that lets me live out my Evangelion fantasy"
  2. 2
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  3. 3
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  4. 4
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  5. 5
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  1. David Corenswet as Superman inside the Fortress of Solitude in James Gunn's Superman.
    1
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  2. 2
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  3. 3
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  4. 4
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  5. 5
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...