Nintendo is certainly the video game brand with the most popular characters. Big N can even boast of making them compete in the famous fighting games Super Smash Bros., the last of which, Ultimate, has no less than 82 characters. Many of them have a great story behind them. If the Japanese company began developing video games in the 70s, it was 10 years later that the first character appeared: Game & Watch, from the console of the same name. Then came Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong and Peach in 1985. Building on this immense success, Big N could then set about developing new licenses, some of which are still very active today. In short, the rich history of Nintendo and its video game licenses made us want to look into what these 10 characters have become, from their beginnings until today.
#1 Luigi
Mario’s faithful brother took his first steps in Donkey Kong in 1981, before appearing on Game & Watchthen take part in Mario’s adventures in Super Mario Bros. on Famicom in 1985. Plumber number 2 had his fifteen minutes of fame in 2001, when he got his first solo adventure in Luigi’s Mansion, released for the launch of the GameCube. The license in which Luigi must aspire to the ghost is quickly a hit. The third opus released in 2019 on Nintendo Switch generated good revenue at Big N. Enough to launch a remake of last year’s 2.
#2 Peach
Just like Mario, Luigi and Donkey Kong, Peach is a central character in the license that appeared in the first Super Mario Bros. Like Luigi, the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom has long been relegated to being just a way for Nintendo to shape Mario’s world. Playable in Super Smash Bros Melee on GameCube in 2001, and mistress of her history in Super Princess Peach, released on Nintendo DS in 2005, she experienced her second solo adventure in 2024 in Princess Peach : Showtimea very (too?) accessible title released on Switch.
#3 Ness
Initially, Ness is the main protagonist of the game Earthbound (or Mother 2) released in 1994. He teams up with several other characters to fight Giygas, an alien who threatens Earth. The young boy then becomes an unlockable character from the first Super Smash Bros.before integrating the basic roster into its sequels. It stands out with its psychic powers and its demanding gameplay.
#4 Ridley
Ridley is a high-ranking space pirate. Samus Aran’s nemesis is the main antagonist of the series Metroid, appearing in most games, and in different forms. It becomes playable for the first time in Super Smash Bros Ultimate.
#5 Captain Falcon
A futuristic bounty hunter and racing driver, Captain Falcon comes from the racing video game series, F-Zero, the first opus of which was released on Super Nintendo in 1990. The player pilots his car, the Blue Falcon, on ultra-fast futuristic circuits. He becomes playable as a character on the first Super Smash Bros on Nintendo 64 therefore. He caused a sensation with his famous Falcon Punch and his speed. On Super Smash Bros Melee, he becomes almost unplayable, just like Roy.
#6 Fox McCloud
Originally from the video game series Star Fox of Nintendo, from its launch in 1993 to the most recent, Star Fox Zeroreleased in 2016, Fox McCloud is a fighter pilot and flagship Nintendo character. He is also one of the first playable protagonists (among the 12) of Super Smash Bros. Present in all the following games, it also appears in a Ubisoft title, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, a third-person 3D action-shooter, in the defense tower titled Star Fox Guard, and as a boss in a mini-game of WarioWare: Smooth Moves on Nintendo Wii. But it’s been a long time since the anthropomorphic fox had the right to his solo adventure. Latest: Star Fox 2, canceled then developed in 2017 on SNES Classic Edition and 2019 and playable on the Nintendo Switch Online service.
#7 Roy
Originally, Roy is the main character of the sixth game in the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi, released exclusively in Japan in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance. But its thunderous integration into Super Smash Bros. Melee and its immediate success convinced Nintendo toexport license Fire Emblem In France. In 2003, the tactical RPG arrived on Game Boy Advance in Europe with Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. Seven opuses will follow, until Fire Emblem Engage in 2023, on Nintendo Switch. No sequel planned on the horizon, but Roy still delights budding swordsmen on Ssuper smash bros. ultimate.
#8 Samus Aran
Samus has changed a lot since her debut in Metroid, released at the time on the Famicom Disk System. In 2021, bounty hunter Samus Aran returned to take down aliens in Metroid Dread, new Metroidvania in 2D which gave us real pleasure in the – very fluid – control of the heroine. But 2025 will truly be the year of the license. Nintendo has announced the arrival of a brand new Metroid Prime, the 3D side of the license. A Metroid Prime 4: Beyond which promises to be a turning point, given the graphic effects seen in the trailer, and the addition of new mechanics. Samus is more stylish than ever.
#9 Kirby
Before being one of the most iconic characters in the game series Super Smash Bros, Kirby first had the right to his own Nintendo license, Kirby’s Dream Land From a 1992 on GameBoya small horizontal scrolling game where you play the little pink ball, in white. Thanks to the success of the game, several opuses followed on NES, Game Boy Advance, DS and Switch, until Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe and 2023, remake the Kirby’s Adventure Wii released in 2011. For the record, Kirby was originally called Twinkle Popopo, but Nintendo changed the character’s name in homage to John Kirby, a lawyer who saved the company after Universal Studios sued for plagiarism of King Kong.
#10 Pikachu
Needless to say, Pikachu is one of the greatest Pokémon mascots, right up there with Mario. The franchise’s most famous Pokémon first appeared in Pokémon Blue, Red and Yellow at the end of the 90s owes its popularity thanks to cartoons, as well as to the yellow cartridge, version in which it accompanied the player in his adventures, outside of combat. Pikachu is also one of the first 12 characters in the first Super Smash Bros. and is at the center of Detective Pikachu, released in 2016 on 3DS, then on a sequel on the Switch in 2023.
And to go further, discover how these 25 other video game characters evolved.
Source: hitek.fr
