Favorite video game characters?

Which video game characters do you think are the most memorable, the most iconic? Who do you think is the toughest, the coolest? Who'd you share a few beers with?

The gaming industry has produced quite a number of memorable characters over the years. Notwithstanding the ocassional cheesy line and bad voice acting, many of these characters have -- for better or for worse -- become almost symbolic of today's pop culture as Mickey Mouse and the James Dean persona of previous generations. It can be argued, in fact, that a good handful have already achieved the status of cultural icons.

Who among them would you say is your favorite?

Commander Shepard, Master Chief , Cid (Final Fantasy), Link, Samus, Kos Mos (Xenosaga) .. I could go on forever lol. I always get attached to the characters I play in games.

Master Chief, Cortana, Sgt. Mjr. Avery Johnson Jr., UNSC Marines, 343 Guilty Spark (HALO),
Lich King, Thrall, Illidan (Warcraft),
Hero of Oakvale, Jack of Blades (Fable TLC),
Max Payne,
UN Blue Helmets (Delta Force BHD),
Darkrai (Pokemon)
Darth Vader (Star wars)
GLaDOS (Portal)
and the list goes on...

Garrett the Thief from the now defunct and greatly missed Looking Glass Studios who made the outstanding Thief: The Dark Project and the follow-up Thief: The Metal Age. Amazing games in story depth/creativity, execution and an unforgettable character.

The one and only Solid Snake of course. First played as him as a 12 year-old sneaking around Shadow Moses, getting captured and tortured (bashing the circle button trying to save him). Then as a 15 year-old seeing that MGS2 opening just made my jaw drop in awe. The guy's a legend, enough said.

I also hold a big place for Squall (Final Fantasy VIII). The similarity of him and me when I first played that game made me really identify with the character. Plus luckily finishing off the last boss with his Lion Heart limit break was one of the most satisfying moments in a game ever for me.

Carl Johnson (GTA SA), Pince of persia and the one and only Lara Croft,the first 3D Character.

Claude (GTA3), Carl Johnson (GTA:SA), Niko Bellic (GTAIV), Vito Scaletta (Mafia II), Sonic The Hedgehog, Link (Legend of Zelda)...so many others

I got more attached to Sonic of course, other than him, probably Niko and Vito since I love the story behind them and the storyline of the games. As for Sonic, well...I grew playing his games

Eerily similar to how it made me feel.

The quotes from the game are simply iconic. Hideo Kojima needs to ensure that the series never loses track of it's deep stories and heartfelt plots. I played MGS4 for 17 hours straight after getting it, and beat it within those 17 hours. I need to replay it to truly grasp everything that happened, however.

Just finished a college class and I am in a fog atm, um hmmm ummmm Kirby dream land adventure final final boss where you fly threw the dark stars and land on the moon, frekin amazing to say the least for its time, the game is completely cheery up until that point, the stuff of 16 bit nightmares...

Mine has to be Pac man

Sgt Johnson, Kirby, the sailor bomb dude from the second Paper Mario game, etc etc

Tommy Angelo from the first mafia game. I really connected with that character and his death was one that stuck with me for a long time after finishing the game.

Gordon Freeman who save the world with a crowbar ...and then of course the all-time classics, Mario and Luigi.

This guy...

For me it would have to be ABE from ABES ODDESSY, LARA CROFT from TOMB RAIDER, and the hero from the APE ESCAPE game.