The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

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The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself, "what kind of name is Link?" Or, "why does Sonic look so familiar?" Or, "why does Johnny Cage have to go into a split to decimate my junk?"

There's a lot we don't realize about the creation of our favorite characters. Limited pixels required animation shortcuts, bold color schemes, and some questionable fashion choices. Licensing deals fell through, and copyrighted property had to be quickly disguised. Sometimes, developers just ripped off their favorite media, crossed their fingers, and prayed they didn't get sued.

Here are the intriguing backstories to some of the most beloved video game characters:

It's no coincidence that Johnny Cage is a cocky pretty boy movie star who can do a split. Mortal Kombat was designed to be a vehicle for Jean-Claude V

Kirby's relatively unimaginative round body was supposed to be a temporary placeholder. Nintendo KORBYS LAND DREAM B Nirte KA GAME But, like a kid who

Solid Snake is a blatant ripoff of Escape From New York's Snake Plissken. But John Carpenter thinks Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima is a nice guy, S

HE'SCoEdLink becouse: HE'S thE link betweentime pEriods in THE Legendor ZEldo HE'S thE linkbetWenthe ployer ond thE gome THE Trifoice wos originolly

The Team Fortress Spy is a glitch that never went away. A bug in the graphics caused some enemies to render as teammates. They pulled the old it's a

The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

Little Mac had to be little because two thirds of the screen was needed for the player to focus on the larger, more intricate opponents. 3 2:58 POIN

Legend has it that 26-year-old designer Toru lwatani came up with Pac-Man when he removed the first slice from a pizza pie. And our old pal Scott Pilg

Mario walked SO that Pikmin could... scuttle. 07050050 Super Mario 128 was a bizarre demo designed to show that the Gamecube could render 128 Marios i

From the beginning, Sonic was a somewhat cynical attempt to create a brand ambassador to rival Mario. SONC THE HEDGEHOG SEGA They wanted a character t

The Surprising Origins Of 12 Iconic Video Game Characters

Nintendo was denied the rights to Popeye only after Shigeru Miyamoto had designed a game around it. So he swaPpEd Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Bluto for a g

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