1. Slime (Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior)
What is it?
The single most marketable droplet of sludge ever to come out of the Japanese game industry.
Where did it come from?
Every single game ever to have the words "Dragon Warrior" or "Dragon Quest" in the title (1986-present).
Why do we love it?
Throughout the long Dragon Quest series, slimes have always been the equivalent of training wheels; they're weak, mostly harmless jelly teardrops that are almost as demeaning to fight as they are to lose to. But there's something about that weird smile that makes you feel sorry about stabbing them to death, and it wasn't long before slimes blossomed into a full-fledged cultural phenomenon, especially in Japan.
Over the course of the DQ games, the slimes gradually evolved a culture, dozens of variant species and - in 2003 - got their own spin-off series for the GBA and DS. Their simple design and misleadingly friendly expressions make them more memorable and instantly recognizable than any of the series' heroes, and they're probably the only sludge monsters in history - other than Kirby and the LocoRocos - to be turned into huggable plush toys. Even the official Dragon Quest VIII controller was shaped like one of these things, sacrificing comfort in favor of giving players the opportunity to hold an adorable slime monster upside-down.
All merchandising and popularity aside, the one thing that lands the slimes squarely at the top of this list is that every Dragon Quest fan knows them to be vicious, mean little lumps of repulsive goo that will aggressively attack anything bigger than they are - and even so, those fans love them anyway. What other blob in the history of blobs can claim that? None of them, and that's what makes these things so special.
Check out ourTop 7 Compendiumfor more educational material on everything fromfranchise embarrassmentstoNew Year's Resolutions.
